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Project Overview
In the heart of rural Panama, a silent revolution in education is underway. Led by the Rotary Club of Playa Coronado and supported by Rotary Clubs in the U.S., the RACHEL project -Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning - is transforming classrooms without internet into hubs of digital opportunity. Launched in 2021, RACHEL provides schools with an offline server loaded with educational content, accessible wirelessly by laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Initially piloted in six remote schools across Coclé and Panama Oeste provinces, the success of the project led to rapid expansion. Today, GG2453218 equipped 18 more schools with RACHEL, impacting over 120,000 students who previously had no internet access. Each school received vital hardware, a RACHEL Plus, a UPS and 10 laptop computers - paired with comprehensive teacher training in digital competencies.
Partnering with Panama's Ministry of Education (Meduca), the initiative ensures sustainability through local facilitator training. Now, Meduca is requesting expansion to 50 additional schools, RACHEL continues to grow, bringing the world's knowledge to Panama's most isolated communities, one school at a time.
Project: GG-2575173 RACHEL Growing In PANAMA .
Area of interest: Basic education and literacy.
Local Sponsoring Rotary Club: Rotary Club of Playa Coronado District: 4240
Execution date: Start September 2025. End January 2027.
Section 1: Project Objective
The (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Electronic Learning) RACHEL growing in Panama project is to increase the number of remote schools by 50, from the 18 included in GG2453218 RACHEL in Panama.
The following are what shall be provided by GG2575173 :-
1. ONE full day of instruction for every teacher at each of the 50 schools selected to receive a RACHEL system. The course will use Meduca Facilitators trained under GG2453218 and will be held at a Meduca Cocle, Central Training Facility.
2. FOUR (4) online diploma courses in Digital Competencies, each of which is for 20-25 persons. These courses shall be supplied by Panamanian facilitator(s) AND SHALL ONLY BE PROVIDED TO TEACHERS THAT CAN ATTEND AND HAVE NOT ATTENDED NEW COURSES OFFERED AT THE TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGES. (Note GG2453218, per letter from RI, required all teachers to be offered this course, even those without internet access!)
3. Refresher training shall be offered for teachers at the schools that already have RACHEL systems.
4. One RACHEL hardware system per school (50 total) comprising: - (1) One RACHEL Plus 5.0 system with installed software modules, (2) One uninterruptible power supply (UPS). (3) Maximum ten Windows 11 laptop computers.
5. Meduca continues to monitor student performance nationwide, bi-annually by testing however the impact of the use of the RACHEL technology shall also be assessed jointly (Meduca / Rotary / Rotaract) by visits to the schools to collect data (verbal qualitative) and by questionnaires (quantitative).
Section 2: Needs assessment
Identifying remote schools which lack resources such as Power, Internet and Water, staff that lack training in Digital Technologies. Process (summarised) :-
1. Identify potential schools through Rotary/Rotaract/community knowledge.
2. Confirm suitability of schools with Ministry of Education Regional Office Staff.
3. Visit schools (at least twice, before GG submission, accompanied by Meduca staff,) and complete a questionnaire, demonstrate the RACHEL system to school staff and Regional Supervisors. Staff of school are usually Director plus a small number of teachers and docents (between 1 and 8 usually)
4. Meet with Teachers/Parents/PTA (if one exists) to assess community in general.
5. Note Meduca visits every school 2 or 2 times each year and we co-ordinate visits to maximise our mutual benefit. Strict protocol is observed.
6. Biggest problems in almost all the remote communities are, access (especially in wet season), poverty, lack of work (except for farming), transport or travel to nearest town, sanitation and hygiene, communication, medical assistance .....
Section 3: Project Design
Train ALL the teachers at the school to receive a RACHEL system. (1 full day, now performed by Meduca staff trained under previous GG). Offer a 60 hour course in Digital Competencies to those teachers (usually the older ones) who did not receive that training while at Teacher Training College. Provide a RACHEL with a quantity of laptop computers (usually 10), an Uninterruptible Power Supply, to protect the electronic devices from Power fluctuations and provide power for at least a full day in the event of a total supply failure. Laminated User Instructions (1 page to stick on the wall next to the RACHEL), 2 laminated copies of a briefing for the local community and of course, a Rotary Plaque too.
Section 4: Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries : 50 schools, 200 teachers, 2,300 students per year for at least 5 years.
Section 5: Theory of Change
Improved skills of the students to cope with information and technology and how to use and access it.
Section 6: Sustainability
Using the RACHEL hardware and computers have already been proven in a similar environment (Guatemala) and addition hardware can be easily added by schools to expand the number of users at minimal cost (tablet computers etc.). The software is readily upgradeable, can be supplemented by teachers and in the case of the Panama Curriculo Priorizada (CP) can be updated during a school visit if needed. The CP 2024 version installed in 20 RACHELs in March 2024 as part of the GG is still current for 2025.
Section 7: Collaborators
Ministry of Education, Rotaract (includes teachers!), Rotarians from other clubs in Panama and worldwide, local volunteers.
Section 8: Budget
Category Activity Cost in USD
Training Training in Digital Competencies (4 courses - 25) $12,000
Training RACHEL Basic Training (7 x 1 Day for 200 teachers) $5,000
Equipment Purchase RACHEL V5.0 Qty 50 $25,000
Equipment Uninterruptible Power Supply Qty 50 $4,000
Equipment Purchase Windows 11 Laptop Computers Qty 400 $100,000
Equipment Donation Windows 11 Computers Qty 33 $0.00
Signage Plaques and Rotary stickers $3,000.00
Supplies Course materials, fuel, etc $3,000
Monitoring/evaluation Checking RACHEL usage $2,000
Total= $154,000
Section 9: Local Funding
# Fountain Details Amount (USD)
1 Cash from club Rotary Club RCPC $10,000
2 District Designated Fund (DDF) Rotary Club RCPC $10,000
Total= $20,000
Section 10: Project Primary Contacts
Name Charge Email Mobile number
Mike Peers 1 Peers144@yahoo.co.uk +507 6283 0777
Dorothy Payne 2 latin.newfies@gmail.com +1 (941) 735-7955
Donald Savino 3 don@bogdenhouse.com +1 (480) 280-8955
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