Obituary to John Moriarty

There is a wonderful obituary to my great friend John Moriarty that appeared in the guardian this week. I finally managed to visit his grave recently. He is buried in sight of his beloved Killarney lakes and the Paps of Dannu (the Earth Goddess).

May he rest in peace.

Crossing the Threshold

I am three weeks back In Ireland. I actually wanted to write this story when I was in Kenya but have only found the time and clarity to do it today...

I met Jane in 2003. She took part in the computer training program that we ran there as a first step to working out how best to deliver computer technology to the developing world. I have written and spoken about Jane on many other occasions – she has been an inspiration for so much that has happened since then – and she once again forms the basis of this story.

Jane’s husband died of AIDS in 2003. She is HIV positive and her eldest child is also HIV positive. Both herself and her son are receiving ARV treatment and even though the side effects of the treatment are challenging, they are both alive and getting on with life. Jane remains in monthly contact with my family and I through email and I do not exaggerate when I say that without the email contact things could be a whole lot worse for both Jane and her family. It’s a wonderful example of how technology can connect people physically and culturally separated, together in a positive way.

Jane now runs a small co-operative business venture bringing water into the slum area where she lives and which she sells onto the residents there. This business brings in about 2 euros a day which effectively doubles her income. The business employs another woman who is also HIV positive.

The money she has saved from this business has allowed her build a better toilet for her home and to buy things like mosquito nets for her family. It has also helped partly pay for her eldest son to attend secondary school. It never ceases to amaze me how efficient and effective Jane can be with the smallest amount of money.

We have become good friends so when I visit Kenya I make a point of visiting her to show moral support for all that she is doing. We normally meet in Nairobi on my way back home as I fly back to Ireland from there. This year I got ill in Mombasa which delayed my return journey to Nairobi and so I only had a day there before I left. I was still quite ill and a bit weak so I booked myself into a 3 star hotel called the Meridian Court in the centre of Nairobi which meant easy access to the airport and a good nights sleep!

Jane has a mobile phone which despite the enormous relative costs is now an essential item for anybody in the developing world. Through a couple of texts Jane and I arranged to meet at the hotel before I headed off the following day.

It was early evening time. I stood outside the hotel at the time we had arranged but there was no sign of Jane so I decided to ring her. I got through to her phone and asked where she was.

‘Gary, I can see you but I am nervous’ she said.

‘Come and meet me at the hotel entrance’ I returned.

There was a pause.

‘Ok’ she said.

A few minutes late Jane appeared out of the crowd and started up the steps at the front of the hotel towards me. She had been watching the front of the hotel from across the road. She was dressed impeccably but was extremely nervous and shy.

‘Let’s grab a coffee from the café in the Hotel?’ I suggested.

She looked at me aghast.

‘I cannot go in there’ she said her eyes indicating the hotel entrance.

‘Why not?’ I asked perplexed.

‘I have never been in a hotel in my life. They are not places for people like me…’

Coffee cost about a euro per cup in this hotel. I suddenly realised what I had done by asking her into the Café.

Perhaps I should have asked her to suggest somewhere else to meet but I did not. On this occasion I made the decision to insist she come inside with me, that it was my treat and so on. Its hard to know was it the right thing to do. Was this exposing her to a lifestyle she would never actually have? Or was it a simple treat that she would enjoy and remember for a few days – a momentary calm and respite in the storm.

She took my hand and we walked across the threshold of the hotel entrance together.

The Meridian Court Hotel is not exactly plush as Hotels go but it has an attractive lobby, the floor is marble and there is the usual leather furniture speckled about the reception area. Jane gazed about her in awe and wonder and I saw her smiling.

We went into the Café and I asked her what she would like to eat and drink. To help her I suggested various combinations of coffee, biscuits, pies, sandwiches etc.

She thought for a second.

‘Could I get a glass of fresh milk?’ she asked.

‘Why milk?’ I asked.

‘I have just come from the hospital from a check up. My doctor says I am run down and that it’s not good to be this way when taking the ARV’s. He recommended drinking milk’ she answered.

I was amazed that she would be this disciplined. Were the positions reversed with me standing in Browns restaurant on Stephens Green with the offer of whatever I wanted available to me, would I be able to stick to a green salad?

‘You can have whatever you want.’ I replied.

She looked at the food on display and picked out a pie. When she was asked by the attendant did she want it heated she looked at me for help. I nodded and she did the same. I told the attendant to make that two warm pies.

‘Can I get some food for my children?’ she asked.

I looked at her amazed. Here was an extraordinary woman, a saint in my eyes, who struggled every day to survive and yet when a moment came where she could treat herself she was still thinking of helping her children. She humbled me. That this amazing woman felt unable to cross the threshold of the hotel, metaphorical barriers that wealth has put up to protect itself, was appalling.

And so it was that we sat together eating warm pies, Jane drinking milk, me drinking tea, with a round of sandwiches for her children in a white plastic bag on the table. We sat there for about an hour chatting about life. She told me the extent of her life’s ambition given her circumstances.

‘I am unable to have any more children’ she said.

‘If I can manage to get all my children through secondary school I will be happy with life’

I was stuck for words. What do you say in a moment like this? I could utter the usual platitudes that life was worth living, that there was more to life than raising children, that life was there to be enjoyed etc but it felt utterly empty and meaningless here. Here was a woman who was HIV positive because her husband had slept around, who was stigmatised accordingly because of the disease, who was living in abject poverty with three children one also HIV positive but who had found the will, the strength and the courage to battle on and support her family. There was nothing more to say. I just bowed my head.

When Jane left I went up to my room to think. Something important had just happened and it has taken me till now to identify what that was.

