June « 2010 « Hackers For Charity

I love the concept of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). However, the implementation really falls short. Case in point: Rehaboth Integrated School in Bugembe near Jinja, Uganda. A generous donor gave 100 OLPC’s to the school, and they’ve sat in a closet for almost two years. The primary reason is that the staff had no real idea what to do with them. They needed training. (They were also waiting on the donor to release them to the school. They wanted the laptops to go home with the students… a HORRIBLE idea in a developing country.)

That’s where we were happy to step in. Together with Monte Hoover, a recent graduate of West Point and the faculty and staff of West Point, we broke those machines out of the closet and began putting them to use. Many more photos and info after the break ..

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hello evey one ,my name is fred .thanks for every thing you are doing to help us in Uganda to discover the true meaning of life and getting to know what it takes to change some one’s life.

i personally have found meaning since i was welcomed by HACKERS FOR CHARITY and am highly blessed through every single step it’s taking.

at first i use to hear about computers,i took some time to learn how it works though i did not have one but as to my faith i believed in a scripture in the bible that say “God will bring to you people that you didn’t know and they will serve you.”(i will post the chapter and the book/verse letter) .I didn’t no how it will be but i personalized this scripture and it was part of my daily prayers.

now in a few months God connected me with HFC and now am changed through different activities like Empowering the community with computer skills,building computer classrooms and  also  have advanced new computer trouble shooting  techniques .using the knowledge have started to come up with new side business ventures to involve more youth and encourage creativity and independence. so the first business is  a mini VIDEO SHOP!

I’ve only been in Uganda for about a week but I already feel a strong attachment to the place.  I’ve been talking to Johnny and Tim Rosenberg for almost a year and now I’ve finally been able to come over here and put my hands to work in country.  I just wanted to do a little post to share the experience and show some pictures.

Wanyama Road on the way to Rehaboth Integrated School

HFC staffers Fred and Henry loading software on the laptops

Fred and I teaching a class on how to use the XO

Students at Rehaboth owning TetrisMath

I just graduated from West Point this spring, and my senior year there I worked on a project developing software for the One Laptop Per Child program.  Tim Rosenberg put me in contact with Johnny and HFC so that we could get an understanding of the real needs of the students where the laptops are used.  In the end we made a game called TetrisMath that primary school students can use to practice and improve basic arithmetic skills.  The game has math problems drop from the top of that must be solved before they reach the bottom and stack up like in Tetris; the teacher can adjust the settings to change the type and difficulty of the problems.  West Point paid for me to come to Uganda to deploy the program and do a report on how West Point can best support the computer work here in Uganda.

HFC connected me with the Rehaboth Integrated School in Bugembe, Uganda, who had 100 of the XO laptops from OLPC but hadn’t used them yet.  Together with the Ugandan HFC staff we installed TetrisMath on all the computers and did training sessions for the teachers and students at Rehaboth.

The teachers and students were very excited about the laptops and TetrisMath, but the most basic computing skills like keyboard input and use of a touchpad were completely foreign to them.  It was really gratifying to see the kids excited about practicing math, and the teachers were glad that their students would be able to learn some basic computing skills.  HFC is also supporting Rehaboth with a full computer lab, which will make the school eligible for additional financial grants.  When I get back to the U.S. later this week I’d like to write more thoughts on the trip, but it has been a pleasure getting to know the Longs and to be able to help out in a small way with the work that HFC is doing.

hi every one thanks for keeping posting .am sorry for most of you who have been missing me but the good news is am still live and kickin and the truth is that am back in action! so i will keep posting .just coming..

It doesn’t look like much, but this is really a heartbreaking picture sequence. The fist picture shows the lab at St. John’s Wakitaka in all it’s glory. The second shows the lab after we ripped out all the nComputing desktops.

Seven months ago, I created a contract for St. John’s. The contract stated that the school would care for the equipment. We assigned financial penalties with infractions. If we found fingerprints on a monitor it wold cost then 10,000/= (about $5US). But each penalty was created to teach them something about how to care for the equipment. At the end of a successful six month training period, we would turn the classroom over to the school, confident that they could care for the machines. If they followed the rules, there would be no penalties, and the classroom would be theirs, free of charge. They would have a free lab, and we would have confidence that the significant investment in them would not be wasted.

Six months passed, and the school hadn’t signed the contract. However, the school was using (and abusing) our equipment. We were stuck with repair and maintenance bills and the staff and students could operate with complete impunity since they hadn’t signed the contract. We pressed for the signing of the contract and were met with more excuses.

At this point, we locked the classroom, hoping to force a decision on the issue.

Two months later, the contract was still not signed. The headmistress offered lame excuses, like “I forgot to bring the contract to the board meeting,” and other such things. I called the chairman of the board, Firipo and asked for a meeting.

