The last few weeks have seen a lot of activity for Reneal Team Tanzania, as well as here at Reneal headquarters. It is a continuous challenge to balance our work’s past, present and future: maintenance of existing computer labs, installing new labs, and scouting for candidate schools for expansion. We have made great progress since the last blog post in each of these areas.
Since the last blog post, two new Reneal computer labs have come into existence! We are very happy to welcome Amani Abeid Karume Secondary School and Nkoarua Secondary School to the Reneal family! These new labs each have 20 laptops for use by students and teachers, generously donated by Apto Solutions. We are also grateful for the assistance of Reneal partners Habari Node and Arusha Node Marie during the installation work at Nkoarua SS, as well as financial support from the World Vegetable Center for the purchase of computer tables at Nkoarua.
Happy New Year! 2022 is a big year for Reneal, with our 10th anniversary as a 501(c)(3) coming up in April. And this is the 300th blog post since the first one back in March of 2013. We certainly could not have foreseen Reneal’s changes over the years since then. We will be installing our 50th computer lab in Tanzania in the next few weeks! And 2022 brings more exciting expansion, thanks to a continuing partnership with Apto Solutions. But Reneal also bids farewell to its earliest mission in the Philippines.
The equipment for Phase 3 is on the way! Thanks to another generous donation from Apto Solutions, seven more schools in Tanzania will be receiving computer labs! Three schools in Arusha District, one school in Meru District, two schools in Monduli District, and one school in Kondoa District (near Dodoma) have been selected; the latter two districts are firsts for Reneal. Right now, the boxes are scheduled to arrive next Wednesday. There is still a lot of work to do, but this is a big first step. Reneal is so grateful to Apto Solutions for this opportunity to reach more schools in Tanzania with technology!
Work toward the Phase 3 projects with Reneal’s generous donor Apto Solutions has continued since the last blog post. We picked up a big batch of equipment last week and have completed testing. As before, the computers are perfect for Reneal’s mission! Neal finished building the new servers and is close to the end of a major software update. Reneal Team Tanzania completed visits to the existing schools to make repairs and check out the servers. We still have installations of two new labs remaining from Phase 2, but these schools are close to being ready.
It’s been a very busy time for Reneal since the last blog post, including two new computer lab installations as a part of our Phase 2 program with donor Apto Solutions, Reneal Country Director David Nyangaka presenting a paper at the 1st International Conference on Digital Transformation in Dar es Salaam, receipt of the first set of laptops from Apto Solutions for the Phase 3 projects, and the (less glamorous) job of doing an update on all servers in Tanzania.
Last month, Reneal Team Tanzania began the 2021 Phase 2 work in Handeni District in Tanga Region. Thanks to a generous donation of laptop computers from Apto Solutions, six public high schools in Handeni District have new computer labs! Reneal’s latest Phase 2 project was much closer to home. Last week Reneal Team Tanzania installed a new computer lab at Arusha Day Secondary School, and they returned on Monday for Super Use training and Teacher Orientation.
In the last post, Reneal Team Tanzania was on the brink of departing for Handeni District in Tanga Region to begin the installation of the equipment generously donated by Apto Solutions. There was a slight delay in order for some of the schools to complete their computer room preparations, but the Team finally headed to Handeni last Saturday. I am thrilled to report that after six days of extremely hard work, there are now six schools in Handeni District with new computer labs! Congrats to Handeni District Council officials, School Heads, and Reneal Team Tanzania for this amazing progress!
Reneal Team Tanzania has continued to work miracles, installing the equipment donated by Apto Solutions in support of the 2021 Phase 1 projects. Four new computer labs were installed in May. Then during June, the Team expanded four very active existing Reneal labs in Arusha District. Anywhere from 10-17 units were added at each of these labs, giving more seats for student use. There is one more school remaining in this expansion effort, but it should be completed by early August. And now the Team is embarking on Phase 2!
It’s been a very busy time here at Reneal since my last post. In Tanzania, Reneal Country Director David Nyangaka worked day and night supporting Arusha Region as it hosted the annual visit of the National Torch. And here in the US, Phase 2 equipment from Apto Solutions arrived! We’ve been preparing the shipment that will bring Reneal computer labs to 11 additional public high schools in Tanzania. Thank you so much, Apto Solutions!