Jane had crossed the threshold of the hotel only when I had encouraged her. She would not have done that without my encouragement. However, once she had crossed over, a wonderful rich human exchange had happened between us. Most importantly she had, without knowing it, made me feel truly human. That’s the best way I can describe how it felt.

This kind of connection does not happen very often in life. It is very rare for people from the opposite sides of the opportunity divide to meet face to face. And yet something wonderful inevitably seems to happen when those connections are made.

It would seem though that those of us on the opportunity side need to proactively nurture those connections. They will not happen easily without our active conscious involvement. In fact they may not happen at all and the divides can also grow…

In the western society of abundance, human connections between those that have and those that have do not happen. In fact these connections are discouraged as a focus on individual gain becomes the most important goal. Without the perspective these connections bring, those that have can become more selfish and insular whilst those that have not can feel despair and alienation.

It has always struck me that the wealthier we become the higher we build the walls around our houses.

In developing world societies where resources are scarce the human connections are nurtured out of necessity but in doing so powerful positive human qualities are nurtured and prevail. Social fabric in these societies is amazingly strong. People really do look after one another and it seems completely wrong that a society lose this dimension in the pursuit of wealth.

It starts though with every individual. How often do we actually cross these kinds of thresholds in our lives? How often do we actually pro-actively go out and meet somebody less fortunate than ourselves?

It seems really important that these kinds of connections across opportunity are made and even encouraged. In particular it would seem to be really important to create links between the most and least advantaged. Volunteering suddenly seems like something everyone should do no matter what their position in life might be?

We will always have excuses not to engage though….

These kinds of connections, these meeting of the waters can be extremely troublesome and even upsetting at times. They can appear risky, challenging and possibly even uncomfortable.

Human beings though are not designed to be safe and secure and insular.

Ships are safe in a harbour but that’s not what ships were built for…

Back in Dublin

I arrived back in Dublin last night. I left the Meridian Court hotel at 5.15am in the morning and arrived in Dublin at 8.00pm (10.00pm Kenya time). It was a long day!

This morning I opened up the mail I had received over the last month and discovered that I have unpaid bills of about 2000 euros to pay! Everything from my mobile phone (which I did not use), broadband (which I did not use), electricity, TV licence, house insurance, tax on the car, property management fees, a speeding ticket etc etc...

2000 euros is the average salary of two people in Kenya.

Its does make you think!

Anyway, back to the hamster wheel, running to stand still etc...

It is good to be back though despite!

Gary

A day in the life of..

I did not plan to spend a day with a family here. I struggle with that concept to be honest. I struggle with the idea that we can 'plan' a program around exposure to poverty as a personal growth experience unless its very clear what the outcomes are. However, the following story just happened quite by accident.

Last Wednesday, whilst recovering from the respitory tract infection, I found myself in a two roomed house - one of a number of units in a block of 20 - with a small family consisting of a young single mum, her two children, her two sisters and her house help. This small family is by no means representative of abject poverty. The mum has a good job and earns about 200 euros a month.

The only way single mums can survive out here is through the use of what is known as house help. These 'helpers' are women with no children of their own, who live 24 hrs a day 7 days a week in the house looking after the children, cleaning and cooking for them. They get about 15 euros a month but are fed and have a roof over their heads.

The day began with breakfast - some chapati bread and spiced Chi (tea cooked in milk, sugar and spices). The children were then brought to school by the house help. On this occasion the childrens Mum and I went with them as the previous day the children had been sent home because there was a balance of 800 schillings (about 8 euros) outstanding on the school fees. The mum was really upset because her 7 year old had missed a day of exams accordingly. I had encouraged her to complain to the headmistress and she asked me to come along for moral support - hence my presence!

The road to the school led through a dump. All along the way I could see slum like dwellings with no sanitation or power. The underbelly of society here is really not far from the road....

We got to the school, we got to meet the head mistress and then I stood back and let the mum have her say. I found myself just outside the door looking into an open countyard in the middle of the school. Suddenly a heavily built man dragging a young girl of about 8 burst into the middle of the yard. The girl was made hold out her hand and then he hit her repeatedly with a willow like cane till she burst out crying. Then she was literally thrown into the corner and another girl was dragged out for the same. About 8 young girls were punished this way. Then a boy about 10 years old was dragged out. He was made lie on the ground and the man repeatedly hit him across his backside - again till he cried. He was then thrown into the group of crying girls in the corner. More boys were beaten. One child, clearly younger than the others refused to lie down so the man beat him with the cane around the thighes till he complied...

I looked on utterly aghast....then he noticed me watching. He came over panting heavily from his exertions, and introduced himself.

'What did the children do to deserve such punishment?' I asked.
'These are bad children - they need to be whipped' he answered.
'But what did they do?' I asked again.
'They were talking in class - they were disturbing others - so they were whipped' he replied.

Children being whipped for just exercising their natural curiosity and desire to communicate. The legacy of an educational system really about control rather than empowerment.

The most distrubing part of this story is that the man left me and went back to the group of huddled crying children. He then circled them brandishing his cane menaciingly whilst giving them a lecture. The man clearly enjoyed the power he held over the children who were all fearfully staring at the ground now.

My biggest regret is that I did not take a photograph of what happened. I only found out a few days later that corporal punishment has been banned in Kenya since 2005 and this very school was taken to court a few months ago for breaking those rules by a mother of one of the children here.

We left the school to do some shopping for the house. The mum had recently acquired her first ever fridge and wanted some help getting food for it. We used local transport to get to the supermarket (Matatus - converted hi ace vans that hold about 12 people at a time and move between fixed places in the city). It cost about 15 schillings (15 cent).

We got basic things like eggs, sausages, bread, milk, yogurts, drinks, snacks etc in bulk. To see the look on the mums face as she instantly relaised how much easier it would be now to feed her family was lovely to watch.

