CORE SETUP
A foundation for digital education.
What is the Core Setup?
The Core Setup is our BrightBox solution in its simplest, most compact, form. This kit brings the power of Khan Academy, TED, Wikipedia, Simbi Books, and so much more to any offline community.
All you need is enough power to charge a cell phone (portable chargers work too!), and the Core Setup will provide high-quality digital education content to any learner, anywhere.
of relevant audio-visual books
relevant curriculum content with up to 1TB storage
What’s inside?
The Core Setup provides all the tools for sustained access to quality and relevant education content for any learner.
Raspberry Pi Microcomputer
The Microcomputer is compact, light, and easily portable, making it the perfect solution for any location.
Simbi Key to Literacy
Simbi Key to Literacy provides 1000s of relevant audio-visual books in a USB format, turning any compatible device into a library of content.
Simbi Learn Cloud
Simbi Learn Cloud contains over 64GB of supplementary educational material tailored to the relevant National Curriculum.
Request FOR PARTNERSHIP
Does your school or community need a Core Setup to suppoort your learning and teaching goals?
Click below to submit a Simbi Foundation partnership request!
Interested in DONATING?
Are you interested in donating a Core Setup for an educational institution?
Click below to get in touch and tell us more!
Learn more about BrightBox
Want to support our efforts to improve access to quality education?
What is a BrightBox?
BrightBox refers to one of two pieces of Simbi Foundation education technology:
A BrightBox is a shipping-container solar-powered classroom.
A BrightBox Micro is a suitcase-sized education kit.
Both are stocked with educational hardware (laptops, reading tablets, and projectors), and with digital educational curriculum designed to support and supplement the National Ugandan curriculum and the National Indian curriculum.
BrightBoxes are mostly sourced within the country of implementation in order to improve sustainability, are outfitted by local companies and vocational schools, and most importantly, are used, maintained, and owned by the local community.
How do we fund our projects?
We at Simbi Foundation use multiple methods for compiling funding for our projects. We host public fundraising events, we conduct other fundraising through Expeditions and the BMO Vancouver Marathon, we gratefully receive donations from our supporters, and we apply to granting opportunities to support our ongoing costs.
Want to find out more? Read our blog post about how an NGO makes money!
How do you choose the communities you partner with?
The process we use to partner with communities varies from community to community. In Refugee Settlements in Uganda, we select partner schools in consultation with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), who identify priority schools most in need of support. These identifications are based wholly on community needs.
For remote communities, we engage in a collaborative conversation with any high-population school that faces challenges related to lack of textbooks, other school resources, and internet and technology access. This time of discussion identifies the necessary administrative and operational systems of the school, the school’s ability to take on Simbi Foundation technology, and the optimal ways in which we can adapt our solutions to best meet the school’s needs and requests.
How much control do partner communities have over the projects implemented?
Our partner school communities have direct control over implemented Simbi Foundation projects. Every one of our programs begins with Simbi Foundation-directed needs assessments, focus groups, community discussions, and feedback and request collection. This data then directly informs our program design, and what we include in our solar-powered Learning Labs.
We also ensure that teachers and other school community leaders receive in-depth training sessions on how to use the Simbi Foundation technology, how to integrate it into their existing teaching goals and learning outcomes, and how to maintain and troubleshoot it. Why? Because it allows the community to have lasting control over the infrastructure without need for constant external direction.