Reneal Board Meeting [2019-04-15]

The Reneal Board of Directors met yesterday.  Welcome new member Nathan Martinez to the Board!  Board members Priscilla Batty, Sharon Fingold, and Neal and I were also reelected to our second term on the Board.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been 7 years already since Reneal incorporated!

Nathan has been supporting Reneal with development of a data analysis dashboard, so he is already well-versed in the opportunities and challenges faced by our organization.  We are delighted to have him serving officially on the Board now!  We thank departing Board member Justin Thompson for his four years of service to Reneal.  Justin’s work on the finance committee has been especially appreciated.

Neal and I updated the Board on the 2019 work in the Philippines, and the Board members enjoyed the thank-you cards prepared by the Philippines USCAP scholars.  Six of the Philippines scholars graduated earlier this month – best wishes to them in their future endeavors!  In other Cebu news, OJT Ervin Formentera is expecting to graduate from Cebu Technological University in Danao City on May 15.  Ervin will join Reneal Team Philippines as a computer technician following his graduation.  Lloyd Tuñacao is now serving as lead technician for Reneal Team Philippines.

The Board also discussed the upcoming Tanzania trip in August.  Almost all of the server parts have been purchased, and six servers are already assembled.  The challenge remains getting enough donations of laptops.  Reneal’s goal this year is installing four new computer labs, updating the clients at two existing computer labs, and making small additions to high-performing labs.  That all adds up to needing 120 laptops – an ambitious goal for sure.  Reneal continues to seek donations of laptops to bring technology to more students in Tanzania.  Please contact us at contact.reneal@gmail.com for more information.  All donations are tax deductible.

Reneal School Liaison David Nyangaka has been hard at work in Tanzania seeking customs duty and tax waivers for the computer hardware that Reneal will be bringing in August.  The Board approved a draft Memorandum of Understanding outlining the work that Reneal does jointly with Arusha District and the Arusha Region.  [As a side note, on Friday David briefed the Regional Education Officer and the 7 District Education Officers on Reneal’s work in Arusha District.  The briefing went extremely well – thanks David!]

The meeting closed with a discussion of a Reneal video being developed by Urna Bajracharya, a student at Freestyle Academy in Mountain View.  Freestyle is a program that gives students the opportunity to find their creative voice through technology.  Reneal is so fortunate to have Urna, a very talented young artist, working with us on this endeavor!

As Reneal prepares for Tanzania in August, we are grateful to the Board for the support, energy, and leadership they show in making this work happen!

 [Photo: Throwback from 2012, with the original Reneal Board of Directors: Neal and I, Priscilla Batty, Antonio Martinez, and Sharon Fingold]