Swag for Charity - First Distribution

Here are some photos of the first Swag for Charity distribution! Donors pitched in over one thousand pens and pencils and nearly fifty bags (almost all of which were conference giveaways) to the children of AOET’s Rehaboth School in Jinja, Uganda. Every student in the school received at least two gifts, and most received more! Check out these photos, which represent donations from General Dynamics, Shmoocon, Jim Kelly, SW Complete, Experian, Level3 Communications, SANS and more as outlined on our donors page.

The family photo page has also been updated with more photos!

Taking a break from my work in the Rehaboth computer lab, I ventured out to find my family. I found Jen in the Primary 6 classroom, helping children write letters to their sponsors back in America. A boy named Mayirigiti Afani sat in the front row working on some pretty amazing artwork.

I was impressed with Afani’s talent, especially for a kid his age, but his talent was even more impressive when I caught a glimpse of the thing he used to create his drawing. He called it a “pencil.”

When I was in school, kids used to chew on their pencils (was that yellow paint toxic?) and wage “pencil wars,” that ended when at least one of the combatant’s pencils shattered. In those days, we were never short of school supplies, so we never worried when we lost (or broke or ate or incinerated) our gear because we knew our parents would replace them without too much fuss.

Thankfully, the twinge of guilt I felt about my wasteful past was fleeting; we had come armed with enough gear to outfit the entire school thanks the many donors that had given pens, pencils and bags through our Swag for Charity campaign.

But it wasn’t as simple as rolling into Uganda with thousands of pens and pencils and nearly fifty donated pens. It took us several hours of studying the school roster and calculating what to give to whom. Eventually, the breakdown worked like this:

Primary 7: 29 Book (Conference) bags, 29 boxed premium metal pens from Experian

Primary 6: 47 pencils from General Dynamics, 47 Yello pens from Shmoocon, 47 premium pens from L3

Primary 5: 39 Pencils from General Dynamics, 39 Silver pens from Shmoocon, 39 premium metal pens from SafeNet

Primary 4: 50 AOET.org pencils from Jim Kelly, 50 premium metal pens from SafeNet, 50 Yellow pens from Shmoocon

Primary 3: 148 AOET.org pencils from Jim Kelly

Primary 2: 120 AOET.org pencils from Jim Kelly

Primary 1: 64 AOET.org pencils from Jim Kelly

Nursery: Private donations of crayons, markers, colored pencils from Girl Scouts at Grace Community church
Once we had this all worked out, we still had 500 plus pencils to sharpen. I couldn’t see handing the kids unsharpened pencils. So the entire family pitched in and started sharpening pencils.

So far things are going really well. We’ll keep you posted!

Things are going well here. We’ve visited with many friends and are getting quite a bit done. On the HFC front, we’re preparing phase two of the Rehaboth computer classroom already. The systems we installed already will be for primary grades 4-7, and we’re installing at least ten OLPC’s for primary grades 1-3. This will allow the entire school to take advantage of computer training. Specifically, we need to supply clean power (power regulators) and keyboards and mice for each of the units. We’re also investing in anti-theft devices for all the machines, Compaq laptops included, which consist of high-tensile steel cable and padlocks, along with boxes to store all the laptops in to keep them from dust and debris. We’re also ramping up to start our first Swag for Charity distribuition. we’ve brought thousands of pens and pencils and more than thirty conference bags which folks have donated, and we’re preparing to distribute them to students at Rehaboth School. More on this soon.

The family photos page has also been updated.

Africa. Sharing a room with thumb-sized cockroaches, geckos and mice. The pungent smell of DEET as it wages its pitiful battle against the mosquitos. Hundred-degree plus farenheit heat, dirt and the red clay dust that finds it’s way into the most inconvenient places. Water that’s toxic to my system, and the constant fear that my next meal will flatten me with three weeks of stomach pain. Mind-numbing poverty and the viscious wake of diseases that have reached the level of pandemic (HIV/AIDS, malaria). Why, then, can we find so little to complain about? Why are we so happy? That might be a question for another post.