I bought some small modelling clay sets for the children as a treat.

By the time we had got back to her house the children were back for lunch. They looked so cute in their uniforms which were patched and repaired but ironed as well as one could. When their mum arrived their faces lit up and they ran out to get a big hug and kiss.

We had lunch together which was a bowl of rice some chapati and sauce. The children were given some fruit and some juice and then the house help walked them back to the school. It was about to rain so she brought with her two baby umbrellas - the kind you might see in a pound shop back in Ireland. I watched them walk away and was really struck by the image of three women in prison. The house help was effectivly a slave and the two children were in a school where their natural exuberence would be beaten out of them in time.

The young mother had to do a report on an incident in work for her boss. It was patently clear that the company was looking for a scapegoat given what had happened so I helped her write the report (in her own language) that absolutely exonerated her of any wrong doing. We did everything in the nearby cyber cafe. I showed her the wonderful google docs concept and said if she needed advice on documents that we could use this tool when I was back in Ireland - its a fantastic innovation from the google team!

Back to the house and it was close to dinner time. The house help had prepared dinner - spaghetti and potatoes in a gravy sauce. It was actually very tasty. The family eats meat about twice a week.

Then we revealed the modelling clay sets to the two children. Two sets that had cost less than a euro each. In the future if I ever need to remind myself of gratitude I will think back to the looks on the faces of these two children as they stared in awe at the two sets that I handed them. Two children whose most expensive toys in their short lives were a teddy bear each.

We sat and played with the clay. The mum made the alphabet using different colours. Then she showed them how to make cups and saucers and plates, then we made jewellery and then we made animals and birds. The egg boxes we had bought earlier became the store for the different clay colours. The plastic bags for the shopping the play area, empty bottles rolling pins and so on. For three hours I just watched amazed as this young mum and her two little angels laughed and played and learned.

Despites the confines of the space and the number of people present it never felt confined. Nobody has personal space in houses like this but people just get on with it. How much we take for granted....

Bedtime came and the children got into their pjamas - too big for them but thats the way with clothes here when children are growing.

The youngest child was scared to go to sleep because she had a broken nail that was hanging off and it hurt her at night when it snagged against the sheets. There was not a scissors in the house sharp enough to clip the nail so the mum was hoping it would just fall off in time.

I happened to have my swiss army knife with me and offered to try and clip the nail. I made the mistake of showing the poor little girl the knife and terrified her. She kept insisting she did not have Malaria for some reason and then her mum explained that she had been taken to hospital recently with Malaria and the staff had her hurt her with an injection. Anytime somebody tries to help her medically now she just cries that she does not have Malaria...poor little thing.

Anyway, I let her cut my nails with the scissors and that helped her relax. Finally but very fearfully, she offered me her sore finger and then hid her eyes behind her other hand. I felt as much pressure in this operation as I am sure a brain surgeon does when removing a tumour!

Thank God for the wonderful sharp steel in the swiss army penknife! In one quick painless snip the nail was removed much to the delight of the baby girl. She looked at her finger and then back at me and beamed a golden smile that would melt an ice berg. We put a plaster around the finger, she hugged her mum then quite unexectedly she hugged me and then she bounced off to bed.

I left the house about 11.00pm and made my way back to the hotel. What a day and it was only one day. Maybe we have just made life too complicated? So much so that we have lost that sense of beauty in simplicity? Of course resources can make life easier but they can also sanitise our lives too. It never ceases to amaze me how the human spirit rises when faced with scarcity and how it diminshes when immersed in abundance.

Suddenly I thought again of my great friend John Moriarty. How he would have enjoyed a day like this.

Light and Dark

If anybody close to me is reading this know that I am fine and in good health (otherwise I would not be able to write this note!) but I have been sick again the last few days. On the exact day that the camara volunteers flew home I developed a respiratory trach infection and a fever and had to go see a doctor for treatment. I have effectively been stuck in bed for the last three days but am out and about today still a little weak but on the mend. In the time I was in bed lots of good wishes and help was provided by many of the wonderful people I have already written about in this blog. From free food, lucozade, phonecalls and bedside chats, I am extremely grateful to everyone. It makes me realise that as we give we create a safety net of care. As we take we diminish that safety net....

And whilst I was laid up something remarkable has happened. I am now completely confident that the Mombasa Digital Hub will happen and with some luck will be open this year. We convinced some local businessmen to seed fund the start-up costs of the project.

This truly is a pioneering project. It will mean that Mombasa will have a centre similar to our workshop on castleforbes road along with a significant computer training and maintenance facility that will support the 60 plus schools that have Camara computer labs in Kenya. This hub will be able to generate income from cyberservices and training and will be able to enable more schools as its capacity grows.

I am actually really proud of what we have acheived so far. Its taken a lot of hard work but it truly has come together wonderfully.

Its a wonderful concept that has emerged from our experiences, dialogues and engagements with our partners here on the ground. It is something they want, its something they have designed and most importantly it is something they know they have to sustain.

I have no idea why life has conspired to make me ill during this phase - perhaps it is symbolic of the final letting go....the final hand over to those that will truly own the project.

The Orphanage

Two days ago I visited an Orphanage in Likoni. It was set up about seven years ago by a Baptist church to offer a'home' to street children in Mombasa. There was a staggering number of orphans in the area in the mid to late nineties on account of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, with ARV'S now more readily available the number of new orphans has decreased over the last number of years.

Some of the children in the orphanage had been there from the start. Their accomodation is extremely basic but they get schooling and food every day. The problem is that many of the children are very old and still in primary school on account of starting school so late. The orphanage thought it might be a good idea to setup a computer lab to give the older children ICT skills. They are constantly trying to find innovative ways to give these children dignity in life...The children are always welcome back to their 'home' at any time.

