What is Living Open Source Foundation
The Living Open Source Foundation is founded to educate local talent in African countries as Open Source professionals, which allows these individuals to start their professional career and help local economies to accelerate by using the free of use open source software.
How is Living Open Source bringing Linux to Africa?
Our 3-phase approach in short
The Living Open Source Foundation is taking a three-step approach in completing it’s mission:
People behind Living Open Source Foundation
In May 2018 Linux trainer and author Sander van Vugt wrote an article starting with ‘Open Source has been good to me. I want to be good for Open Source as well’. In this article he offered help and support to one person to acquire a Linux certification. Someone who may otherwise never would be able to start a career in open source and could make an impact in their local community.
Zambian National Santos Venter Chibenga received the scholarship and within a few months the ‘Living Open source project’ was born, and Santos initiated the local Zambia Linux community. In December 2019 the first LivingOpenSource Knowledge Center opened in Lusaka (Zambia), run by Santos and his team.
Soon after the first Linux event the Dutch cooperative ITGilde committed to the project and formalized the Living Open Source into a foundation in 2019, directed by Sander van Vugt and Pieter Izeboud (ITGilde founder).
Milestones
Achievements we are proud of
Dec 2018 Training Event in Zambia
200 attendees
July 2019 Training Event in Kenya
130 attendees
July 2019 Training-The-Trainer Event in Zambia
30 attendees
Dec 2019 Training Event in Malawi
370 attendees
Dec 2019 Opening our first non-profit LivingOpenSource Knowledge Center in Zambia
in Lusaka
July 2020 Start of the Women in Linux Project in Florida and Zambia
Candidate recruitment Zambia has started.
Our Projects
In 2020
Getting 10 Women out of the Factory
10 Women that are now surviving with job in a factory receive a year-long traineeship that enables them to immediately quit their job and focus on their study to become a professional in open source. They will receive training resources, support and coaching to be ready to start their internship after the one-year period. Thanks to the network of companies that are affiliated with Living Open Source foundation they can build working experience and get ready to start in a real job environment.
LivingOpenSource Knowledge Center in Zambia
Companies in Africa that are now contracting open source professionals from abroad for consultancy or training, need to find their way to the local open source professionals that are connected to the knowledge center. The profits made by the knowledge center are invested in Living Open Source projects to for example open a knowledge center in every African country.
Linux Training Events
For 2020 the very first Linux Training Events are scheduled in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Rwanda. A 2nd Linux Training Events is organized in Malawi.
How you can sponsor Living Open Source
Some ideas to invite you to support open source in Africa via us
1. Sponsor a Living Open Source event
Get in front of the Living Open Source Audience and receive free tickets for the Living Open Source event.
Scheduled events: Rwanda (May 2020), Malawi (May 2020), Ethiopia (August 2020).
More information about sponsor packages: sander.van.vugt@livingopensource.net
2. Donate money
Your (recurring) donation(s) are highly appreciated. Your gifts will be used to cover the personal expenses of participants in training events in order to make it possible for talent from remote locations to travel in, be lodged and eat and drink.
Ask your accountant about making tax-deductible donations.
Bank account: NL63 RABO 0341 2923 54, bank account holder name: Stichting Living Open Source
BIC (SWIFT): RABONL2U
Paypal: donations@livingopensource.net or click here.
3. Donate a laptop
Not all students can afford a laptop. Therefore we are in need of laptops that are capable of running CentOS 7.5 either on physical hardware, or on a virtual machine. Anything with 1 GB of RAM and 20 GB of disk will do.
Contact: pieter.izeboud@livingopensource.net
4. Donate your time / expertise / network
The philosophy of open source is sharing so you may be sharing your knowledge already (for free). Explore how you can use your skills and contacts to create awareness for Living Open Source. By mentioning the work of the foundation in your communication and events, raise funds by organizing your own (training) events, or donate (a part of) sales profit of your services to the foundation.
5. Hire Sander van Vugt, profit goes to Living Open Source Foundation
Get Linux expertise from best-selling author and trainer Sander van Vugt like on-site training, consultancy or anything that helps you forward and let Living Open Source Foundation profit from your investment.
Explore opportunities: sander.van.vugt@livingopensource.net
6. Become a friend of Living Open Source Foundation
Becoming our friend is easy. Talk to your friends and other contacts in your network about us. Share our message, share our posts on social media, and come up with ways how you would help a friend. Be open and creative when using your resources to help grow our community. Do you have a website on which we can publish a banner? Can you arrange some free publicity or free advertisement?
Share your actions and suggestions: sander.van.vugt@livingopensource.net
Follow #livingopensource on Linkedin and connect with us to stay involved.
