Today felt unproductive relative to yesterday in Timba. We went to the Chinsali High School for girls. The shipment of computers they received from Aleutia was all wrong. They received 8 monitors, 7 E2 computers, and 5 flash cards. As the flash cards are the “brains” of the computer (there is no hard drive), it meant they really only had 5 functional machines. We did our best to copy from one flash card to another, but after several hours, and opening up an E2 and adding the second flash card as a secondary drive in the machine, we failed to get 5 working flash cards copied to our new flash cards which we brought with us. So again, compared to yesterday, today seemed unproductive.
Nevertheless, the teacher we worked with seemed very grateful that we stopped and made the effort. He did indicate that even with the new computers that there were simply too many students for each computer that they had at the school. Unfortunately there was not much we could do about that at the time…only to communicate this back to Camfed. He also mentioned that there were viruses on the Windows machines that were causing problems.
We plan on sending him a new E2 (for the 8th monitor that is missing a computer), 3 flash cards with the full Ubuntu installation, and a memory stick with AVG free virus scan software on it so he can clean the Windows machines.
During the evening I decided to walk around the village a little bit. Chinsali is tiny and so a short walk and you’ve essentially covered the entire village. Nonetheless, I could not help but notice I was being stared at. Back in Lusaka people are used to seeing “Muzungu” or whites, but here, everyone was not only staring but my attempts at a “hello, how are you” were literally going unanswered. Zambians are incredibly friendly and a simple smile and most will answer back with a wide smile and bright eyes followed by a “Hello! How are you?” In fact, the word in Bemba for hello is “Mulishani” which literally means “Hello. How are you.” “Muli” or “Shani” taken on its own makes no sense. In Bemba, you greet not only with “hello”, but always accompanied it with “how are you”.
However, here in Chinsali, my hellos went unanswered. But it was not out of rudeness or disrespect, but rather a general shock at seeing a white man. And for some, their very first white man. All of this was indeed a very unique experience, but it did not change the fact that it made me feel very uncomfortable. And it made me wonder how a black man walking around a remote Swiss mountain village feels. Does he feel the same? Probably not.
Though I was stared at and kept hearing “Mazungu” being called out and whispered as I walked past the Chinsalians, I realized it was most likely (or most usually) not said with any degree of prejudice. They would say it or whisper it, but it was out of shock or being startled by something or someone so rare, but I think I can safely say that it was not out of fear. But in the case of a black man walking through a remote Swiss mountain village, no one would ever dare say aloud, “A black man!” or point and exclaim “Hey look at him”. But many if not most would have preconceptions or some degree of prejudice. And unfortunately, and perhaps I am not being fair here, but I feel I am being truthful and downright honest; it would come with some level of fear or mistrust. So I could not relate to the experience. Mine was totally different from what a black man in a remote Swiss mountain village would experience.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Solar Dreams
Today we traveled to Timba Basic School to install solar powered electricity and 8 new energy efficient computers in a place that had never before had electricity. Needless to say, they had never seen computers before either.
I was on-site to install 4 solar panels, a large battery and a DC-AC inverter for converting DC battery power to AC electric sockets for connecting the computer equipment. All of this was so I could then install 8 ultra-efficient T1 Linux computers running a free version of Linux called Ubuntu. The monitor and PC are incredibly efficient and run on less than 1/10th of the power of a regular PC/monitor combo.
I had never worked with any of this type of equipment before in my life and I knew nothing about installing any of it. But I felt it would all be fine as I had been consulted by two separate solar power experts on how to connect and install everything. So I followed exactly what they consulted me to do and set everything up without a glitch. Except for the fact that it started to pour rain and the roof started to leak water and drip onto the new equipment, it all went swimmingly well.
A few hours later, when the headmaster, the teachers and the students saw the 8 computers start up and the screens come to life, their eyes opened wide and lit up. I am sure I will never forget the smiles on their faces and the expression on their faces - the proclamations of gratitude they gave me when they saw it all up and running. The headmaster, Mr. Mutale, reached out with two hands and fiercely shook my hand as he profusely thanked me and all of us for what we had done here for them. All of them were so incredibly grateful and excited. And so was I. For them these computers were magic. And for me the experience was magical.
