An historic moment of solidarity for Africa was experienced during the month of January 2007. It is important to remember that in 1945, after the deadly Second World War, the birth of the United Nations gave the possibility of hope to humanity. The UN Charter focused on liberating future generations from the scourge of war, protecting the fundamental rights of humanity, of favoring social progress, and of doing everything possible to create the best conditions for life with broader liberty. A century was not enough as world evolution itself proved to be against it.

Cries were raised during the world conference in Nairobi on January 20-25, 2007. This time the cries were from Africa. General observations were given by this forum through conferences and different displays. More than once it was verified that:

Nevertheless, the Forum occasionally noted that a belief in the possibility of a lasting peace is gradually taking hold as people see equality, justice, and ethical responsibility taking place. One sign of this was the enormous crowd marching around Jomo Kenyatta Stadium. They did so to highlight that peace and security, now more than ever, must be the focus of attention. Any discussions must include the challenges for humanity over the next 50 years that are related to the population increase: going from 6.5 to 9 billion inhabitants of the globe with problems of, among others, waters, energy, and the protection of the environment.

It requires some audacity and even the sacred courage of Elijah to say:

"Now summon all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, as well as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table." So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and had the prophets assemble on Mount Carmel. Elijah appealed to all the people and said, "How long will you straddle the issue? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him. The people, however, did not answer him. So Elijah said to the people, "I am the only surviving prophet of the Lord, and there are found hundred and fifty prophets fo Baal. Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire. You will call on your gods, and I will call on the Lord. The God who answers with fire is God." (1Kgs 18:19-24)

This is the initiation of Elijah’s ministry within his own situation and is what we must hold up in our ministry as Carmelites. It even becomes more important when we realize that he dealt with the current situation: Elijah came during a period of social unrest and restored the society with God’s justice. The need for a prophetic voice in his day was primarily for the restoration of what was lost, the old things, original, what once was, and perfect. We can be sure that a ministry is one way of arriving at a different and larger point, that is, "the restoration of all things of which God spoke of through his holy prophets in ancient times" (Acts 3:21b). The restorations for Israel came after the disastrous disorders, when people did as they wished.

The work of restoration can only be realized if we use all available means. It is a monumetal task which will require each person to have an ethic of peace. How many among us have the energy that is necessary to listen to the weeping and cries of the people who suffer because we have never restored things?

"There is no peace because there is no justice," wrote Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1984. This is a synthesis that describes the current situation we are in. In fact, there will not be a lasting peace without the common research of projections based on the satisfaction of the needs of the people, of all people, without a meaningful cooperation, by any subordination of the weak by the strong, without a suspension of the arms market, or the exploitation of basic materials in developing countries. If we do not wish to see the global situation deteriorate more than is already occuring in some regions of the world such as the Middle East, in Sudan, in Western Africa, it behoves us to:
1. have the audacity and sacred courage to speak out,
2. seek to resolve problems at their roots and not use
pretexts that almost always hide the economic and
politicial interests of the great powers.

Perhaps the name changes – it began life One Laptop per Child (OLPC) which reflects the goal of providing a learning tool for students around the world. Now it is the 2B1 Children’s Machine or the Hundred Dollar Laptop Project.

The price is also changing. On April 27, 2007, the OLPC group announced that it had raised the price for its one hundred-dollar laptop to US$175 but they were still confident they would collect enough orders to begin volume production by September. They currently have orders for 2.5 million units but need to reach 3 million units by May 30.

The goal of OLPC is to create and distribute inexpensive, durable, power-efficient laptop computers which will allow students in poor areas to become more active and creative in their educational process.

So far Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, and Thailand have committed. Two hundred test versions of the laptop were sent to each of those countries. Some 2,000 laptops were sent to software developers around the world.

"The biggest hurdle will be manufacturing 100 million of anything … The scale is daunting," said Nicolas Negroponte who came up with the project.

But the design is proving to also be challenging. OLPC designers are working to keep the laptop design trim, holding its average power consumption between 2 watts and 4 watts. An original goal was to have one minute of hand cranking generate 100 minutes of power for the computer. The crank, "although cute, in the end proved impractical," according to OLPC.

"Mesh technology"—allowing computers to connect to the internet by connecting to each other over distance— will give many machines Internet access from one connection point.

Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations, introduced the $100 laptop in November 2006 at the World Summit on the Information Summit (WSIS) in Tunis. He said "The $100 laptop holds the promise of major advances in economic and social development. It is not just a matter of giving a laptop to each child, as if bestowing some magical charm on them. The magic lies within—within each child, within each scientist, scholar, or just plain citizen in the making."

In November 2006, 875 B1 test machines rolled off the assembly line, marking a major step forward in the realization of the project.

Nigeria has ordered one million of the machines. Libya announced in October 2006, that it would purchase 1.2 million computers, one for every school aged child in the country. It is the first Arabic speaking country to commit. In December 2006, Uruguay committed to the OLPC Project. This was followed in January 2007 by Rwanda. Peru and Russia have expressed interest. Nineteen US states have also expressed interest.

There are lots of nay-sayers. Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, famously mocked the wind-up powered PC advising his audience to "get a decent computer that offers a decent screen, a broadband connection, and it not powered by a wind-up handle." Those who sees Gates’ hold on the computer software industry as stifling and overpriced for people in developing nations did not laugh.

"Bill Gates said ‘Get a real laptop,’ but when your house doesn’t have electricity, two watts is a real laptop," came the initial verbal response. Other organizations jointed MIT scientists in developing a technology that would impact education around the globe. Mr. Gates is now offering a $3 version of Windows Vista operating system and Intel Corporation recently created the "Classmate" notebook PC design for developing nations. In a concession from OLPC, the latest version of their new laptop is reportedly capable of running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

India dismissed the laptop as "pedagogically suspect." Its Education Secretary said if money were available it would be better spent on existing education plans.

Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations, introduced the $100 laptop in 2006 at the World Summit on the Information Summit (WSIS) in Tunis. In his opening statement, Annan said, "Some inventions are ahead of their time. Others are perfectly of their time. Still others seem so obvious and natural that once people hear about them, or see them—they wonder why it took so long for them to come into being. It is rare—it is a rare invention indeed—that manages to be all greatness at once. But Nicholas Negroponte, his team of the world renowned MIT media lab, and their partners have given us just such a breakthough. The $100 laptop is inspiring in many respects."