The Reneal warehouse [2014-08-23]
I am so excited to report that the Reneal IEO warehouse (also known as our home…) is filled to bursting right now with computer equipment for our 2014 Tanzania projects and 2015 Philippines projects. Just yesterday, Reneal IEO board member Priscilla Batty delivered 15 used desktop computers to us, a hardware grant from the wonderful Free Geek organization in Portland, OR. Happily though, the next few weeks will see almost all of this equipment flow out the door to schools in developing countries.
Tanzania 2014 projects are fast approaching. We will be installing computer labs in three schools in Tanzania between the end of September and the middle of November. We will be buying some of the bulkier items there in Tanzania; we’ve been working with our valued partners Alex and Shirima at A&A computers in Arusha to obtain three computer cases and power supplies, 51 mice, two boxes of Ethernet cable, and 3 uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) there in Arusha, so we don’t have to bring them. However we’ll still be carrying 48 donated used laptops and adapters, 3 gigabit network switches, and the “innards” of three server computers (plus our personal gear for 6 weeks overseas) as airline baggage. Yes, a logistical nightmare… but it will all be worthwhile when we see the smiles and excitement of the students and teachers there!
Neal has also been working hard to build the five servers we’ll need for our 2015 projects in the Philippines. We’ll be traveling to Cebu in early January, so we hope to ship much of the gear in September before we leave for Tanzania. Just last night, he had another “smoke test” for a server that passed with flying colors. We’ll be shipping those servers, along with network switches, lots of donated equipment (20 monitors and our 15 “new” desktops from Free Geek), and other odds and ends to the 2015 schools. Our intern Jade will be there at the other end in the Philippines to help receive the items and work with the schools to hold them until our arrival. We are still lacking about 15 units to fulfill our 2015 project plan in the Philippines, but an opportunity is percolating with some folks at our partners-in-mission Kids on Computers to obtain some additional used hardware.
Along with individual donations, we’ve continued to be able to meet our project goals each year for installing labs in the Philippines and Tanzania. We are optimistic that 2015 will lead to bigger and better things! As always, we are looking for additional computer hardware donations to support our projects. Monetary donations are also essential to buy needed items locally. For example, we’ll be buying 51 mice in Tanzania (roughly $250). Shipping costs ($75/box to the Philippines and $160/box to Tanzania) are also a big part of our budgetary needs.
On another note, Reneal IEO recently funded the high school scholarship program in the Philippines for School Year 2014-2015. The program, assisting ten 8th grade students with fees, uniforms, school supplies, and daily transportation (about $175 per student per year), is administered by a dedicated committee at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in our home town of Compostela. This program gives needy kids a chance to continue high school.
September will bring some full-up system testing, two presentations on Reneal IEO work (at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont on September 7th and at Alum Rock United Methodist Church in San Jose on September 21st), and a Reneal IEO board meeting. In short, it’s a busy time but the best is yet to come!