He graciously accepted me into his home and explained that the contract couldn’t be signed because the penalties seemed too steep. We explained our position. We couldn’t give them a free classroom. It wouldn’t teach them anything, and in months the classroom would be ruined. In the end, I reluctantly agreed to redraft the contract. I removed the financial penalties, but reiterated that after a certain number of penalties in a month the classroom would be removed permanently. Deep down I knew this was a mistake, but I agreed to do it none the less. This meeting occurred on April 23. I produced the limited contract on April 26th, against my better judgement.  On May 31, I emailed Firipo again seeking a status and he informed me that, “The Headmistress had not yet made contanct (sic) with other stakeholders in the school to get thier consentor (sic) views.”

I replied to him on June 1 saying that:

“The headmistress has really not taken this issue seriously enough. I
understand there are holidays, but the new contract has been in play
for an entire month. She has wasted every opportunity to address this
issue, and has failed with every extension, including this latest one
that put our equipment at risk.

I have done everything I can to work with St. John’s in this matter,
but the staff has left me no choice. Our equipment is sitting unused
and is is uncared for and is spoiling. We will remove the equipment
this week.”

His response came on June 3:

“Iam humbly requesting you to hold on with your action for another week.
When  I am back in Jinja I will go and talk to her.”

I did not want to wait another week. I KNEW it wouldn’t make a difference. I didn’t reply to his email, but I waited for a week.

There was, of course no movement on the (now FREE) contract, and no more emails from Firipo. The rumor was that the board would meet on Friday June 18th to discuss the contract.

So after much deliberation, Fred and I came to St. John’s yesterday (June 17, two full weeks after the requested extension) and removed the nComputing systems. This was the “new” part of the classroom. I decided to leave the used laptops for them, but even this was against my better judgement. However, I agreed to help St. John’s years ago, and I felt bad leaving them empty-handed. Further, the Hon Migereko, who is a great man, asked us to do this project and I didn’t want to disappoint him. However, the school administration has failed him, actively refusing a $30,000 investment, squabbling over quarters.

I printed up this notice and posted it on the locked lab door:

“To the staff of St. John’s Wakitaka-

We regret to inform you that the 12 new desktop stations have been permanently removed from this computer lab, leaving only the laptops. The reason for this is that the administration of this school has refused to sign a contract stating that they will properly care for this equipment. We have waited for seven months for the school administration to sign this contract, and this shows that the school is prepared for the substantial investment of new equipment. Had they acted in a more timely manner, the equipment would remain, but their lack of attention to this matter can no longer be ignored.

This computer lab marks an enormous investment in St. Johns, and we are unwilling to leave new equipment in the hands of an administration that is unable to commit to the maintenance and protection of that equipment.

A meeting of the school board has been scheduled for Friday, and the contract is again under review. If, at that point, the contract is signed, the remaining laptops will stay in the lab. Otherwise, the laptops will also be removed.

We are saddened by this turn of events. At Hackers For Charity, we prioritize ICT education, and understand the disappointment this will cause the student body. However, we can not stand alongside a school administration that does not share this priority.

Hackers For Charity.org”

Within moments, the school deputy took down the sign and requested a meeting with me. I didn’t return his call.

I felt heartbroken over the situation, but I knew that our investment in St John’s was wasted. This was not a school that cared about ICT training. They wanted a free gift, and wanted us to just go away. I’ve seen the result of that kind of arrangement. I see it reflected in the smeared visage of ancient, dusty CRT monitors. I’ve seen it in the mountains of spoiled unused techno garbage that litter countless thousands of computer classrooms all over the country. I’ll be damned if I’ll contribute to the ICT dung heap of this country.

That day, I visited two more schools in Bugembe: St Florence and Wanyange Girl’s school. Wanyange Girls’ School boasted over 70 computer workstations, most of them nComputing terminals. They were well maintained and running very smoothly. The lab at St Florence was tiny, but spotless. I could have eaten off the floor. The place was amazing. Wanyange in particular sparked my interest, as they wanted to open their lab to the community. More on that later.

But the point of this post is that I’ve moved on from St. John’s. At this point, I’ve learned a valuable lesson about computer classrooms in Uganda. I’ve seen the difference between schools that care about computer education and ones that don’t.

And I’ll never again work with a school that doesn’t care.

Another photo run. Enjoy!

This is the crew of carpenters and tailors that came from Kampala to build the cafe furniture. They worked through the nigh sanding, staining and putting finishing touches on our stuff.

There’s certain things I wish I didn’t know about what goes on in our kitchen. Here’s some of our cafe staff working on … some pork.

Jen’s face says it all.

Here’s our "new" grinder next to our amazing espresso machine. The grinder is 10+ years old but it works like a champ. It’s dinged up a bit, but it fit our budget.