I’ve purcahsed and installed another 1000w regulator in the classroom to balance out the power load in the classroom. It’s pretty cool to be able to buy so much necessary gear here so inexpensively. Your donations go a REALLY long way here. I’ve also installed the donated inkjet printer into the classroom. (More photos coming soon, 32KBPS, anyone?!? Ouch. Updates are hard from Uganda.) At this point, the AOET Rehaboth Computer Classroom is completed.  We’ve stored the laptops in a crate to protect them as a crew comes in to cement the floors and clear away the construction rubbish. We’re also planning on distributing the donations from the Swag for Charity campaign soon, so stay posted. Also, the family photo page has been updated.

When I saw AOET’s Rehaboth School “computer lab” in May of last year, the room was completely empty. In fact, there wasn’t even any glass in the windows. This isn’t such a horrible thing: most schools in Uganda are rather shabby affairs often with dirt floors and a complete and utter lack of a proper building. But AOET’s Rehaboth School is a shining example of what’s possible for one person with tons of passion. Sam Tushabe witnessed a child digging through a trash heap and took it upon himself to take the child in and care for him. After ten children, he couldn’t take in any more, but his passion to save children burned brighter than ever. Today, AOET supports hundreds of children in five African countries, providing food, medical care (for the child and the entire family), shoes, a uniform and most importantly- an education. This model also includes the empowerment of parents through skills training and education. There’s too much to write here, but AOET is on the right track to disrupt the cycle of poverty and through education seriously deter the spread of diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS.

I agree with Sam’s vision, and Sam and I also agree about the importance of Information Technology (IT) in education. Young people armed with proper IT training are much more likely to secure well-paying jobs, even if they decide to venture outside their loal rural areas to modern urban areas. Adults, too can benefit from IT training, and AOET empowers them by not only giving them training but providing them with the skills required to start and maintain their own business in IT, a field which is in high demand even in the most remote areas of the planet.

Knowing what a difference computer training has made in my own life, the sight of this empty computer lab broke my heart, and I vowed to do something about, but I was not equipped to do it on my own. But as a body of donors, we’ve done it. I present to you the Rehaboth School computer lab, made possible through donations to Hackers for Charity.

The glass in the windows, which protects the equipment in the room from the ravages of dust was purchased through financial donations, as were the 2000w power regulator, electric bars (power strips), keyboards and mice. Specifically, these donations came in the form of Shmoocon T-Shirt sales and No-Tech Hacking pre-release book sales at Shmoocon. (So yes, hackers are funding computer labs in Uganda. Cool.) The laptops themselves were a personal donation from Jethro Taylor (RustyBadger), and the mouse pads came from Proteus Technologies.  Students at Rehaboth school will use this lab as a daily part of their training, and the lab will be open at night to train adults through AOET’s empowerment program.This little lab is just the beginning though. I have some really big plans for our little group, and it’s exciting to realize the potential we have when we work together as a team. I commend each and every one of you that stepped in to make this lab possible. Thank you all! I promise to keep plugging away to make your efforts even more worthwhile.

I’m blessed to be with my family during this trip, so here are some family photos!

We’ve arrived! Well, actually we’ve been here for quite a while, but this is the first chance I’ve had to land Internet access. I’m posting from the Source cafe in downtown Jinja, and I’m happy to say that all is well! Our trip here was pretty rough. A nine hour layover in London (inside the airport) left everyone wiped out, then a delay out of London and an eight hour flight really nailed us. The first night in Uganda, we thought we made a huge mistake. The younger kids were scared, and complained of stomach aches, but after mixing up the sleeping arrangements, and a “normal” restroom break, we all slept in… until noon!!! Now, everyone is well, and we’re settling in to get to work. I acquired power regulators, power strips, keyboards and mice for the computer classroom, and paid for the windows in the classroom, all from the funds we raised from book sales and donations from Shmoocon. We’ll post more when we can, but thanks for tuning in for this brief update.

I’m headed back to Uganda, and this time it’s a family affair! Although we’re calling it a vacation, designed to show our kids the country that captured our hearts, We’ll be plenty busy. We’re hauling over hundreds of pounds of bags, pens and pencils to the students at Rehaboth school, and I’m planning on installing a computer classroom using gear and funds provided by our amazing donors. Click here (or on the image above) to check out our blog of the trip. We’ll be checking in every couple of days.

Thanks to Sploitcast (for hosting the auction) and Mike Davis of HiD Corporation and Jack Daniel (for their winning bids), we’ve raised $350 in our auction of two numbered, signed pre-release copies of the No-Tech Hacking book! Thanks everyone for taking the time to participate! We’ll keep you posted on how the funds will be used.