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Countdown! [2016-01-11]

Suddenly we’re into 2016 and with that, a journey to the Philippines draws near.  How different it is these days, when I contrast packing now with our preparations in 2006 as we left for the U.S. Peace Corps.  Then we spent hours it seemed, deliberating over each item with things alternating between the “take” and “leave” pile several times.  Now?  Print out the list, make a gigantic pile that includes everything on the list, and then shovel it all into boxes and duffel bags and carry-ons.  It’s definitely nice to be so used to the process now!

This trip is complicated slightly by the fact that we’re taking five rather large server computers with us as airline baggage.  Long story, but we chose not to ship the servers in advance this time.  Neal will have to do a little bit of rebuilding once we get there, but it shouldn’t be too bad.  Otherwise all of the other equipment is already there and in position, waiting for our arrival.  Reneal board members Priscilla and Justin will deliver us early Thursday morning to the airport, and if the flights are on time, we’ll arrive in Compostela very late Friday night.

On this trip, we will be installing the Reneal system in five high schools in Cebu.  Unlike most schools in Tanzania, these schools all have some computers already but we’ll be adding computers at four of the five.  So what does it mean to “install the Reneal system”?  The key to the whole system is the server computer.  It includes all of the programs and will serve as the central repository for all of the files that are created by the users.  And in fact, almost all of the programs run on the server as well, not on the computer where the student or teacher is working.  Even though the existing computers in the schools are often 10 years old, they look much newer when they are connected to this powerful server.  So while a school may have 8-10 computers already, we both make those computers seem faster and add some additional computers to improve the student-to-computer ratio.

To make this all function, each of the computers must be connected to a network switch, which in turn is connected to the server computer.  Thus a big part of our work is creating network cables that run from each computer to the network switch.  We make our own, which is cheaper than buying pre-made network cables and allows us to make them a custom length.  We also have some work to do to make each of the computers “talk” to the server.  This turns out to be easier than one might think.  We don’t need to make changes to the hard disk, just a small change to something called the BIOS (a program that runs on start-up) to tell the computer to try to connect with the server through the network.  It seems like each computer has a little different version of the BIOS, so it can be a discovery process!  We also usually do a memory check on the computers to make sure the memory has no errors, and we will add memory if needed to have at least 512 Mb in each computer.  Team Philippines has become very efficient at doing these various tasks, while Neal sets up the server and connects the uninterruptable power supply (UPS).

What the school is left with is a system that is very easy to maintain, with centralized file storage and no viruses.  This is a huge time-saver for IT teachers!  Students can work at any computer in the lab and get to their files, and those computers don’t even need a hard disk (a common point of failure in older machines).  The internet, if a school has it, runs through the server which provides content filtering.  We have typically offered teacher training in the use of the system on our final day at a school.  This year in Cebu we will focus on the science and math teachers, since there are so many resources for them on the server.

Time to install has gradually gone down over the years, mostly due to the skill of Team Philippines and Team Tanzania.  We are planning four days per schools, but it will likely be less due to all of the work Jade has already done at the schools.  The extra time is helpful though, in case unexpected problems do arise!

We will also be doing some scouting on this trip for candidates for our second trip later in 2016.  We hope to install the system at two or three additional schools.  And we’ll be paying visits to some of the 15 schools that already have the Reneal system, identifying where we need to address hardware attrition and fix bugs.  In short, it will be a busy eight weeks but we’re looking forward so much to being back together with the teachers in Cebu!