That night I had the most amazing dreams. I was in a nice deep sleep when all of a sudden I was awakened by a bell or a "ding" followed by a person calling out my name. It was as clear and vivid as any words I have ever heard while being totally awake. Loud and clear I heard a bell and then my name spoken - "Craig" - and immediately I woke up and my eyes opened. I thought there was someone in my room. I was sure of it. But I quickly realized I had been dreaming and that a voice had awakened me. Was it someone at my door? No...it was right next to me, almost like a spoken whisper in my ear.
I awoke to the revelation that the solar panels and DC-AC inverter that I had installed in Timba the day before were setup incorrectly. The amazing thing was that I have never set them up before in my life and knew nothing for sure and the fact that 2 experts had consulted me on setting up everything exactly the way I did made me second guess my revelation. But in my dreams it was wrong.
And just like that, as clear as day, I knew what I had to do to correct the installation of the solar panels and inverter. I was now anxious and could not go back to sleep, so as soon as the sun came up, I woke up the others and told them that I had to go back to Timba to fix it. The team asked me why and when I told them I had a dream that it was wrong and how to fix it, I am pretty sure they thought I had lost my shit. But again I assured them that I my dreams told me it was wrong and I had to go back and fix it.
So our driver, Lazarus, agreed to take me back to Timba which was more than two hours roundtrip across rough dirt roads which we could not pass over without the use of his Toyota 4 X 4.
So we went back. And I followed my intuition that came to me in my dreams. And I fixed the inverter. And everything was setup correctly. So now this small community in the Northern District of Zambia will continue to run their computer centre on solar power and an inverter. Now the students will learn how to operate PCs and will enhance their learning experience and their potential for building a career for themselves through the help of this small data centre. And I was happy for them.
And I don't know why all of this came to me in a dream. Nor do I know why I heard that voice. Nor do I know why I was sure I had to go back and change the setup against the advice of experts. But I did.
On the drive home an Impala ran across the path just ahead of us as we bounced along the rough dirt road. Moments later we saw a stealth-like zebra tucked into the woods along side our vehicle, desperately trying to avoid the straining roar of our engine. And when I finally returned to my room back in Chinsali to turn in for the night, I decided to check my email before going to bed. And it was then that I saw an email from a girl I used to be in love with - she had written telling me she had to tell me about the vivid dreams she had about me = dreams of wisdom and light.
And although I was amazed, it all made complete sense, somehow.
My trip has been magical. I feel so fortunate to have been given this opportunity and this experience.
I was on-site to install 4 solar panels, a large battery and a DC-AC inverter for converting DC battery power to AC electric sockets for connecting the computer equipment. All of this was so I could then install 8 ultra-efficient T1 Linux computers running a free version of Linux called Ubuntu. The monitor and PC are incredibly efficient and run on less than 1/10th of the power of a regular PC/monitor combo.
I had never worked with any of this type of equipment before in my life and I knew nothing about installing any of it. But I felt it would all be fine as I had been consulted by two separate solar power experts on how to connect and install everything. So I followed exactly what they consulted me to do and set everything up without a glitch. Except for the fact that it started to pour rain and the roof started to leak water and drip onto the new equipment, it all went swimmingly well.
A few hours later, when the headmaster, the teachers and the students saw the 8 computers start up and the screens come to life, their eyes opened wide and lit up. I am sure I will never forget the smiles on their faces and the expression on their faces - the proclamations of gratitude they gave me when they saw it all up and running. The headmaster, Mr. Mutale, reached out with two hands and fiercely shook my hand as he profusely thanked me and all of us for what we had done here for them. All of them were so incredibly grateful and excited. And so was I. For them these computers were magic. And for me the experience was magical.