Before I visited the orphange I had serious doubts about this as an idea. Then I met George and his brother Michael.

George is 17. He is striking looking - extremely well formed features and he is well built but its his eyes that capture you immediately. He has clearly been traumatised.

We stood with him outside the dorms whilst the pastor gently asked him questions about his life. He answered the questions with a dignity I honestly cannot put into words. He was clearly trying to hold back tears but he stood up right and bravely and in soft slow sentences looking straight ahead he told his story...

Both his parents had died of TB. His mother had died about seven years ago and his father who had been seriously ill for years had only died two years ago. However, as the oldest child it was his responsiblity to look after younger brother Michael. From the age of 10 he was on the streets with the responsibility of caring for his dying father and looking after his younger brother of 5.

I stood there listening to the story and I am not ashamed to say that it was impossible not to cry.

Michael then arrived with a big beaming smile on his face and George instinctively put his hand on his brothers shoulder. In the context of what I had just heard it was a human gesture of titan proportions.

I looked at the two of them, the last remnants of their family and realised how love transcends everything. George had given so much to make sure his brother was protected from life. George now, more than anything else in the world, needs love. It may sound trite but that actually is the truth. And perhaps volunteers coming out and teaching ICT to someone like George might provide a bit of that - ICT skills aside, people demonstrating that they care about someone else is a potent force. Micheals beaming smile was testimnoy to that.

For a long time now I have been 'academically' talking about how important it is that people from either side of disadvantage meet. So ICT experts in projects like the clubhouse and camara connecting with people disadvantaged means a lot more than just imparting ICT skills.

Well George has given me the courage to say that at the heart of projects like the above its all about love and compassion. Institutional Education as it presently stands does not help us to teach us to love and that is fundamentally where it fails....

Charlotte

Charlotte is 25 years of age, is a single mum with a child of 4. She cleans my hotel room every day (poor girl - I am not the tidiest). The room is always spotless when she is finished despite it being only one room of the 20 that she is responsible for on my floor. There are no washing machines - everything is hand washed including sheets and towels. I often see her scrubbing away on the hotel rooftop in the afternoon where she washes and dries everything in the Mombasa tropical sunshine. She works 12 hours a day 6 days a week.

For her troubles she earns about 2 euros a day.

Over the last few weeks I have got to know her through short chats we might have as I am leaving the hotel in the morning when I have to leave my key with her. She is very shy but amazingly calm about life and really grateful for her job.

A few days ago I had a brief chat with her as usual and noticed that she was not herself. However, I have pretty dulled sensitivity at the best of times so I let it go and went out to catch a taxi to take me to a meeting. I was about 50 metres from the hotel when I realised that I had forgotten my phone so I came back to the hotel and found my door ajar. I could hear somebody crying inside.

Charlotte was sitting on my bed with her head in her hands crying.

I sat down beside her and asked her what was the matter. She would not tell me and just kept sobbing. Then one of her friends came into the room and told me that Charlottes child had been rushed to hospital that morning and had been diagnosed with a combination of Malaria and Typhoid. She was in serious need of medical attention and Charlotte was not able to pay the medical fees to have her child treated.

'How much are the medical fees' I asked.
'2000 schillings(about 20 euros)' was the reply.

What do you do in a situation like this? If you scratch under the surface of any local person here you would be faced with a tragedy like this every time. Development 'experts' tell us that we cannot intervene at times like this. It clinically reminds me of going on safari - even when you see animals engaged in the cruellest of acts you are not supposed to intervene - it can cause more problems than it solves...I heard it all before and yet it was counter to every human instinct in me to just stand there and just offer my condolences.

So I gave her the money for her child.

Some of you reading this will say that that was wrong - that it is not sustainable, that what happens next week when I am not there etc etc? I have no real answer to be honest. I spoke to Charlotte this morning and Natasha (her child) is improving every day. She is smiling again and somehow that feels like justification.

The human response to help honestly gives me hope about our species. It might be blunt and clumsy at times but surely there is more to it than just 'creating dependancy'?

Penultimate day of the Kenya Camara project

Tomorrow the Camara volunteers fly back to Ireland. They all boarded the Mombasa Nairobi train yesterday evening and had expected to arrive in Nairobi this morning at about 10.00am. I have remained on in Mombasa to put some final finishing touches on the Mombasa digital hub project and to take a break.

As I write this the volunteers are still on the train! Apparently the train moved for about ten minutes out of the station and then stopped for a couple of hours - a pattern that was maintained over the entire 700 km journey to Nairobi!

They will kill me when I get home as I recommended the journey given that it is one of those famous train journeys that everyone should do in their life. The Nairobi-Mombasa railway line passes through Tsavo national park - the home of the most famous man eating lions in history. Two male lions (unusual in itself as male lions are very solitary, territorial animals) killed over 100 people building the railway line and were incredibly difficult to hunt down. The Masaai translation of their names was the 'Ghost' and the 'Darkness' (one of the lions was albino if I remember correctly) and a film was made about them about ten years ago. The lions stuffed bodies are in the Mombasa museum - they are truly colossal creatures...

Anyway, the volunteers went on the train by night so they were not even able to see Tsavo!

I will miss them - they are all, to a person, fantastic people, but I am also looking forward to the free time ahead over the next few days!

Nathan

Nathan is a Tuk-Tuk driver(Tuk-Tuks are 3 wheeled motorised vehicles that are effectively modern rickshaws). He is 57 years of age and wants to retire within the next 3 years. He has five daughters all married and used to work for Kenya Railways for 26 years. His brother had invested in the Tuk Tuk and Nathan became the driver so they shared the profits which in a good month meant he earned about 150 euros. He works a 14 hour day 6 days a week - 7.30am - 9.30pm. We met yesterday by chance and he gave me his phone number...


