Take part in Samsung’s global ‘What If I Can’ walkathon campaign to build solar powered schools in Africa

Samsung might be expecting to sell over 70 million of its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones in its attempt to return to maximum profitability, but the Korean company is pretty active in its charity work as well. This is evidenced by it’s What If I Can charity campaign that started earlier this year, aiming to build Solar Powered Internet Schools (SPIS) in Africa. You can take part simply by downloading the What If I Can app from the Google Play Store and taking part in the global walkathon. 

The What If I Can walkathon campaign aims to build one of the Solar Powered Internet Schools in Africa for every 800 million steps recorded. Th app works pretty much like a normal pedometer app, it just counts your steps, showing your personal total as well as the current global step total. Exactly how far do 800 million steps take you? Well, it basically means that a SIPS will be built for every 640,000km (400,000 miles) worth of steps. That’s pretty far, further than the earth to the moon by a good margin. It’s a global counter, which that the steps you take walking in the supermarket, fetching your children from school or even just pacing around your garden are totted up with everyone else’s efforts. A great by-product of using the What if I Can app is that your will be able to keep track of how much exercise you are doing.

The Solar Powered Internet Schools are housed in a converted 40ft container that allows for easy transportation. Each SIPS comes with its own solar panels that make it self-sufficient and internet access is achieved through GSM and satellite communications. Furniture, lighting and air-conditioning are also provided to ensure a comfortable learning space. Each SIPS can accommodate up to 30 students, allowing them access to laptops and tablets. In case of technical problems, Samsung has a dedicated support team to keep things moving smoothly. At present, there are SIPS facilities in 15 African countries.

The good news is that you don’t have to be using a Samsung produced smartphone to take part, the What If I Can app can be downloaded to all Android-powered devices. The app updates your progress to the global step count every five minutes. Downloading the app from the QR code or Play Store link below is the first step.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: SamsungTomorrow

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