Before I headed for Kenya this Christmas I was asked by the Camara Kenya hub staff to bring with me a good multi-meter and a set of professional screwdrivers suitable for laptop repair. Without going into the exact details I had an utterly frantic time just before traveling owing to a combination of bad planning, career chaos, financial challenges and voluntary commitments. Thankfully despite all this I was able to pick up the multi-meter and toolkit thanks to the generous donation of a friend.
The main reason the Camara Kenya staff asked for these tools is not because they could not afford them but rather because it is extremely difficult to buy good quality tools in the developing world. There is lots of cheap, poor quality tools available but they rarely last long. I realised that it is an important issue going forward. We should support the hubs in acquiring good quality tools.
It has been extremely hot out here since I arrived. Hotter than I have ever experienced before in Kenya. About 5 days ago just before I traveled to Lamu(an island off the north east coast of Kenya) I opened my laptop and almost immediately noticed that it was extremely warm in one corner of the screen.
Suddenly the screen went blank and the distinctive smell of burning rubber filled the air. I quickly turned the machine off and grimly thought of the consequences. My computer was now unusable and would have to be carried around as a completely useless extra bit of baggage for the rest of the trip. Thankfully I regularly backup everything so I had no worries about data loss.
If this had happened to me in Ireland I honestly would strongly think that this was the end of the road for this laptop. Burning rubber smells is not a good sign!
The night before I left for Lamu I told one of the Camara volunteers about my woes. He asked me a couple of questions about what lights were going on etc and what sounds the machine was making. When he heard my answers he reassured me that the laptop was repairable once he got it back to the hub.
His confidence reassured me although a part of me was saying that he was just giving me false hope.
The following day the same volunteer asked for the laptop and the last thing I saw and heard before grabbing the bus to Lamu was a bunch of volunteers huddled over the machine busily talking to one another in Kiswahili. I left the hub genuinely wondering was I making a mistake leaving a 1000 euro laptop in the hands of the volunteers....
A few days later when I arrived back in Mombasa the volunteer held out my laptop to me saying it had been repaired. A wire connecting the webcam had short circuited and so they had to remove it and so my computer had no webcam but otherwise it was working fine.
I turned it on and to my amazement the computer worked fine. They told me that as soon as the model of the computer I had became more available in Kenya they would repair the webcam with a 'spare' part. At the moment the model I had was not freely available.
It dawned on me that second hand equipment in Africa is essential for spares. Brand new equipment is actually a bad idea because if it breaks its hard to get essential spares. And believe me, it does not matter how new the equipment is it will break out here.
Camara has not run a 'laptop' repair course in Kenya. The volunteers have acquired these skills from a deep familiarity with using computers in their own environment and learning how to handle problems accordingly.
Its exactly what we want to see happening in the hub. Even at this stage in its short evolution highly skilled technicians are emerging with skills that can earn them a living and also support our expanding schools program. We need to not just get computers into schools and train teachers in ICT, we also need to develop a highly competent maintenance team to support the growing number of schools.
Another wonderful aspect to this short story is they used the tools I had brought from Ireland to repair my machine!
Thursday 24 December 2009
Wednesday 23 December 2009
Disability in Africa
It suffices to day that if you have a disability of any sort in the developed world life can be tough. If you have a disability in the developing world life can truly become a nightmare.
I have just come back from Lamu where I met a family(a German man and an Irish woman) passionately interested in building a school for people with disabilities integrated with a school for able bodied people on Manda island (just off Lamu). They have some funding and want to engage with Camara on the technical aspects of the project - everything from computers to networking and the supply of power (could somebody please invent an easy way to generate power for an island community in the developing world!).
Part of the reason the family are so passionate about building this school is their 25 years of experience living in Africa witnessing how awful life can be for somebody with a disability. Some of the stories included children being burned (to remove the devil from them), children being tied to a stake all day as you might do to a dog and much, much worse (so bad were some of the stories that I honestly cannot write them down here).
Amazingly they excused these awful acts on the basis of people being uneducated, superstitious and scared of the afterlife! This made me realise in a very direct way why education is so important in Africa. In fact I genuinely believe that ALL interventions in the developing world have to involve education or you are just wasting your time and valuable resources.
The wonderful thing about technology these days is that it can transform a persons life if it is used properly. A wonderful example of this is how Stuart Mangan was able to participate in life because of his ability to connect to a computer with his voice. Stuart had about the most extreme form of spinal injury that left him paralysed from the neck downwards and necessitated him using a ventilator. And yet through his voice he could use email, check his bills, text his friends, do research via the web, video conference his family and so on....
Wouldn't it be wonderful if these same tools were made available to people with disability in the developing world?
Well, this goal is not too far away. In Ubuntu (the free open source operating system we use in Camara) there is an accessible section being developed by concerned and brilliant programmers from all around the world.
As this part of Ubuntu evolves, so will expertise on its usefulness develop here in the hub. And one perspective will ultimately help the other.
I think it would be marvelous if Camara technology and people could drive the accessibility agenda in Africa....
****
When I was in Kenya during the summer I met a boxer called Dick 'Tiger' Murunga who at the age of 17, won a bronze medal in the welterweight division in the '72 Olympics. In 2002 Dick started developing health problems in his knees (probably due to over training as a boxer) and is now confined to a wheelchair. Since then he has been campaigning for the rights of people with disabilities in Kenya.
Earlier this year he was putting together a proposal for a huge accessible campus just north of Mombasa that included a sports center for Paraolympians, a hospital, a conference center and a resort for people with disabilities. The idea is to essentially allow people with disabilities to travel to Kenya in order to create awareness around the core issues people face here.
