Aren’t Computers Great?

February 15, 2008
First, I would like to let all of you know that there are 145 pictures that I took while I was in Iringa available on the internet.  You can check them out at http://www.stephencday.com/Iringa/.

A lot has transpired since I last had the opportunity to post to my blog.  I was blessed last Tuesday, February 5, to receive my new computer, a MacBook Pro.  It was brought to me by the kind and gracious Rev. George Okoth, who spent January at Virginia Theological Seminary working on his Doctor of Ministry degree.  George is a professor at St. John’s University in Dodoma, which is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Tanzania and used to be a professor here at Msalato Theological College.  My father ordered the computer on the internet on Wednesday, January 23 and it shipped a day later from Shanghai, China and arrived in Alexandria, Virginia on Monday, January 28.  Pretty amazing… I have been working hard since I got the computer to acclimatize myself (it has been about a decade since I used the Mac OS).

In other news, I have started teaching.  Yesterday I had my first class of computer skills for the Pre-Diploma students.  It lasted only one hour but was quite enjoyable – I got the students set up with usernames and passwords and showed them how to log onto the network, open a new document, save it, and how to log out.  They seemed to grasp what was going on and were able to log in again on their own.

I also wanted to share some of the things I have been able to do thanks to your support and those of others in the Dioceses of West Virginia and Washington.  As part of the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) of the Episcopal Church I was required to raise $10,000 to help cover the expenses that I would incur traveling here and living here for a year.  I am pleased to say that more than $4,500 has so far been raised that is being used to help the people of Tanzania and my work here.  The money is being held by the Diocese of West Virginia and all withdraws from it are approved by the Bishop personally.  So what has money been used for so far?
- Approximately $200 was spent on textbooks for the courses I will be teaching this semester and for shipping them to Tanzania.  The books will be donated to the school’s library at the end of the semester.
- $400 was used to help purchase tools and other equipment that was needed for my work here – all of which will remain at Msalato for future use.
- $450 was used to purchase an electric stove/oven for the duplex that I am living in.  The stove will reman in the duplex and be used by its future residents – it is the property of Msalato.
- $600 was used to purchase a refrigerator and a surge protector for it.  This will also remain in the duplex and is the property of Msalato now.
- $400 was spent to purchase two hard drives and some RAM so that I could create a storage server for Msalato.  This will be used to backup the data from the terminal server and the web server (which is actually also the storage server).
- $330 was recently used to purchase a new 10,000 volt voltage regulator for the library, which protects the servers and twelve computers.  The old one was half that voltage and was damaged by a recent lightening storm.
- $410 was used to help repair the suspension on a car that I drove for about six weeks that is owned by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika and was purchased by the Episcopal Church.

In the future I hope to make some more purchases to help Msalato.  In particular, there is a desperate need for working keyboards.  The ones here have been malfunctioning at an alarming rate.  At this point I think that maybe half of them work reliably.  Also, I am considering purchasing a new motherboard, processor, and power supply for the storage/web server so that it will operate more quickly and reliably over the next several years (the current processor is an older Celron which is a lower power processor best suited to short-term simple computing – not the work of a server that operates 24/7/365).  I have no doubt that other expenditures might arise as time goes on.  Also, there is a significant need for money to help pay for a satellite dish for Msalato.

I explained on a previous blog entry why  Msalato must resort in the long term to satellite internet.  Basically, the only option for a direct internet connection for the college is satellite – other option require relying on a relatively unstable wireless signal that has to be broadcast over ten kilometers.  The cost of a new satellite dish and installation is $4,000.  There is money already set aside for the monthly bills for the internet service, so all that is needed is the capital.  If you wish to further support these important causes, feel free to send money to the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia at PO Box 5400, Charleston, WV, 25361.  Just remember to mention Tanzania or my name on the memo line.

Thank you again for all of your support and prayers.  General classes resume here on Monday, so I would appreciate your prayers for the students and staff as they travel and prepare for the new semester.

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