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Thanks Free Geek! [2015-09-13]

We’re in the happy position of being awash in hardware again!  We spent a week bicycling in Oregon, but on the way home we passed through Portland to visit an important shrine of techno-philanthropy, Free Geek (www.freegeek.org).  This was our first visit, and it was truly inspiring!  Free Geek serves the community in so many ways: as a trustworthy handler of computer equipment donations, a meticulous refurbisher, a generous granter, a responsible recycler, a technology educator, and a role model for service to all.  The most exciting thing to me is that even if someone has no money, they can receive a full computer system (including legal software) for a donation of 24 hours of service to Free Geek.  That is truly making a difference in so many lives!

Me and Ms. Google [2015-08-28]

Seven boxes will be heading off today, bound for Cebu!  Most of the newly-purchased World Computer Exchange hardware will be sent on its way and will hopefully be waiting for us there when we arrive in mid-January.  I’ll be back in the garage packing more upon our return from Oregon.  In between finishing up the servers, Neal has been updating the Reneal IEO website to include our donation link to the National Cristina Foundation – check it out here.

Piles and piles [2015-08-23]

Back from a much-enjoyed backpacking trip, we’re in high gear preparing equipment for Tanzania and the Philippines.  The condo is a hilarious study in confusion, with piles of equipment everyone you look.  Neal is finishing up nine (nine!) servers right now, and in between that work he tested out eleven gigabit network switches.  In addition to the 52 laptops for Tanzania, we now have 20 computers, monitors, keyboard, and mice that Reneal purchased from the World Computer Exchange.

#7! [2015-07-30]

Since Monday we’ve been communicating regularly with our intern Jade as he’s been working on the seventh and final 2015 Cebu installation for Reneal IEO, this one at Medellin Science and Technology High School.  Medellin S&T is in northern Cebu, and their IT lab was badly damaged during Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) in November of 2013.  We are so pleased to continue our support to the schools that were victims of Yolanda’s wrath.

Back at headquarters [2015-07-26]

Wow, back home in California again.  The jet lag has faded but the excitement about this year’s work in Cebu continues to bring smiles to our faces.  We met with the Reneal IEO Board of Directors yesterday to debrief them on the trip and to discuss 2016 Cebu projects.  Neal and I also gave an update on preparations for the Tanzania trip.  It’s coming together well, although the difficult job of packing the gear is still ahead.

2015 COSSC! [2015-07-16]

July 6, 2015 – the first-ever Cebu Open Source Software Championship!  It’s been a dream for at least a couple of years for us at Reneal IEO to host a competition for schools with the Reneal system, and what a thrill to finally see it realized.  As with all of our work, we were humbled and grateful for all of the support of colleagues and friends to make it possible.

Where did the time go? [2015-07-11]

Two weeks since the last blog entry, and what a shock to already be back here in Korea on our way home to California.  Two months always sounds like a long time, and we even think there will be time for some leisure travel, but tasks expand to fill the time available.  Even with very long days of work, it still came down to the wire to get things finished up.

Sleepless in Cebu [2015-06-27]

The municipal fiesta here in Compostela is on July 25th, and the town is already humming with preparation and anticipation.  I just got back from an early morning coastal clean-up activity.  The local government workers and schools joined together for this event, and I was a part of the Compostela National High School contingent.  We filled many bags with trash, and it definitely looks nicer now down by the seafront area!  And as the clock ticks down toward our departure, the tension is rising for Neal and me to finish up our planned (and unplanned) Reneal IEO work.

Highs and lows [2015-06-22]

One thing about our time overseas, we definitely experience wide emotional swings – both highs and lows – well beyond those that occur in our daily life in America.  This week was a classic case of that: the thrill of watching students use the Reneal IEO system, followed by discovering a laptop with a dead screen that needs replacement.  The intense worry about computers frequently hanging up at one of the schools, and then the joy of Neal finding a solution… only to have a different system problem emerge.  The bonding and sharing with teachers at the different schools where we work, but tempered by the sadness of seeing so many needs yet unfulfilled following the destruction of Typhoon Yolanda.  It’s definitely a roller-coaster, but these trips are what makes it all worthwhile!  And for all of our worrying and complaining, it is clear how fortunate we are in the grand scheme of things.

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