Things have moved on since then. Land has been acquired, funds are coming in and the plan is to start building the facility in the middle of next year. Check out the website:
http://www.dt72.org/
Dick is an extremely passionate man. He is also a real 'fighter' and I have no doubt that if anyone can realise this ambitious project he can.
If the project goes ahead, Camara will have an accessible lab on the campus.
I have just come back from Lamu where I met a family(a German man and an Irish woman) passionately interested in building a school for people with disabilities integrated with a school for able bodied people on Manda island (just off Lamu). They have some funding and want to engage with Camara on the technical aspects of the project - everything from computers to networking and the supply of power (could somebody please invent an easy way to generate power for an island community in the developing world!).
Part of the reason the family are so passionate about building this school is their 25 years of experience living in Africa witnessing how awful life can be for somebody with a disability. Some of the stories included children being burned (to remove the devil from them), children being tied to a stake all day as you might do to a dog and much, much worse (so bad were some of the stories that I honestly cannot write them down here).
Amazingly they excused these awful acts on the basis of people being uneducated, superstitious and scared of the afterlife! This made me realise in a very direct way why education is so important in Africa. In fact I genuinely believe that ALL interventions in the developing world have to involve education or you are just wasting your time and valuable resources.
The wonderful thing about technology these days is that it can transform a persons life if it is used properly. A wonderful example of this is how Stuart Mangan was able to participate in life because of his ability to connect to a computer with his voice. Stuart had about the most extreme form of spinal injury that left him paralysed from the neck downwards and necessitated him using a ventilator. And yet through his voice he could use email, check his bills, text his friends, do research via the web, video conference his family and so on....
Wouldn't it be wonderful if these same tools were made available to people with disability in the developing world?
Well, this goal is not too far away. In Ubuntu (the free open source operating system we use in Camara) there is an accessible section being developed by concerned and brilliant programmers from all around the world.
As this part of Ubuntu evolves, so will expertise on its usefulness develop here in the hub. And one perspective will ultimately help the other.
I think it would be marvelous if Camara technology and people could drive the accessibility agenda in Africa....
****
When I was in Kenya during the summer I met a boxer called Dick 'Tiger' Murunga who at the age of 17, won a bronze medal in the welterweight division in the '72 Olympics. In 2002 Dick started developing health problems in his knees (probably due to over training as a boxer) and is now confined to a wheelchair. Since then he has been campaigning for the rights of people with disabilities in Kenya.
Earlier this year he was putting together a proposal for a huge accessible campus just north of Mombasa that included a sports center for Paraolympians, a hospital, a conference center and a resort for people with disabilities. The idea is to essentially allow people with disabilities to travel to Kenya in order to create awareness around the core issues people face here.
Things have moved on since then. Land has been acquired, funds are coming in and the plan is to start building the facility in the middle of next year. Check out the website:
http://www.dt72.org/
Dick is an extremely passionate man. He is also a real 'fighter' and I have no doubt that if anyone can realise this ambitious project he can.
If the project goes ahead, Camara will have an accessible lab on the campus.
Tuesday 22 December 2009
Back in Kenya for Christmas 09
Ten days ago I arrived back in Kenya. This has been the first opportunity since then to write about the experience so far. A lot has been going on....
To begin with I must admit, that part of the reason I have written nothing down is because the blog entry before this is a difficult one to follow. 2009 has been a difficult year for me and for many great people that I know. Stuart Mangan's passing affected me deeply (and still does) and the Camara volunteer Robert Stringer, who was killed on Zanzibar in August shook me to the core. There were other things as well but this is not an appropriate forum to discuss them.
I needed to come out here for a couple of reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it is really important that I take a break and take some time to work out where I am going. My career and income means are on a knife edge right now and with this recession looking like its here to stay I face a difficult time financially over the next few months. I need time in a different environment to work out how to manage this period.
Secondly, Roberts death raised an extremely challenging question in my mind:
Is Camara worth it?
I have had many conversations with people since his tragic passing - all reassuringly positive encouraging me and the organisation to continue with its work - but niggling doubts linger within me. When you are intimately involved in something like Camara, I imagine these lingering doubts are not unusual. Nonetheless they trouble me and I want to address them head on.
So coming out to Kenya is also a way to really test my resolve and my belief in what we are doing. I hope to answer the above question once and for all by the time I get back to Ireland early January. I need the question answered because it will help with my decision making for the future.
The next couple of entries will begin that process.
To begin with I must admit, that part of the reason I have written nothing down is because the blog entry before this is a difficult one to follow. 2009 has been a difficult year for me and for many great people that I know. Stuart Mangan's passing affected me deeply (and still does) and the Camara volunteer Robert Stringer, who was killed on Zanzibar in August shook me to the core. There were other things as well but this is not an appropriate forum to discuss them.
I needed to come out here for a couple of reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it is really important that I take a break and take some time to work out where I am going. My career and income means are on a knife edge right now and with this recession looking like its here to stay I face a difficult time financially over the next few months. I need time in a different environment to work out how to manage this period.
Secondly, Roberts death raised an extremely challenging question in my mind:
Is Camara worth it?
I have had many conversations with people since his tragic passing - all reassuringly positive encouraging me and the organisation to continue with its work - but niggling doubts linger within me. When you are intimately involved in something like Camara, I imagine these lingering doubts are not unusual. Nonetheless they trouble me and I want to address them head on.
So coming out to Kenya is also a way to really test my resolve and my belief in what we are doing. I hope to answer the above question once and for all by the time I get back to Ireland early January. I need the question answered because it will help with my decision making for the future.
The next couple of entries will begin that process.
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