At midnight last night it was necessary to take one of the volunteers to hospital. He had developed a significant fever, he was extremely weak and his body was shaking. In circumstances like this you have to suspect Malaria. The problem of course is that we have a rule in Camara that we do not travel at night. Thats not because it is so dangerous from a crime perspective, its mainly because more things go wrong at night than during the day. Many of the vehicles here do not have lights for example and many of the roads are unlit. Combine that with pot holes that a 4 wheel drive would struggle with and you get the picture!

Anyway, we decided to go to the hospital. I needed transport and was very uneasy just waving somebody down on the street. Nathan had told me he only worked till 9.30pm each night but I was desperate and took a chance convincing myself that I would pay him more than a normal fare to make it worth his while. So I rang him and got a very weary reply - clearly I had just woken him up. I explained the situation and he said he would be over to the hotel within 15 minutes...

....And he was. He picked up my friend and I and took us to the hospital and said he would wait till we had finished there. My colleague needed to be admitted and so it took about 2 hours before everything was sorted out.

Finally, with all the paperwork done I left the hospital and Nathan took me back to the hotel.

When we arrived I asked him for the bill with the full intention of giving him more than he asked for.

He just looked at me and smiled.

'No bill' he said.
'This was not business - this was just helping a friend'

I just stared at him in amazement. I was just witness to an extraordinary gesture of kindness that left me humbled to the core. As I was clutching my wallet I truly felt like that camel struggling through the eye of the needle.

What else can I say except to once again emphasise that despite bringing computers and IT training to schools here I am the one really being taught about life....

Under the weather

I have been a little ill over the last few days. Nothing serious, its simply inevitable that you get ill out here at some stage given the conditions we are working and living in.

However, one of the volunteers got quite ill over the last few days so I brought him to the Aga Khan hospital in Mombasa. You might think is that a good idea? Is the health system in Africa any good at all?

Well it is true that first rate health care is not available to the average person here remembering that the average person in this country lives on less that 50 euros a month.

We arrived at the hospital. Following check in, a nurse took my colleague and did a load of basic measurements including blood pressure, weight check and heart rate checks etc. She also took blood and urine samples and a stool sample.

15 mins after arriving at the the hospital we saw a doctor who went through a rigorous set of checks again. My colleague, who is an experienced traveller and who had had Malaria before was concerned that he had contracted Maleria again. The doctor said he would look into it and left the two of us.

30 minutes later the doctor returned with some carefully wrapped drugs for my friend. The doctor explained that my colleague had increased white cell activity in his blood and he was dehyrated. He had no Malaria and early tests from the stool sample had ruled out anything serious in the bowel.

The doctor had actually been involved in the tests himslf and had ordered and packed all the drugs as well!

So in the space of 1 hour we left the hospital reassured and equipped with the correct drugs for treatment. I was astonished - it was a health system that put our own back in Ireland to shame....

That all happened yesterday. My friend is feeling much better today. The cost for the entire process including the anti-biotics? - 500 schillings (about 5 euros).

Thats still way beyond the average person here however it does mean that the expertise and systems are in place. As I have said before we have so much to learn from the developing world....

Mombasa Digital Hub

Camara recognises that the long term sustainability of its operations is going to depend on building what we are calling digital hubs in the developing world. These hubs will essentially emulate what we do in the Dublin refubishment centre but will also capacity built ICT epxertise on the ground out here through providing training and ICT services to the Camara equipped schools and local business. In time these centres will become digital hubs in the region taking computers from anywhere they want, refurbishing them and maintaining them around an 'Open Source' philosophy.

Mombasa is goin to be our first hub. To date we have located a marvellous premises on the grounds of the Sheikh Khalif school with the management of the school prepared to fully support the project and integrate its operations into their vocational training curriculum.

The Sheikh Khalif school is one of the top secondary schools in the area and has a great alumini association who we have agreed to partner with on this project. The Alumini group consists of local business men and women who were graduates of the school and who now want to give something back to their community.

The refurbishment centre will be housed in a couple of old disused vocational workship training areas on the campus. These workshops have fully 40 foot trailer access and are ideal for a refurbishment center. They are secure have a good supply of readily availible ICT expertise and have the space and operational capacity to run smoothly.

Basically the plan would be to ship pre-tested and data wiped computers to this centre where the full refurbishment, loading of the open source operating system and educational software and cleaning of the machines would take place. Serious training of personnel needs to be done in advance and Camara would commit to doing that in davcne of the centre becoming fully operational.

The final piece of the jigsaw is to get some local capital to fund the start-up and adminstrative costs of the project. We are working on that.

Likoni Island

Likoni island is just off the coast of the main Mombasa island. There is a circular car ferry system of three huge ships constantly moving people and lorries between the two islands. Likoni is considered one of the poorest places in Kenya mainly because it is filled with people from all different nationalities trying to find work and opportunity in Mombasa. It is the 'cheapest' place to live in Mombasa and that effectively makes the island one huge slum.

I managed to connect with the minister for Heritage here in Kenya who is from this area and he arranged a visit to the island with some of his officials. I have seen some shocking poverty in my time but this place was up there with the worst I have seen. The worst pictures I cannot show because I had to hide my camera at one point...(and also my son reads this blog - sorry Osh!)

There are twenty schools on the island of Likoni. Initially the government officials wanted to buy computers directly from Camara and they would look after equipping the schools on the island. Needless to say I disagreed given that it is election year! In this country you have no idea how those computers could be used in an election campaign! So after some hard negotiations they agreed to provision all the schools with the necessary infrastructure to support a computer lab and then following this Camara would supply computers directly to the schools...

If we can do something significant on the island of Likoni I think we could have an impact almost anywhere...

