In Sao Paulo, a 'social Silicon Valley'
SAO PAULO, Brazil--Brazilian journalist Gilberto Dimenstein walks down an alley in the Villa Madelena neighborhood showing how what was once a haven for drug dealers has been transformed into a canvas for artists.
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Dimenstein's vision, to turn a rough neighborhood into a 24-hour center of learning, has been largely realized. In one building, craftsmen create violins from bare wood, while in another an artist weaves scraps of cloth into a placemat. In the Aprendiz cafe, Dimenstein's centerpiece, seniors learn to use the Internet while people flock in from more affluent parts of the city to enjoy the restaurant's fine foods.
It's not perfect. Shortly before CNET News visited Aprendiz last fall, thieves had broken in and stolen a number of computers. That said, the PCs were quickly replaced. It took Dimenstein just a phone call to find a donor.
Dimenstein is nothing if not creative when it comes to both his project and how he pays the bills. A wealthy school pays for its students to volunteer with the seniors. At the same time, Dimenstein uses some of that money to offer a stipend to students from less well-off schools that volunteer at Aprendiz.
Brazil: Tech powerhouse, but gaps remain
Among those working at Aprendiz is Marina Rosenfeld, who started out as a student and now works at the project.
"I was not a good student," she recalls.
"You were a terrible student," Dimenstein interrupts.
Rosenfeld said she got something from Aprendiz she wasn't getting from school.
"When I came here, I think people believed in me," she said. "It was very different from a traditional school (where) they just think you are good if you get good grades."
And, like all the students in the Aprendiz project, she went to college. "Everyone has to go to college," Dimenstein said. "There is no discussion."
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
What I found amazing is that the big Linux push in brazilian schools is totally overlooked in the articles..
The brazilian government plans to build up to 30,000 computer labs (usually a computer with 7-8 thin clients) by the end of this year and 50,000 labs built by the end of 2009 which will serve 50 million schools kids using localized Linux distros like MEC's "Linux Educacional 2.0" which is a very clean Debian-based distribution, with KDE 3.5, KDE-Edu, KDE-Games.
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That's 50 MILLION.
Pretty big number.. and somehow that is overlooked.
Not a big number enough?
There is also a separate "one computer per student" (Um Computador por Aluno, or UCA) MEC computing initiative that intends to roll out 150,000 PCs, with KDE and Linux also likely tapped for that effort too but the typical labs will use one server, 7 thin clients each of which supports two KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) stations and most labs will have 15 available workstations. For labs in rural locations with limited electricity, a single server can support up to seven KVMs. There's also a set-up with a large TV monitor for special needs children.
You should maybe talk to some Linux activists in that country and catch up with what youve missed:
Mauricio Piacentini is a KDE developer but I dont think he is intimately involved with the
ProInfo and Linux Educacional - KDE in Public Schools project of Brazil's Ministry of Education (MEC).but his blog has some info:
http://behindkde.org/people/piacentini/
http://piacentini.livejournal.com/7871.html
The government site is in portuguese: http://webeduc.mec.gov.br/
Seriously, talking about Linux in Brazil and NOT mentioning a project which will see
the creation of more than 53,000 labs by the end of 2009 and which will serve 52 M-I-L-L-I-O-N students is quite an accomplishment. A real feat.