To chaos and back [2016-02-06]
We spent much of this week at Tabok National High School in Mandaue City. As always, it was a joy to get to know the students and teachers there! There are many similarities from school to school, since educational policy and curriculum are dictated at the national level here in the Philippines. However each school still seems to have its own unique rhythm and customs, and we enjoy the process of slowly adapting to them as the week goes by.
Jade had already been to Tabok earlier to unpack and set up the eight desktops and monitors donated by Reneal. However he had not had time to do the Ethernet cabling prior to our arrival. We were so thankful that the principal at Arcelo, Ma’am Pitogo, gave Jade permission to spend Monday with us at Tabok to do the “heavy lifting”. Ma’am Edna, the IT teacher at Tabok, also asked for a couple of student volunteers to help us. We were so delighted to be joined by Agel and Dave, two very serious and hard-working 10th graders who contributed tremendously to the installation effort.
The funny thing about installation is that we always seem to need to descend into complete chaos first before returning to an orderly IT lab. The green bag was fully disgorged of its contents, which completely covered a table. Every existing Tabok computer was opened up for CMOS battery replacement, big bundles of wire were strewn about as they were measured and trunked, the server and its companion parts were plopped on Ma’am Edna’s table – in short, the beautiful IT lab at Tabok descended into an apparent catastrophe. I am always so thankful that the IT teachers with whom we work seem to have faith that we will bring it back to order!
By the end of the first day, several miracles had indeed occurred. Jade and the Tabok folks had completed the cabling that went up and over the ceiling to the new clients. The server was set up and running, and we had several Ubuntu penguins alive already. We still had four computers that didn’t seem to want to boot to the network plus some wiring to finish, but it was a wonderful first-day effort!
Ma’am Edna had told us about some of the local delicacies from Tabok, and from then on we had so much fun trying several of them for our morning and afternoon snacks. I wish I had thought to take pictures, since they were both delicious and attractive. She also gave us and our gear a ride home Tuesday night. Given the traffic between Mandaue City and where we live in Compostela, plus the hassle of carrying the green bag and the box of cable on very crowded public transportation, it was a really a HUGE help to us. Wednesday morning we continued our work (by now, only two units would not boot), but Wednesday afternoon we had to make our now routine appearance at the Philippines Immigration Office to extend our visas. Thankfully the line wasn’t too long, so it went quickly. From there we stopped at the big mall in Consolacion to pick up some network interface cards before heading home.
Thursday we held the student and teacher orientation sessions. We were just so delighted with how the students jumped right in to trying the new applications on the system. Combined with our experience with Agel and Dave’s excellent help, we were left with a very positive impression of the students at Tabok National High School!
We have been so blessed to be helped with transportation by Ma’am Caren, one of the teachers at Compostela National High School. Her brother-in-law has driven us to work many days in Ma’am Caren’s personal car, saving us from an extremely long and hot commute. I really can’t say how much of a help this has been! Even so, we were both feeling pretty worn down by Thursday night, so yesterday we spent the entire day resting and relaxing at home.
Monday we’ll return to Mulao NHS to continue our work there. Monday is a holiday here, Chinese New Year’s Day, but even though there are no classes they will keep the doors at Mulao open for us. Even better, Jade will be joining us! We are excited to be heading back to Mulao and hope to finish up there by Wednesday, if all goes well. It’s been a great three weeks so far!
It’s perhaps a good time to mention again – the computers we find in the schools here are usually at least ten years old. They are lovingly maintained and we are able to use them with the Reneal system so they look like new. However we are always in need of more desktops, monitors, and laptops to replace units that die in spite of the care they receive. Please contact us if you have a potential donation!