That night I had the most amazing dreams. I was in a nice deep sleep when all of a sudden I was awakened by a bell or a "ding" followed by a person calling out my name. It was as clear and vivid as any words I have ever heard while being totally awake. Loud and clear I heard a bell and then my name spoken - "Craig" - and immediately I woke up and my eyes opened. I thought there was someone in my room. I was sure of it. But I quickly realized I had been dreaming and that a voice had awakened me. Was it someone at my door? No...it was right next to me, almost like a spoken whisper in my ear.
I awoke to the revelation that the solar panels and DC-AC inverter that I had installed in Timba the day before were setup incorrectly. The amazing thing was that I have never set them up before in my life and knew nothing for sure and the fact that 2 experts had consulted me on setting up everything exactly the way I did made me second guess my revelation. But in my dreams it was wrong.
And just like that, as clear as day, I knew what I had to do to correct the installation of the solar panels and inverter. I was now anxious and could not go back to sleep, so as soon as the sun came up, I woke up the others and told them that I had to go back to Timba to fix it. The team asked me why and when I told them I had a dream that it was wrong and how to fix it, I am pretty sure they thought I had lost my shit. But again I assured them that I my dreams told me it was wrong and I had to go back and fix it.
So our driver, Lazarus, agreed to take me back to Timba which was more than two hours roundtrip across rough dirt roads which we could not pass over without the use of his Toyota 4 X 4.
So we went back. And I followed my intuition that came to me in my dreams. And I fixed the inverter. And everything was setup correctly. So now this small community in the Northern District of Zambia will continue to run their computer centre on solar power and an inverter. Now the students will learn how to operate PCs and will enhance their learning experience and their potential for building a career for themselves through the help of this small data centre. And I was happy for them.
And I don't know why all of this came to me in a dream. Nor do I know why I heard that voice. Nor do I know why I was sure I had to go back and change the setup against the advice of experts. But I did.
On the drive home an Impala ran across the path just ahead of us as we bounced along the rough dirt road. Moments later we saw a stealth-like zebra tucked into the woods along side our vehicle, desperately trying to avoid the straining roar of our engine. And when I finally returned to my room back in Chinsali to turn in for the night, I decided to check my email before going to bed. And it was then that I saw an email from a girl I used to be in love with - she had written telling me she had to tell me about the vivid dreams she had about me = dreams of wisdom and light.
And although I was amazed, it all made complete sense, somehow.
My trip has been magical. I feel so fortunate to have been given this opportunity and this experience.
Monday, February 22, 2010
All aboard the training train
This morning we went to the Musakanya Cama Centre in Mpika. We met Cecile and Gift, the Cama Centre trainers. They seemed to be quite savvy on the computer which was a T1 that was already installed at the school.
We brought a new color printer/scanner along with us to install at the Cama Centre. One of the groups we were training and mentoring was running a photo printing business. We trained them to install the printer and the software for editing photos. Then we trained them on using the scanner, the printer and the software to edit the photos. The girls were so happy to have a new color printer that could be used in their new business. They differentiated themselves by being able to print instant photos, whereas their competition takes two weeks to do so.
We trained the girls on using their phones for email and internet usage. Using the phones for email and internet can ease communication between group members and suppliers as well as potential customers. It does seem that the groups sometimes seem a bit baffled as to how email over a telephone will help them in their business. These girls are creating business and building skills for doing finance, accounting, understanding loans and microfinance and grasping costs and profit, but as for email, I am not sure they see the real benefit yet. They use the phones to call one another, but typing emails into a telephone is slower and more cumbersome than simple texting. I will speak with Hawa and Catherine about this and see how we can perhaps facilitate using technology within the groups. It may be a little premature, but we need the girls to start grasping the concepts and considering the implications and opportunities.
We stayed in nice cottage style guest houses at the Mango Grove. It was the first accommodations I stayed at outside of Lusaka, and so far, so good. We ate at a place called Cim’s and the food was very good…great fried chicken! But the TV was so loud I felt like I was sitting in a hearing aid convention.
