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Max Q [2018-09-29]

It’s funny how quickly one transitions during a trip from the halfway point … to the point of anxiety.  Not the best analogy, but it feels a bit like a rocket reaching its maximum dynamic pressure, “Max Q” – for us, lots of work to do yet but options to readjust the schedule are diminishing.  We, especially Neal, are also feeling the fatigue of nearly constant effort.  Things always take longer than expected!  But we were thrilled this week that Reneal’s new computer technician, Robert Nyangaka, took on the challenge of the teacher orientation at Sokon II Secondary School.  It’s wonderful to have a team in Arusha now that can do the whole school installation process without Neal and me!

Halfway Point [2018-09-22]

We’ve been here in Tanzania for a bit over a month now, almost exactly halfway through our time here.  Happily we are also about halfway through the work, or at least it appears so from our schedule.  With the help of our team here, we finished the second new installation this past week (out of four planned) and Neal has finished the updates on four of the ten existing servers.  The fifth updated server is sitting here about ready to go into the box for Monday.  One thing we’ve learned though is that “being in control” is an illusion, so we’re trying our best to take what each day gives us.

Karibu Tanzania [2018-09-16]

“Karibu” is an expression that one hears repeatedly here in Tanzania.  It means “welcome”, and we surely have felt so thus far on this trip.  We were joined during our first week of work by Reneal Board of Directors members Sharon Fingold and Katherine Yen, along with their husbands Antonio Martinez (former Board member) and Marcus Lee.   We were able to visit five of the Reneal schools with them, and together we met the Reneal Tanzania scholars for the first time.  It is incalculably helpful that our Board members were able to experience conditions on the ground and talk with teachers and students about the role of the Reneal computers in the schools. 

Tanzania Bound [2018-08-20]

Tomorrow is the big day – the Reneal team will be departing for Tanzania!  Planning for this trip began just about the time Neal and I returned from last year’s work.  We are so thrilled that we’ll be joined on this trip by Reneal Board of Directors members Sharon Fingold and Katherine Yen, along with their husbands Antonio Martinez (former Board member) and Marcus Lee.  They will be with us for the first week of work in Arusha.  It’s been a lot of effort preparing the equipment at this end, but we take our hats off to the new schools in Arusha who have had the challenge of setting up new computer rooms.

Back in the North [2018-08-10]

July was a month of big accomplishments for Reneal Team Philippines.  After finishing the installation at Calero Integrated School in Liloan, Reneal computer technicians Rhog Sampan and Lloyd Tuñacao and OJT Ervin Formentera spent a week in Northern Cebu.  They were able to complete a long list of tasks, including installation of a new Reneal system in the Daanbantayan National High School library.

Reneal Team Philippines [2018-07-23]

Hats off to Reneal Team Philippines this month!  Under the leadership of Sir Jade Reyes, Reneal computer technicians Rhog Sampan and Lloyd Tuñacao and OJT Ervin Formentera have really been working hard to support both existing and new schools.  We are so grateful for their commitment and skill!  Last week they installed a new computer lab at Calero Integrated School in Liloan, and this week they are in Northern Cebu installing a new computer system in the Daanbantayan National High School library.  They have also been visiting many other schools to make repairs and replace hardware that isn’t working.

One month to go [2018-07-15]

The 2018 Tanzania work has been on the radar screen for months; we began thinking about it pretty much right away last October when we returned from the 2017 trip.  However it’s with a jolt that we realize suddenly that we’re about a month out from departure.  We still have some software testing to do, as well as all of the packing.  Thankfully we’ll have help on that from some of our Board of Directors members, but even so it will be a trial. 

Supply lines [2018-07-07]

My main focus again this week was equipment.  I finally went through the laptops that have been accumulating to take to Tanzania in August.  The good news is that we have 92 that are ready to go!  I also worked with Reneal Team Philippines to prepare for their trip to northern Cebu to visit the schools there.  There’s a lot of work to be done during this visit, and we’re grateful to have three hard-working guys heading up there.  The other exciting news this week is that seven new students have been identified for the Philippines scholarship program; that will give us a total of 20 scholars in Cebu for School Year 2018-2019.

Chaos Part 2 [2018-06-28]

Well, that was a long hiatus for the blog!  We were off on some personal travel and then had a dear friend from the Philippines visit us for a few days.  In the meantime wonderful donations of computer equipment and fabric rolled in, so we were at capacity here at headquarters.  With a frenzy of packing, we’ve been able to ship sixteen boxes to eight different schools in the Philippines this week.  There is still more to do but we’ve made great headway.  And our team members in the Philippines and Tanzania have been on the move too, visiting schools and preparing for new installations.

A good kind of chaos [2018-05-14]

This month has been one of unexpected prosperity for Reneal.  We’ve received donations of 16 laptops and 47 desktops in the last two weeks!  This is on top of the 65 computers we purchased with a big discount from World Computer Exchange.  While this has plunged our home into chaos with computers everywhere, it is definitely the kind of chaos we love!  Thanks a million to Free Geek (www.freegeek.org) and Uneed2 (www.uneed2.org) for their generosity and support!

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