Bonn, 03/23/2010, 01:30 PM CET
The first set of computers will be delivered to four local communities in Haiti.
DHL today announced it has partnered with The One Laptop per Child foundation (OLPC) to deliver over two thousand laptops to Haiti for use by displaced students and schools that have been hardest-hit in the earthquake-stricken country. OLPC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education.
DHL is donating its transportation network and logistics expertise for delivery of the refurbished "XO" laptops, a unique laptop developed by The One Laptop per Child foundation. The laptops are connected, rugged, hand-cranked or solar powered and will allow students and children to use it at home, in school or for university studies. The first set of computers were transported to Port-Au-Prince on Monday and will now be delivered to four local communities in Haiti.
On-the-ground logistics support
"Since the devastating earthquake, DHL has provided a significant amount of support for the distribution of relief goods via its Disaster Response Team into Haiti," said Rainer Wend, Executive Vice President Corporate Public Policy and Responsibility. "As the specialists in international express shipping, we are now delighted to partner with The One Laptop per Child foundation and support this effort."
Deutsche Post DHL operates the warehouses for OLPC in Dallas (Texas) and Shanghai (China). By utilizing a single provider with the scale of DHL, OLPC partners with DHL for its express, air and sea freight requirements as well as warehousing needs. DHL to-date has delivered thousands of laptops for OLPC from its warehouses in the U.S. and China to various mission agencies, governments, NGOs and partners across the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
In January 2010 at the onset of the disaster, DHL deployed its Disaster Response Team (DRT) to Haiti and was one of the first organizations to provide on-the-ground logistics support to the international relief effort.