I’ve had 100% of my CPU churning on coffee for the past week. Here’s James leading a training class for our baristas. I’ve had to really dig into learning everything I can about the coffee business and the art of espresso for the past few weeks. Even though we have some very well-trained baristas, none of them have ever worked on a machine of this caliber before.

Here’s Jacquie, our floor manager dosing her first shot.

I have to throw in some pictures of the lights we got for the Keep. Jen found them and they are AWESOME!1!!

The wall lanters are pretty cool too.

This is one of the front doors to our place. I love the woodwork. Sweet.

And here is the logo for The Keep. All those hours in Photoshop are paying off. Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

I’m used to wearing different hats. I’m a Christian and a hacker, and a husband and a father. No big deal. But lately, I’ve started realizing that one of my hats is very strange, and utterly consuming. Somehow, I ended up in the restaurant business. The path was straight and clear. The land and the staff and (some of) the money “fell into our laps”. It was a God Thing, pure and simple.

So I’m not questioning the path. It’s just that several times each day I scratch my head and marvel at the fact that I’m neck deep in the day-to-day struggles of opening a restaurant. I say “I” a lot, but it’s more than just me. Jen and I have both been working 16 hour days as we approach the opening. We’re ordering supplies, tweaking and typing recipes, typing up training manuals, managing the construction at the site, training kitchen, coffee and floor staff, conferring with our managers, trying to stretch every dollar eight miles (kilometers), and generally running around like crazy people.

Our staff, which now numbers somewhere around twenty people (!) has been working hard training and preparing in a world that’s completely foreign to them. The restaurant will be Western by every standard. The food will be excellent and consistent, the staff will be prompt and attentive and above all, the customer will be treated like royalty. It’s a completely new paradigm for them (our staff and the customers in Jinja).

And for now, we’re shelling out money hand over fist. By investing the money I make from gigs, we’re taking an enormous gamble, but we’re diving in head first because this thing can work. And if it does we won’t have to beg for money from our donors forever. We’ll have something sustainable that will fuel our work here for as long as we’re here… however long that will be.

I still wear my geek hat with pride, though. I spend an awful lot of time jamming on my laptop, but it’s different than it used to be. I’m working on training material for the center, laying out certificates, wrangling PDF’s for student handouts, doing logo design and layout for price lists and banners, working on marketing strategies for the center, creating custom training ISO’s, searching out new content and partners and every now and then I get to spend a few minutes teaching our staff Linux and Back Track and other sorts of tech goodness. I’m also working on the creation of a Jinja Linux User Group, as well as a Ugandan Information Security Group. I hacked a Ugandan government security system (with permission of course) and I’m really Jonesing for some fellow learned geeks to jam with here in Uganda. This has come into sharp relief for me especially after the Offensive Security and Pauldotcom podcasts. I miss the community something fierce.

So, yeah, it’s a funny new hat. But I’m not ready to get rid of my other ones just yet.

The Offensive Security Group just plain rocks. They’re one of our biggest supporters, and they’re at it again. The first “How Strong Is Your Fu” (HSIYF) hacking challenge was a HUGE success. The sequel looks just stunning, and the OffSec crew is sending us all of the proceeds! Check out their page here, or read the blurb below for more info:

Our second cyber hacking challenge from Offensive Security is on it’s way. Registration to “How Strong is your Fu – For Charity” has begun! Offsec has teamed up with the crew at Hackers For Charity and the world’s premier Hacker Con – BlackHat, to provide another amazing Cyber Hacking Challenge with a whole new level of pain.  Our goal is to raise $5000 for HFC as well as provide a world class cyber hacking event. The prizes? 1st place gets a BlackHat Vegas Conference Ticket (no travel included) , 2nd place gets a CTP Online Course from Offensive Security. Wowz!

Unlike our previous challenge, seats to this tournament will be limited, and require a registration fee of 49.00 $US. All proceeds from this event go to the HFC, and their efforts in East Africa.

Click here to find out more info and to register!

Thanks for “hacking for charity” with us and the OffSec crew!

Here’s a few photos to describe what’s going on! Enjoy!

Jen and I celebrated our 17th anniversary! This is the SECOND anniversary we’ve celebrated in Uganda. The first was back in 2007 during my first trip to Uganda.

This is the trading license for the CTC. Without it, hordes of public officials descend upon your premises demanding justice. It’s happened once. Fred deflected them expertly.

This is the trading license for The Keep.

After much prayer our AMAZING espresso machine has finally arrived in Uganda. This is the top of the line, most AMAZING machine. Thanks to Chris Duke who handled shipping, Bruce White who got us a great deal and to Ron Martin who found us two donated machines to offset the cost, the machine is here in Uganda, and might ultimately be free. This thing is AMAZING. It’s in our house right now until the coffee bar in the cafe is finished.