Weaved Bags

I have been ill for the last few days having eaten something dodgy on the way back from Lamu. I am normally careful with what I eat the first few weeks and then I start taking risks and as usual I end up getting ill. As a result, I was not in the best of form yesterday morning as I was stared forlornly at breakfast in the open air restaurant next to the hotel I am staying in.

Hawkers come up to you every morning and try to sell you stuff as you are eating. Its hard to remain patient with them because it is an endless and persistent stream of people with all kinds of wares on offer and I often find myself being very dismissive to them as time goes by.

After yesterday I really regret doing this.

As I was sitting there nursing my upset stomach aand feeling sorry for myself a man came up to me and showed me the baskets he had handweaved the night before. He was middle aged, really impecably dressed in simple clothes, soft spoken and polite. He had five baskets under his arm and they were 200 schillings each (just over 2 euros).

I was tired and irritable and waved him away with my hand syaing I was not interested. He bowed said thank you and left.

Almost fourteen hours later around 11.00pm I found myself sitting in the same restaurant about to go to bed. I had spent most of the day lying down and had a sense that my stomach problems were under control. I was chatting with one of the bar maids who I had befriended during the day on account of moaning all the time about being sick and she had taken pity on me (pathetic I know...) when the same man with the baskets came back. He had three of the same baskets left having sold two during the day. He had made 400 (about 4 euros) schillings for his efforts.

Once again I waved him away. Once again he bowed and said thank you but as he walked away I saw a look of awful desperation on his face. It was just a moment but it was enough to feel his pain. Then the bar maid told me that this man had a family of four children and that he weaved baskets to support his family and that today had been a bad day for him...

I felt utterly ashamed and told the bar maid I would buy the rest of his bags to help and I went to leave the seat to go after the man. She pulled me back and looked at me strangely.

'Why would you buy something you do not want' she asked.
'Because it will relieve this mans pain' I answered.
'It will help him tonight but on no other night' she answered.
'If his bags are not selling he will try to do something different that will'
'Life is tough here but you can only survive if you learn from your mistakes'

Hopefully I am beginning to learn from mine.

Reflections so far

I am back in Mombasa and its 2 weeks into the trip. Its been a hectic few weeks since I arrived and there is so much to think about and relfect upon already. The overwhelming feedback so far is that the program is working. There are issues around maintenance of the computers but I am much more confident now that the issues can be resolved. I have been underestimating the capability and commitment of the local people here and as usual they have humbled me with their ingenuity and capacity to solve the hard problems. Here are some reflections so far:

What is working:

(a) Getting the computers to a port in Africa is now well understood and working.

(b) Having a single partner on the ground to clear the computers from the port is the way to go.

(c) Having multiple recipient partners to take the computers works and avoids just one particular groups interests being served.

(d) The vast majority of schools receiving the computers put in place the electricity and secure arrangements in advance of receiving the computers.

(e) Clustering schools and getting them to agree to a common maintenance policy is affordable and works really well.

Where we need to improve:

(a) Would strongly suggest using one version of one operating system only. Edubuntu version 7.0 for example. Its easier to train on and upgrade if need be.

(b) Would vastly increase the Camara Wikipedia each year as specifications on the computers increase. Would also make it homepage of offline browser.

(c) Would include a course on logo programming as it is a part of Edubuntu (just discovered this!)

(d) All Camara computers should be able to play DVDS and MP3 files.

(e) Would try to arrange printing facilities in advance with schools. Perhaps recommend a printer?

(f) Would include a number of USB keys with the computers.

(g) Would include a significant hardware course in training section.

(h) Would include spares in each shipment.

(i) Each school should get a hard copy of Skillbuilder.

(j) Create user accounts rather than root accounts

(k) Would have a 2 tier training system. First year would be basic skills, following year would be advanced skills.

(g) Need to identify a key technical eprson in each school and spend extra time with them during training.

Establishing a Camara refurbishment center here in Mombasa is definitely the way to go. This centre would be able to take in and refurbish computers from anywhere, would have the capacity to repair, upgrade and tweak computers and provide training and support to the schools in the region. In time its operations could be self sustainable through finances made from its training facilities. (I appreciate this is a sweeping statement but a full business plan has been put together and it really does look possible).

I am going to try and meet some potential local donars and groups over the next few days to see can we get this up and running before the end of the year.

Bandit Territory

The road north of Malindi to Lamu is in bandit country. Occasionally buses are hijacked along the road and so it is necessary to bring an armed gaurd with you on the bus. Obviously you would prefer if the bus did not break down in this region but as usual with me that is exactly what happened! The road is dreadful - a four wheel drive would struggle on it - and on the way back to Mombasa we had a massive blowout on one of the rear tires.

Normally I do not worry about these things but as you get a bit older you realise how fragile life and the human condition actually is so on this occasion I was a bit worried. Then something wonderful happened....a group of beautifully dressed Masaai women came out from the nearby village to try and sell things like milk and chickens. It was a welcome distraction whilst the lads were fixing the bus!

Mangroves

I took a break today and took a boat trip into the Mangrove Forests north of Lamu. There are some old 16th Century ruins to be seen - the original settlement in this area before the move to Lamu because of poor water supply.

You took a sialing boat into the middle of the Mangrove forest and then a canoe up the final stretch which was very shallow.

The village ruins were really interesting with the walls of a Mosque and many dwellings still standing.

As I was passing through the Mangrove forest I was really struck by how life can survive in the most challenging of cricumstances. How on earth did Mangroves develop the ability to live in salt water! Has anyone studied this amazing tree? There has to be something significant in its makeup that might yield some secrets on harnessing the energy in salt water...