We brought a new color printer/scanner along with us to install at the Cama Centre. One of the groups we were training and mentoring was running a photo printing business. We trained them to install the printer and the software for editing photos. Then we trained them on using the scanner, the printer and the software to edit the photos. The girls were so happy to have a new color printer that could be used in their new business. They differentiated themselves by being able to print instant photos, whereas their competition takes two weeks to do so.
We trained the girls on using their phones for email and internet usage. Using the phones for email and internet can ease communication between group members and suppliers as well as potential customers. It does seem that the groups sometimes seem a bit baffled as to how email over a telephone will help them in their business. These girls are creating business and building skills for doing finance, accounting, understanding loans and microfinance and grasping costs and profit, but as for email, I am not sure they see the real benefit yet. They use the phones to call one another, but typing emails into a telephone is slower and more cumbersome than simple texting. I will speak with Hawa and Catherine about this and see how we can perhaps facilitate using technology within the groups. It may be a little premature, but we need the girls to start grasping the concepts and considering the implications and opportunities.
We stayed in nice cottage style guest houses at the Mango Grove. It was the first accommodations I stayed at outside of Lusaka, and so far, so good. We ate at a place called Cim’s and the food was very good…great fried chicken! But the TV was so loud I felt like I was sitting in a hearing aid convention.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Rural Zambia...here we come!
This morning we left Lusaka for Mpika in the Northern district. The drive was roughly nine hours but before we left we had to pack up the two vehicles with an inordinately large amount of equipment including 15 batteries (like large car batteries), 12 sets of solar panels, 2 DC/AC converters, 4 computers and monitors, (more than 30 awaited to be installed us in the various districts), printers, cables wires, tools, suitcases for 7 people for 14 days, and all of our personal laptops and hand luggage. And we had to pack all of this at 5 in the morning.
On the road finally it started to hit me where we were going and what we were going to do. We were heading off into some of the most rural parts of Zambia to bring electricity through solar power and batteries – to bring new computers to people who had never seen or touched computers before – to enable young women across Zambia to learn computer skills, business skills and project management skills so that they could start-up small businesses of their own. And this would allow them to have a career, an income for their families and an improved future for themselves and their communities.
In our vehicle we were Lazarus, the driver; Melody, the group mentor; Fatuma, the IT mentor; and me. The other vehicle contained Albert, the driver; Alice, the group mentor; and Chanda the Camfed representative and coordinator.
On the road finally it started to hit me where we were going and what we were going to do. We were heading off into some of the most rural parts of Zambia to bring electricity through solar power and batteries – to bring new computers to people who had never seen or touched computers before – to enable young women across Zambia to learn computer skills, business skills and project management skills so that they could start-up small businesses of their own. And this would allow them to have a career, an income for their families and an improved future for themselves and their communities.
In our vehicle we were Lazarus, the driver; Melody, the group mentor; Fatuma, the IT mentor; and me. The other vehicle contained Albert, the driver; Alice, the group mentor; and Chanda the Camfed representative and coordinator.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
British cooking?
I was considering taking cooking lessons, as I try to do wherever I travel too for an extensive period of time. But I am not sure I need a lesson on how to take any type of meat at all and cook the living hell out of it. They simply sear the meat until it could not possibly get up and walk off the table and they serve it with rice, fries or nshima. But if I wanted to learn how to cook the life out of meat I would watch 1960’s British cooking shows. Anyway, chicken seems to be my staple here. I have eaten so much chicken I am sprouting feathers.
I feel so fortunate. I am doing some amazing work here with solar panels and these hyper energy efficient computers. Eventually, these guys might not need the dirty energy sold from the desks of some of my dearest pals back in Geneva. Why these guys asked me of all people to install these solar panels is beyond me. I have no experience doing so, but nevertheless, I am installing them in schools around rural Zambia along side installing small 10-computer networks running Ubuntu (Linux). And how much Linux experience do I have, you might ask? Let’s just say not very much. But I love a challenge and LOVE leaning new things.
