LEHETE (ለህቴ) is a 501 c(3) nonprofit organization (ID: 83-4489252) based in Texas seeking to help higher education professors in Ethiopia who do not have laptops or personal computers for instruction or academic research. Ethiopian higher education has grown dramatically during the last two decades, with rising student enrollment and greater than ever academic institutions across the country.
But studies also show the quality of higher education in the country has seen a sharp drop during the same period partly due to lack of resources.
Eight Ethiopian diaspora academics from multiple institutions in Houston, Texas formed the non-profit organization – Laptop for Every Higher Education Teacher in Ethiopia (LEHETE) - to provide laptops to as many Ethiopian professors at public universities as possible.
Having a laptop would allow them to be able to download quality course contents, teaching and research materials, video lectures and other resources from open educational resource websites to upgrade their knowledge and pass the knowledge onto their students. To that end, the Texas-based LEHETE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) to facilitate this effort. Our research shows we can buy one reasonable laptop (refurbished or new) for $150 at a discounted rate.