Arusha! [2020-01-25]
I am so grateful to report that our trip to Arusha went smoothly, and we are already deep in the midst of work. The Reneal Team visited three schools this week, working on a total of five Reneal computer labs. We also met with the Form 3 (grade 9) Reneal Scholars at Mwandet Secondary School. The highlight of the week though was beginning the installation of a major upgrade at Mlangarini Secondary School, replacing the existing thin clients with MacBook workstations generously donated by VMware.
Neal and I surely could not have made the journey to Arusha without an enormous amount of help. On Saturday afternoon, Board Member Sharon Fingold arrived at our home with a UHaul van. Our Parkmont do-it-all guy Martin Rodriguez and Martin’s friend Fabian loaded the 15 boxes of equipment and 2 duffel bags with tools and clothes. My former colleague Larry Brandt drove Neal and I over to the Peninsula to spend the night closer to the airport. Sharon and her husband Antonio were on the road with us to San Francisco International at 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. It was a complicated check-in process, but we finished in plenty of time to catch our 6 a.m. flight. With stops in Atlanta and Amsterdam, it was a L-O-N-G trip.
At the Arusha end, we had the usual incredible logistical support from the Arusha District Council and the Arusha Regional Office, coordinated by Reneal School Liaison David Nyangaka. We whisked through customs, and two vehicles were waiting to take us and the gear to Lutheran Centre where Neal and I stay. All of that baggage then had to be carried up several flights of stairs. It is always an extraordinary moment after the long and complicated trip to be standing in our room here at the Lutheran Centre surrounded by the boxes that have traveled thousands of kilometers with us. After weeks of preparation (and worry), what a wonderful feeling to finally be ready to do the real work!
Our usual work team consists of Reneal Computer Technician Robert Nyangaka and Evance Kessy from our partner NGO Arusha Node Marie. This year we are joined by new Reneal Computer Technician Erick Mneney. Erick has been serving as an intern at the Arusha Regional Office and comes highly recommended. We are thrilled to have his considerable computer skills joined with Robert’s. Evance is also highly experienced, working side-by-side with the Reneal Team for three years now. Although David can rarely travel with us due to his heavy workload at the Arusha Regional Office, he somehow continuously ensures that we have everything we need to keep our projects on track.
Our first school visit Wednesday was to Mwandet Secondary School. It was a full day at Mwandet: checking out the original Reneal Computer Lab, meeting with the Reneal Scholars, and updating the small MacBook computer lab for advanced-level students that was deployed in 2019. Neal wasn’t quite able to finish the last task by the end of the day, so we brought some of the equipment back to Lutheran Centre for further work. The Reneal Scholars shared with us their Form 2 National Exam results. Three scholars achieved Division I (the highest score), one received Division II, and two got Division III. We discussed their expectations and areas of improvement for the 2020 school year.
Thursday was Mlangarini! This is one of three high-performing Reneal schools that will receive the upgraded MacBook workstation labs. Neal and Robert started the day setting up and testing the new server and transferring the teacher and student files from the old server. Meanwhile Evance, Erick, and I worked with the Mlangarini Super Users Mr. Martin, Mr. Novatus, and Mr. Moses and some students to label and pack the old thin clients and set up the new MacBooks. Neal’s first task was to check out the capability to “push” new software updates automatically to the workstations from the server. The Mlangarini MacBooks had been packed a couple of weeks before departure, so this was a chance to send the software updates he’d made since that time. It worked beautifully! Along with the work, our Team got to see a demonstration by some students of a school website they are developing. Very impressive to see how far these students have come in their computer knowledge. While at Mlangarini, we also picked up the server from their mini MacBook computer lab installed last year for the use of the advanced-level students. Once Neal has made the final updates to the main Mlangarini server, he will make the same updates to both the Mlangarini and Mwandet A-level lab servers. [If you wonder how he keeps track of what servers go where… it’s not easy!]
Friday was a divide-and-conquer day for the Reneal Team. Neal and Robert headed back to Mlangarini to continue testing and work on the MacBook workstation system, while Evance, Erick, and I headed to Nduruma Secondary School. It was great to see Mr. Abdul and Mr. Joshua, the Nduruma Super Users! The lab was absolutely pristine, with everything in working order. We helped them make the new 2020 student list and fixed a small problem on the server.
The week ahead will be another complicated one, with the Neal/Robert duo spending time at Mlangarini to finish up there, while the Evance/Erick/Rene trio heads to other schools. We’re hoping that rain doesn’t interfere with our plans – that dust that we’ve seen in the fall in past years is deep mud in January. One day at a time, but we feel that we’re off to a good start. We are so grateful to our Team, to Arusha District Council and Arusha Region, and of course to our partners at the schools. Together we work hard to bring computers and technology to the students and teachers of Arusha District.
[Photo: Students at Mlangarini Secondary School doing webpage design with the new MacBook system]