I feel so fortunate. I am doing some amazing work here with solar panels and these hyper energy efficient computers. Eventually, these guys might not need the dirty energy sold from the desks of some of my dearest pals back in Geneva. Why these guys asked me of all people to install these solar panels is beyond me. I have no experience doing so, but nevertheless, I am installing them in schools around rural Zambia along side installing small 10-computer networks running Ubuntu (Linux). And how much Linux experience do I have, you might ask? Let’s just say not very much. But I love a challenge and LOVE leaning new things.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Last of Lusaka
Africa is really great. I am busy as hell. They are working me like a dog out here but it keeps me (and my mind) busy so I am loving it. While traveling, I am scheduled to work most weekends, so I have very little free time. Hopefully at the end of the trip I will have some time to take a safari and see some things on my own. But Sunday I leave for rural Zambia for three weeks so I will be very out of touch. I will however get to see lots while I am out there. I will be in the Northern, Luapula and Western districts.
Thus far, Lusaka has been very nice. They seem to take pride in keeping the outlying areas very clean and nicely trimmed trees and lawns...I have to say I was a little surprised. Now what it will look like in the bush is anyone’s guess. The city itself is not pristine European standards, but it is a bustling African city and considered very developed and they seem to be very proud of their city, their country, their culture, their president and their languages (several languages are spoken around Zambia and over 70 dialects - English in the national language and unifies all the other languages).
Thus far, Lusaka has been very nice. They seem to take pride in keeping the outlying areas very clean and nicely trimmed trees and lawns...I have to say I was a little surprised. Now what it will look like in the bush is anyone’s guess. The city itself is not pristine European standards, but it is a bustling African city and considered very developed and they seem to be very proud of their city, their country, their culture, their president and their languages (several languages are spoken around Zambia and over 70 dialects - English in the national language and unifies all the other languages).
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A little cloudy on the solar panels
This week I have been joined in the Lusaka office by Hawa and Gaby from the UK office, as well as Jane who assists Hawa in the training program. Gaby is here for an audit. Personally, I spent another two days in the Lusaka office assisting and training the office staff. I also met with three suppliers to get quotes for the new office network installation. I was reminded by the second supplier, Netcom that we will need phones. Yes…good thought, I told myself. So already Netcon has won my approval as they saved us from the issue of forgetting to install phones into the new office space.
I was asked to investigate a few problems that were experienced with the new solar panels and batteries for the T1 computers. The larger solar panels seem impractical for the resource centers we have out in the field. The smaller solar panels have a very thin cable that is temperamental and might need vamping up. The batteries it seems can only be either charged or used to run the computers, but cannot both be charged and be used for the computers simultaneously. This seems very impractical as the girls will use the computers during the day (normal office hours), but the only time the batteries can be recharged with the solar panels is during the day. This poses a practical conflict.
Tonight Hawa and Gaby treated Jane and I to a wonderful dinner at a beautiful Indian restaurant called the Taj. It is inside a 5-star hotel and was up to that standard. We had a great time eating, discussing and enjoying the sounds of a great “kitsch” African band that was playing some traditional African music as well as tunes from artists such as Doris Day, Sinatra, Clapton, and even a song from the movie the Godfather. Very entertaining evening accompanied by some really nice South African wine.
I was asked to investigate a few problems that were experienced with the new solar panels and batteries for the T1 computers. The larger solar panels seem impractical for the resource centers we have out in the field. The smaller solar panels have a very thin cable that is temperamental and might need vamping up. The batteries it seems can only be either charged or used to run the computers, but cannot both be charged and be used for the computers simultaneously. This seems very impractical as the girls will use the computers during the day (normal office hours), but the only time the batteries can be recharged with the solar panels is during the day. This poses a practical conflict.
Tonight Hawa and Gaby treated Jane and I to a wonderful dinner at a beautiful Indian restaurant called the Taj. It is inside a 5-star hotel and was up to that standard. We had a great time eating, discussing and enjoying the sounds of a great “kitsch” African band that was playing some traditional African music as well as tunes from artists such as Doris Day, Sinatra, Clapton, and even a song from the movie the Godfather. Very entertaining evening accompanied by some really nice South African wine.
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