This is James, our new barista. He competed in the East African barista competition and he really knows his stuff. He used some nasty beans we had around and some not-so-quality milk and he made a wicked cup of Cappuccino.

Jen got the honor of the first cup. She said it needed more sugar! =D

Jenny, on the other hand, LOVED IT. She’s a mocha monster now, pestering me to make more more more more more. twitch*

Here’s some photos of the cafe as it’s coming together. This is the main room. The gray paint adds to the “dungeon / hall / castle” thing we have going.

The paint over by the game rooms. XBOX on left, Wii on the right.

The far wall of the main room.

Here’s one side of the working kitchen. Tile is so nice!

Another side of the working kitchen.

Far shot of the tea room.

Here’s the outside of the tea room by the garden. The painting is finally finished!

Here’s the inside of the tea room filled with some of our “dining room” chairs.

The outside of the working kitchen. The tile is new, as is the paint.

Here’s a far shot of the garden. It really is quite beautiful. We’re excited about this cafe. I can’t wait to see it generate some revenue to help fund our computer training and other programs here in Uganda!

Where to start? How about Kampala. Jen and I headed out on Thursday morning with a pretty simple agenda. I had to get a filling, pick up some paperwork for the filing of our business in Uganda, we had to check on the cafe furniture and we had to shop for a few more various items for the cafe. The ride in was uneventful, as was the filling. This, of course, is saying a lot, especially considering my past experiences with Ugandan dentistry. I dropped Jen off at Nakumatt to  start scoping out prices for all sorts of kitchen minutiae while I took a boda (motorcycle) to the lawyer’s. After months of paperwork, the lawyer delivered a small victory.

This marks the founding of Hackers For Charity, Ltd, the official business operating name of HFC-Uganda. This means we can run businesses in Uganda including the Training Center and Cafe and I can apply for a work permit which allows us to stay in country longer. I have accepted the role of Chief Executive within the company and Isaac (our lawyer) is the secretary. That felt weird because Isaac drafted a letter offering me the position and I wrote a letter accepting the job. Strange, but official. Next, I’ll open a business account and then we can apply for a work permit. Interestingly enough, the business account requires MUCH more paperwork than a US account. It requires a (Certified) company resolution as well as the original filing documents for the company.

Back at Nakumatt, Jen found amazing lights for the cafe and we picked up quite a few items (meat grinders, carpets, salt shakers, etc) that we needed as well. We also met briefly with James, a young barista working in Kampala who we’re courting for the cafe. (We hired him yesterday, so that’s a huge relief. We didn’t have the coffee staff worked out yet.)

We ate a bit of lunch, then headed to the carpenter who was making the cafe furniture.  I should have known better than to trust this guy. Moses had short, nappy dreads, a ripped shirt and bad teeth. But these are cosmetic things which I can hardly hold against him, but the guy was just shifty. He was either high or drunk or both and he was three months late on our furniture. We called him and he told us the furniture was finished. When we showed up, we found the furniture unfinished and the tables all wrong. Our “dining room” tables were 15″ wide and easily 6″ too high. The chairs were not sanded and mostly unfinished, and the cushions weren’t even started. It was a bad situation. We walked two stalls down to find Ivan, a clean-cut young carpenter and placed an order with him. He promised to have the furniture delivered within a week, he called a delivery truck to help us get our unfinished furniture back to Jinja, he talked to the tailor to schedule delivery of our cushions, and he even offered to come to Jinja to finish the work that Moses started. Now it’s quite possible that Ivan’s lying to us too, but at least we have the majority of our furniture in Jinja and we have access to Ivan and other local carpenters to help finish the work.

We rolled into Jinja just as it was getting dark and unloaded our nearly full truck.

We spent a small fortune on cafe stuff in Kampala on Tuesday. Our money situation is rather dubious for a lot of reasons. The biggest reason is that I tend to shy away from using HFC funds for the cafe and we end up using our personal funds from gigs that I work. Even though the cafe is meant to be the primary funding source for HFC’s operations here in Uganda, I still feel odd spending the money on a restaurant because I’m afraid it may not be true to the spirit of how donors would like to see the money spent. It’s not computer stuff. But until the Computer Training Center is profitable, somebody has to pay rent and power and water in the center, even if it’s not exciting. It’s the same with the cafe. The profits from the center will fund the center and all our other projects here in the country, so I’m going to have to use more HFC funds to get the cafe off the ground. But things are moving along. The money from our monthly supporters keeps us running as a family, and with some HFC funds and gig money floating the cafe, we hope to be self-supporting as an organization and as a family before the end of the year. It’s an aggressive timetable.

So that was Kampala… A long day, as always, but pretty productive. More later.