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.