Computers arrive in Lamu

The second computer shipment arrived for Lamu this evening. It was quite amazing. The computers arrived by a truck with its trailer filled with sand to protect the computers on the treacherous road up to Lamu. They were then unloaded by hand and put onto a ferry. It was incredible to think of the journey these computers had made to finally arrive here. 75 computers arrived having travelled almost 5000 miles through the Straits of Gibraltar, the Suez canal, the Red Sea, the road from Mombasa to Lamu dock and finally this ferry journey across to Lamu. And they all worked!

I interviewed one of the local head masters and he removed any doubts I have about this project.

He was paasionate about education and urged Camara to continue what they were doing. His view was that technology literacy is as important as traditional literacy and numeracy and that it was crucial that the children of Lamu kept apace with that.

At this stage every school (8 in total) on the island of Lamu has a Camara computer lab. The intention is to get all the schools to work together, share resources and to come up with a long-term plan to maintain and sustain the program. Once you have a group of schools working together it becomes much more affordable to establish a maintenance plan. For example, each school can contribute about 100 euros per year to a central fund that employs a local expert to maintain the computers. This is the model that Camara will try to adopt as it moves forward. Cluster schools together and encourage them to put this kind of maintenance plan in place.

The picture here shows the computers being loaded onto the boat before heading for Lamu. The schools had got together and 'chartered' the local ferry service to transport the machines to the island. Once the computers arrived onto Lamu island they had to be transported by hand cart to Lamu Academy which was the agreed distribution point for all the other schools on the island.

The electricity supply is very erratic on the island so surge protection and ideally UPS systems are necessary to protect the computers. I was amazing to find that many of the labs on the island had invested in individual UPS systems for each computer!

Its quite extraordinary to see the local commitment around the computer labs and really does convince me that the Camara project is going places.

Lamu

I am writing this on Lamu island just off the North East coast of Kenya. Lamu is an amazing place. There are almost no mechanised vehicles on the island. Goods are moved around on Donkeys and hand pushed trolleys. In the main town itself the streets are literally shoulder width wide! There are 8 schools on the island. Last year Lamu Academy asked Camara for computers so despite the challenging issues around just getting computers to the island we agreed. On the basis of that decision all 8 schools have requested computers and over 100 computers have now been delivered to the island. The final shipment arrives today. We are hoping to capture some video of the computers arriving by boat and then being delivered by donkey to the schools.
Lamu is a world heritage listed site and it raises the question for me about how much we should interfere with life here. Is sending computers a good idea? I put this question to the headmaster of one of the schools and he said that even though life is good in Lamu people die young and there is severe poverty on the island. He beleives that education is the way forward and that computers are an inevitable part of that.
You do see dreadful poverty here and yet the laid back life with beautiful simplicity is something I feel envious of. How do we balance what we deem as progress which often means leaving an older more established way of living and sustaining life? I think of my great friend John Moriarty who recently passed away all the time when struggling with this question. I am sure John would say that the simpler life is the better life!
The more time I spend in Africa the more I realise how much we have to learn from them.

Heading to Mombasa

I arrived in Mombasa yesterday with three volunteers and we have met the Camara team down here. There are 13 of us in all in Mombasa. The scale of what we have to do over the next few weeks is staggering. We did one school in Nairobi in 3 days. We have 20 schools to do from Mombasa to Lamu over the next 4 weeks! Though that sounds challenging (and it is) many of the schools are 'clusters' so the training of the teachers is done a number of schools at a time. this is normal Camara policy as it means the schools support one another with maintenance etc when we leave.

Some remarkable developments have happened. If I am honest I worry about maintenance and on going support for the Camara labs. And certainly computers break down and need repairing however local umbrella organisations are now linking up with the schools and offering ongoing maintenance at the cost oif about 150 euros per year per school which is affordable.

Amazingly they have even found local partners to repair power supplies!

The plan is to build a Camara digital hub here based on refurbishment and open source software. Implicit in the model is ongoing support for all the schools...

Its going to be a challenge to setup the refurbishment facility up here but we beleive it is possible and indeed necessary - nearly 1000 Camara computers have been shipped to this region alone in the last two years and the demand is growing....

Gary

Josephine

Josephine is 15 years of age and is one of three children. her father died from Aids 2 years ago, her mum is HIV positive. Her older brother is HIV positive but she is not. There are suspicions that her brother was abused by the father.

She attends Gatoto primary school, is in class 8 (the last class before secondary school which lasts 4 years) and is one of the top students in the school. She hopes to get 400 out of 500 points in her final exams. If she was going to school in Ireland she should be considered an A1 student.

Till today she had never touched the mouse of a computer before. I spent the afternoon with her showing her how to use a computer. The offline wikipedia that we have installed on every machine fascinated her. Her enthusiasm to learn was incredible. Her absorption of knowledge amazing. She was particularly interested in medical information. Within an hour she was navigating around the computer asking all kinds of questions...'how does she print information...how does she write projects...what is email, the internet, multi media....'

I watched her as she worked. She was wearing a torn dishevelled cardigan, her hair and skin were immaculate, her shoes were made of shiny plastic and too big for her so they would last longer. Everything about her spoke of trying her best despite everything...it brought me to tears.

What do you want to do after school I asked her.

'I am working hard because I want to be a doctor' she answered without hesitation.
'Why a doctor' I asked

'There is so much need' she answered and then she paused.
'...and perhaps I could help my mum and brother with knowledge of medicine...'

What do you say when somebody of 14 years of age, living in absolute poverty, speaks of dreams like this?

I am absolutely convinced that eduation is the key out here and that technology can really help that cause. Even an offline wikepedia is a wonderful resource to someone like Josephine.

There are challenges in what we are trying to do but gosh they should never stop us trying...

Gary

Gatoto lab up and running

Its day three now in Gatoto and the computer lab is up and running. I know I have said it before but it truly is marvellous to look at the teachers and children using computers that could have ended up in a land fill site. The Edubuntu package is full of really useful tools. You can learn about the basics of the computer, mouse control, teach yourself to type etc right through to word processing, spreadsheets, an encylopedia and even astronomy and maths packages.

