Home again [2018-10-19]
Here in California, it’s 1 a.m. Friday morning. Back in Arusha, It’s approaching midday at the schools. For much of the last two months, at this hour we would have been well into our work for the day – installing a new computer lab, making repairs in an existing lab, talking with the computer teachers – with the sounds of the school surrounding us. How very strange it is to be back home suddenly without a school to visit tomorrow.
Our last few days in Tanzania turned out to be much more harried than expected. On Monday we visited Ilkiding’a Secondary School, a 2014 installation. They already had the new operating system on their server from last year, but Neal made enough updates on it to merit a complete rebuild of their server. He got that installed and shared with them the new features. The Super Users, Mr. Shudi and Madam Gladys, especially enjoyed seeing a demonstration of the Epoptes classroom management tool for computer teachers.
Neal devoted Tuesday to working with Robert Nyangaka, Reneal’s computer technician, to show him the new makeServer program. This program is yet another step forward in making the Reneal system turn-key so that the local team can do a complete installation (or refresh) of a school’s computer lab. My Tuesday was spent organizing and inventorying the gear to leave behind for Reneal Team Tanzania. Reneal School Liaison David Nyangaka worked on tying up many loose ends: getting some corrected certificates signed and printed, picking up a few more Reneal t-shirts to present to our team, arranging for the purchase of another box of Cat6 cable, and so forth.
Tuesday night we had a wonderful thank you party for everyone that contributed to the success of Reneal’s 2018 projects. Habari Node chairman Erik Rowberg was present, and we honored his professional staff for their pro bono work to support Reneal and the schools of Arusha District. Thanks so much to Sebastian Kyagara, Elibariki Melami, Prosista Andrew, Kevin Joseph, Benny Kimutuo, Victor Lazaro, Rocky Ndigonje, and Faith Tunzo of Habari Node – you all are amazing! We also honored Evance Kessy from our partner NGO Arusha Node Marie. Evance was with us every step of the way in 2018! We were also grateful for the technical support of Ramadhan Mfinanga from the Arusha Region and for transportation support from Said Mfinanga and Godbless Emmanuel. We really could not have done it without this amazing team! Reneal, Habari Node, Arusha Node Marie, and the Arusha District Council signed a collaboration agreement in 2014, and I’m happy to say this agreement is still alive and active!
On Wednesday morning, David arranged for evaluation visits to two schools. So while Neal and Robert continued their work on the servers, David, Evance, and I traveled with Peter Kaaya to Osiligi Secondary School and Olmotoni Secondary School for evaluation as candidates for a Reneal system. Peter is a lecturer at Arusha Technical College and pursuing his PhD in ICT. He lives near Osiligi Secondary School and has a keen interest in helping students learn more about ICT. We gathered helpful data to guide 2019 deployment decisions.
Wednesday afternoon David arranged for a vehicle to pick everything the remaining equipment for storage at the Arusha Region Office. For the first time in eight weeks, our room at Lutheran Centre looked empty. Unfortunately a weird hardware glitch ended up greatly extending the time that Neal and Robert had to spend on this effort. They finished up about 2 hours before departure time on Wednesday. There was one more quick visit to the Arusha Region office to drop off the last of the equipment, a hurried lunch with David and Robert, and then it was time to go. All trips seem to end this way, and there is never enough time to really get everything finished.
After 26 hours or so of traveling, we arrived back in the Bay Area at noon Thursday. Neal and I both have long lists of follow-up tasks, but we’ll spend a couple of days reflecting on the 2018 work (and recovering from jet lag) before diving into 2019 planning. I should also note that while Neal and I were deep in the midst of Tanzania work, Reneal Team Philippines completed a major installation project at Cantumog National High School in Carmen, Cebu! Reneal is so fortunate to have wonderful teams in each of the countries where we work!
Next week, I’ll summarize the 2018 Tanzania projects. In the meantime, our thoughts will keep returning to the Arusha schools. We’ll miss the hum of voices, the clanging of the car wheel that serves as the bell, the carefully nurtured trees and plants that line the dusty walkways. We’ll miss working each day side-by-side with the Reneal team. Most especially we’ll miss the dedicated computer teachers and the eager students who will be using the computers from Reneal.
[Photos: THANKS Reneal Team Tanzania – Habari Node, Arusha Node Marie, Arusha District, Arusha Region, and Reneal]