Its that time of the year again, when we dig deep into our pockets and donate for a good cause - the good cause usually being, "don't give it to the tax man!". Seriously though, whatever be your motivation for donating, consider giving the gift of education.

Last year, I wrote to my friends and colleagues about the One Laptop per Child project. Well, things have been progressing steadily. There are approximately 600,000+ Free and Open Source powered green XO laptops worldwide. Free and Open Source Software allows thousands of volunteers to participate to the project. These contributions range from ideas, to coding, to testing, to documentation and translation. Did you know that the XO laptop is localized for over 65 different languages and scripts including Amharic (Ethiopia), Kreyol (Haiti) and Mongolian (Mongolia). Here's the complete list.

Last year, when people contributed to the Give 1 Get 1 program, it resulted in a huge donation going out to Rwanda, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mongolia, and Afghanistan. Children in these countries got their XO laptop because we sponsored one for them. This year, the effort has gone somewhat global. The Give 1 Get 1 program returns via Amazon.com. Amazon is selling the machines at cost. The program will also cover Europe. US donations began Nov 17.

Here's an interesting tidbit. On Nov 17, the most popular laptop on Amazon was the OLPC XO laptop!

See what a difference it makes in the lives of children around the world.  I had the good fortune of visiting one such village in India. Khairat is India's first pilot site for the OLPC project. Seeing 5 year olds handle a laptop with ease and finesse while writing, drawing, taking pictures was proof positive that this actually works! These children have had the laptops for about one year and have had minimal training. Their parents are illiterate farmers. The children have no access to any technology other than an occasional TV. Yet, they are masters of their own domain. They are little laptop ninjas, expertly wielding their XO laptops to document their lives, their families and all the while learning about the rest of the world through the little 7.5 inch green window.

So, I think it works, and it works well. Maybe skip the turkey and give the gift of education to a child. Dig into your pockets. For $199 (tax deductible), you can sponsor a laptop. For $399 ($199 tax deductible), you can sponsor one and get one for a kid in your family (or for the child within). Snub the tax man and educate a child at the same time!