I learned all my computer skills on a commodore 64 with no hard disk and a tape recorder as a storage device....its amazing what is possible nowdays...

I have learned a few key things about the project:

(a) Only use one version of the operating system in a lab
(b) Trainers need full diagnotic tools and multiple copies of Edubuntu
(c) Hardware training (especially swapping out CD drives) is essential
(d) Every school should get a hard copy of skill builder (the Camara course)
(e) We need to look at networking and printing facilities some how (perhaps advising the school on what might be required. Problem is that networks are troublesome...

However, these are glitches and easily fixed. The people here want computers and want to learn about IT and this project is reaching schools and people that will never be able to afford new equipment and licensed software. Everyone I have met here on the ground (including people in development circles) recognises the problems around maintenance and support but beleives the project is moving everything forward...

Gary

First day teaching

Yesterday we did out first day teaching in Gatoto. As always there were complications - the computers that we had put the open source educational software onto all suddenly had windows on them! The guy who had setup the lab had assumed that was what he had to do...

Anyway we re-installed most the machines and the training went ahead.

The Gatoto children welcomed us with some wonderful singing and dancing - it was quite amazing...

More later - the connection here is not great

Gary

Camara Volunteers have arrived

I went out to the airport this morning at 6.30am to meet the Camara volunteers and needless to say the flight was delayed and we all finally met up at 8.30am. Anyway, Colin, Mona and Avril are staying in Nairobi with me for the next four days to attend to Gatoto school. Eileen and Kevin took the rest of the volunteers to Mombasa where the bulk of the work is...20 schools plus!

Its fantastic to be acquainted with such wonderful people! Despite the huge challenge ahead of the volunteers(I am glad they will only be reading this when they finish!), spirits are good and everyone is looking forward to it.

I am writing these notes in internet cafes and it is remarkable to see how many locals are using them as well. Usually in the past they were the haunt of the backpack community but that is changing every time I come here. There is no doubt that IT skills are becoming more established - the key would seem to be to get the people most disadvanataged skilled up too...

Gary

Gatoto computers have arrived

Two posts in one day - clearly I am trying to make best use of the good connection that I have here!

Just got news that the 25 computers for Gatoto primary school are in place. The camara volunteers arrive tomorrow morning at 6.00am (Sunday) and so training on the computers begins on Monday on schedule! The school is in Makuru slum which holds about 180,000 people most living on less than 1$ a day. Gatoto primary school is an extraordinary place run by fantastic local people. I really hope the computer lab can be a tremendous learning resource for all involved (including us!).

I am sure there will be issues - there always is - the key thing would seem to be to not shy away from the challenges!

The picture shows the raod into Gatoto school...

Arrived in Nairobi

Well I have arrived. By the far the most challenging part of the journey was to get through the enormous traffic in Dublin airport at 5.30am in the morning to get the flight to London. Gone are the days when you could arrive 30 minutes before a flight and be sure you would get it. I honestly could not believe how busy the airport was....

I am staying with the Mill Hill missionaries whilst in Nairobi. I was chatting with two of the priests this morning and was put to shame. Both men have spent over 40 years each in Kenya and had amazing stories of both success and disaster. That they had devoted their lives to serving people in need really struck me. I could not help but feel regret that people like this are not celebrated any more....

One man is heading to his home in Clare this evening. Most of his family have passed away. He will be hardly welcomed at all. Only last week, after discovering that a thief had broken into his house in Western Kenya, he saved the young man (trying to feed a drug habit) by fending off a lynching mob. He pleaded with the mob, armed with machettes, to spare the life of the thief....

Isn't this sad that people like this are not celebrated?

Anyway before I forget my phone number in Kenya is:

+254 721 239 658

Not that I am expecting you to ring but just in case you fancy texting me!

All good so far...

Gary

Penultimate day

Tomorrow I fly to Nairobi. As usual I have a million things to do before I go - somethings never change (Hence this post at 6.30am in the morning...!) Yesterday I picked up a minidisk player from Newstalk (thanks Aideen!) with the view to doing an audio diary of the trip. Newstalk might consider broadcasting the diary which would be wonderful. I just have to make sure its interesting;)

Gary

A good start!

I met one of my great hero's, Bishop Desmond Tutu, on Sunday. He was in Dublin presenting awards for the Niall Mellon Township Trust. I actually met Desmond Tutu in 1989 in remarkable circumstances. I was on my way to a Taize meeting in Wroclaw in Poland, was reading his biography 'Tutu: Voice of the Voiceless' by Shirley Du Boulay, in Heathrow, lifted my head and discovered him sitting two seats away from me in the waiting area. He was on holidays in the UK and waiting for a friend of his to arrive into Heathrow. We had an amazing conversation and he wrote something really special in my book which has meant a huge amount to me ever since. Me being me, I forgot to bring the book to the event hoping he might write something else! However, he loved the camara project and encouraged me to stay with it....a good start indeed!

Getting ready for Africa

I will be flying to Nairobi on Friday 29th June so the countdown begins. It looks like I will be staying in Nairobi for a few days to help with setting up the computer lab in Gatoto (www.gatoto.org) primary school in Makuru. I have been there before - a wonderful place.

We have had a couple of training weekends and meetings with the Kenya team - its a fantastic bunch of people and I am looking forward to spending time with them in July.

Gary

Travelling to Kenya In July 07

After a good few months procrastinating I have finally decided to bite the bullet and book my flights to Kenya this summer. I am going to be there for all of July. I am traveling out with Camara (www.camara.ie) a new Irish based organisation that refurbishes computers for distribution to schools in Africa