Follow-up

February 19, 2008 by Stephen Day.

February 19, 2008

Well I wanted to let all of you know about some progress that has been made. Yesterday I went into town to meet with the computer fundi at Mackay House (the headquarters of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika) to sort out a few things. The main purpose of the trip was to find out what would be needed to establish an link between Mackay and Msalato for internet access. This is a convoluted scheme to get internet to Msalato for the time being until the capital can be raised to purchase a satellite dish. Try and follow this… I am signing up for a new telephone line to be put into Mackay and also to have an ADSL (same kind of DSL broadband you can get in the States) line activated. This line will have a modem that connects to the internet and the output of the modem will be connected to a wireless router on the roof of Mackay which will be connected to an antenna that points at Msalato (about 12 km away). At Msalato there will be an antenna that is pointed to Mackay that will be connected to a router, which will be connected to another wireless router which will simultaneously spread the signal on campus through Wi-Fi (802.11g for the nerds) and share it via Ethernet cable (CAT-5e) to offices and the computer labs and servers. No, I can’t claim credit for this idea… it was my predecessors – Kirk Steffenson of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (aka TheDiocese.net).

So while I was out on Monday afternoon I was able to meet with Mackay’s fundi, a wonderful Tanzanian named James. We figured some things out and went to TTCL to learn what the cost of a new line and its setup would be – not bad only about $100 US for the new line, ADSL modem, and other setup costs. So hopefully today or someday soon I can sign up for the new line and possibly by Saturday the signal will be up and running all around Msalato. Let us all pray for this!! I was also able to investigate the prices for replacement computer keyboards and power supplies. The current computer network here is only about a year old and was made possible by a grant from the wonderful and generous people at Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, in Manhattan (as the name implies). The one significant problem with this system is that the keyboards that were purchased with it have failed at an alarming rate. At this point I think maybe half of the twenty-four keyboards are working. I was surprised to learn yesterday that a new keyboard could be purchased for only 13,000 TSZ when bought in bulk. That is only about $11.50!! I bought one yesterday and have used it some and have been pleasantly surprised. As for power supplies… we have had five that have died. Who knows how or why… the computers are connected to a huge voltage regulator and the servers are attached to an APC U(uninterruptible) P(power) S (supply) so it is unlikely that anything along those lines killed them… but who knows. I was also surprised to find power supplies for only 25,000 TSZ (about $22). So at the end of this week I hope to buy six new power supplies (one spare) and fifteen new keyboards. That will be about $300, which will return the network here to full use.

I start teaching in less than one hour… I am a bit nervous and would appreciate your prayers. Oh and for those staying up to date on the news in Tanzania – yes President Bush did just visit the country for a few days. No, he didn’t make it to Msalato or Dodoma. I believe he stayed in Dar es Salaam and maybe went up to Arusha (which is a touristy place at the foot of Kilimanjaro- the highest mountain in Africa). So, I did not see my president while he was in the country. I have heard though that the main topic while he was here was not his AIDS or Malaria programs which he was presumably coming to trumpet but the race for his successor – especially the fact that one of the front-runners is the son of a Kenyan.

Well, I better finish preparing… I am a bit nervous. Thanks for your prayers and support.

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