Thanksgiving [2015-11-22]

It’s been a good week here at Reneal headquarters.  As always it is nice to be home after a long time away, especially now that the jet lag demons are finally behind us.  We’ve been wrapping up the 2015 work, but 2016 is just around the corner so there is a lot going on in preparation for our mid-January departure for Cebu.  Reneal is also embarking on an R&D project to develop a low-power, low-cost, low-volume system for future installations, so Neal has been tinkering with that.  And given that Thanksgiving is coming up this week, it’s a great time to reflect on what an exciting year this has been and to feel grateful for our partners, supporters, donors, and of course the teachers we work with who are on the front lines of IT education.

Neal and I have both been puzzling over what to do about the low use level of the computers in Tanzania to date.  The main impediments (in no particular order) seem to be erratic electricity, an over-constrained schedule for students and teachers, teachers’ lack of familiarity with the resources available for teaching in other subject areas, and an IT syllabus that focuses on theory rather than hands-on computer skills development.  It is obviously a major concern for us as we try to turn limited resources into the greatest impact; at the same time, these issues are outside of our sphere of influence and definitely outside of our area of expertise!  David, our valued partner from the Arusha District Council office, feels that it will help significantly if we can identify a set of meaningful goals for computer use that provide a target and motivation for the schools.  As a former teacher himself, he also has insight into how much latitude the teachers have in creating opportunities to make this happen.  This will be an on-going effort over the coming months to ensure that return-on-investment is sufficient to justify continued expansion in Tanzania. 

On a happier note, the boxes of equipment that we sent out in August and September are now arriving in Cebu!  Boxes have arrived for the 2016 projects at Mulao National High School, Almacen Torrevillas National High School, Tabok National High School, and Consolation National High School.  And thanks to the September Free Geek donation (www.freegeek.org), we were able to send additional monitors to some of our 2014 schools to replace dead CRTs.  Another seven boxes should be arriving any day that have the remainder of the equipment for the 2016 Philippines project plan plus hardware to address attrition at some of the 2014/2015 schools.  Reneal intern Jade Reyes has been a whirlwind of activity, visiting the new 2016 schools to plan their system layouts, and he’ll actually begin some of the installation work later this week in preparation for our arrival in January.  We are so blessed to have his experience and skill on Reneal Team Philippines!

Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, we will be able to install Reneal systems at two additional high schools in Cebu in 2016.  Thus we have purchased an additional 15 desktops, monitors, keyboards, and mice from World Computer Exchange (www.worldcomputerexchange.org).  Just last Friday they were delivered here by Anil Vempati, a member of the WCE Silicon Valley Chapter.  Anil will also be working with Neal on the low-power, low-cost, low-volume concept (we’ll need to come up with some kind of acronym…  L3PCV maybe?)  It’s based on the ODROID, using ODROIDs as both server and clients.  The goal is to have something that operates on 5 volts so it can be run with a car battery and/or solar power.  Neal is also preparing for a major OS upgrade next year, going from Ubuntu 12.04 to 16.04, so it’s going to be a busy time for us.

Reneal Project Year 2015 has ended up being our most productive ever, with 12 new installations (11 high schools and 1 community center).  We’re still rolling up the numbers, but about 150 computers were provided to schools in 2015 and almost 270 teachers were trained.  We could not have done it without the generosity of our donors, who provide moral support, monetary resources, and computer hardware to make these projects a reality.  We also grateful for our partners in the Philippines and Tanzania who give us advice, encouragement, and the gift of their hard work; we work elbow-to-elbow with these team members and have the utmost respect and gratitude for their contributions.  Our Board of Directors here in the US offers wise counsel and guidance for Reneal projects, in addition to logistical assistance.  And finally we are so thankful for the opportunity to meet and interact with the dedicated teachers at schools in the Philippines and Tanzania.  In spite of difficult working conditions and huge classes, they continue to inspire us with the optimism and energy they bring to their profession.  As we look ahead with excitement to 2016, we extend our thanks to everyone who has helped make 2015 a successful year for Reneal IEO.