Nikaragua
I've owed this blog some word since leaving it on such a dire note. Since I left Nicaragua in July of 2006, the Red Libre has continued to operate. There have been the usual problems with getting people to pay, but I've not been made aware of anything more serious.
In February of 2008 the satellite service contract is up for renewal. I don't know how we could get funding and a replacement system up by then, but it would be lovely if we could. It looks like I'll most likely be tied up here in the US through the end of the year, for reasons truly beyond my control. Perhaps this is a good time to try to find a new volunteer?
Updates on the Red Libre de Ometepe project
IBW wants $1,000 for repairing our VSAT.
Who takes responsibility now?
I've re-scheduled my return flight for the 20th of July--10 days from today. I look forward to seeing many of you soon!
What I've been doing all this time: waiting, and dealing with crises. It's a bad state, and I got myself in it. I've threatened to go home early, I've despaired, and I've gone on vacation.
The status is this: PEMCE says we're approved, everything's fine, but that our project at the bottom of the list for priority among a couple hundred projects, because ours is so small. I have been calling them for months, and have always been told to call back next week.
Two weeks ago, the batteries from the repeater in Altagracia were stolen for a second time. I bought a couple more (U$140 each) with money from David, and sent them back to the island, while I went to take a few days off. They were not installed by the time I got back, I guess because folks in Altagracia were too afraid to do so.
Si a la Vida's router is connected to the Internet, but not to the computers there. My fear is that, as I made one end of the cable carrying signal and power to the router, and Wally Hedman made the other, we used different wiring schemes, 48 volts went through a signal circuit, and the ethernet port is fried. I'm going to test that today. If it's the case.. well, I'll do what I've been doing for a while now: the best I can with the little I have.
Yesterday morning, our satellite equipment "woke up" dead. Apparently, the fans blew out, which allowed the power supply to overheat. Or possibly the other way around. In any case, it's fixed now. I'm still in Managua, and should have it back, installed, and operational, by tomorrow afternoon.
More exciting news is that PEMCE says that they are committed to funding our proposal. It needs to be mashed into the Logical Framework format, but they're going to commit personnel to this; we don't have to do it. If we're very lucky, we'll have money within a month.
Also, the Red Libre de Ometepe / Coop. Carlos Díaz Cajina no longer owes IBW money.
We're getting there.
I ought to say, that the counterpart of the Forces of Awesome is the Way of Wonder, presently exhibited in a near-by shaded structure by some nuns and a gaggle of Balgüeño children. It is here and now. Like masa katsu versus katsu hayabi.
I have a new phone number: 505-829-7858. Give it a try! Many thanks to John Wyss for gifting me the phone and chip. You can also try sip:762546@fwd.pulver.com, if I'm around my computer. The Red Libre de Ometepe means many things to many people. It helps business people connect to their customers and each other. For students and teachers, it's a research tool, and a "window to the world". For BOSIA, it's a way to bridge worlds, and to improve the quality of education on Ometepe. For me, it is an opportunity to learn, to extend myself into the world, and to experience life more fully. The very protocols on which the Internet and the RLO are founded afford this flexibility. As the network of networks becomes ubiquitous on the island and in the world, people will be able to find new ways to interact and organize themselves. These possibilities are the cats in the box of globalism, a profound storm of liberalization that spares none.
Thanks to the help of Janet Wheelock of ANETIC and Isabel Medrano, the proposal of the Red Libre de Ometepe to PEMCE has been finalized and submitted. For real, this time. The final document is here (600KB PDF, 12 pages of Spanish text and figures). It says that in the second half of 2006, the Ometepe Freenet Project would like help to do the following things: - install small computer labs with new computers in two schools, and staff one teaching position,
- improve the stability and speed, and reach of existing network infrastructure through taller towers, better equipment, and better battery backup,
- extend the reach of the network with a new tower near Charco Verde / San José del Sur,
- get someone to do a little PR work, such as a basic website and a brochure for prospective and existing users,
- support two student interns to work on projects such as new services, extending the network, specializing systems, or localization and translation of documents to support wireless networking in Spanish-speaking countries, and
- support two student interns to develop a business plan and platform for public access points in communities across the island.
That sounds like a lot, because it is, but we'll have a lot more people to help out.
There is photo evidence over on flickr. Right into the thick. And the heat.
These people have the awesome: BoundlessI want to be like them when I grow up. Also.. We're everywhere: WSFIIAcross the globe, free information systems are emerging. Many of them are headed by very creative, community-minded, lovely people. From this comes new ways of being together, new forms of education, and an inversion of power. Given dedication, intelligence, and love.
Yesterday was pi day; today is the ides of March. I find myself in San Pedro Sula, Guatemala after an 11-hour bus trip, with just a large day-pack half-full of gifts. Besides being long and unnecessarily air-conditioned, the trip included a truck sprawled across the road on its side, and people in funny outfits collecting scattered chicken cages and gathering escaped chickens. Today and tomorrow I'm visiting children sponsored by my father and step-mother through Children International. They send money every month for things the children or children's families need, as well as for a general fund for health care, etc. So I'll be meeting them, taking pictures, and seeing a little of what their lives are like. Not much project news. Ever wrote to say that the Altagracia repeater went down, but came back up after he cleaned some electrical contacts. I think that there's been an organizational mishap with the funding proposal, and a woman and I are both waiting on each other for the other's part of the proposal to be turned in.
I've neglected to post here until now: Three new nodes are online on the Red Libre de Ometepe. They are a "Cyber" run by los Cabrera of Altagracia, the new Hotel Cabañas in Santo Domingo, and the Insituto Nacional Ladislav Chwal Binksy (INLCB) of Altagracia. We're very happy both for the improved financial viability of the network, and the gradual realization of its social goals. Yours truly is to leave the island at the end of this week for Managua, followed by a two week vacation in Honduras and Guatemala. Before leaving, our proposal to PEMCE ( DFID and the UN Office for Project Services) will be complete, and hopefully a solicitation for license to sell Internet service. The latter process gives no sign that anyone in the Nicaraguan government understands the Internet as anything other than a commodity, that is, there is no sign of recognition of the original intent of the Internet, nor of the decentralized and community-based structure of a freenet. The level of beaurocracy surrounding these activities prohibits anything like the kind of growth in coverage and access that Nicaragua supposedly desires. Perhaps through CONIPROSIT we'll have the opportunity to open some minds.
Here is the (Spanish) text of the (still not quite finalized) proposal of the Red libre de Ometepe to PEMCE, an organization of the British government and the UN. There's a bit more to it; I'll post the final version within a week or two.
- I've got a mail box!
Apartado 3
Moyogalpa
Rivas
NICARAGUA, C.A. Please allow 10 days for delivery, a couple weeks for someone to notice that something's arrived, and maybe another week for me to get over to the other side of the island. - My mother's coming! Arriving midday Tuesday. If you've any small thing for her to bring down, let me know and I'll put you in touch.
- They came and fiddled with our satellite terminal! I think it might be better now, hard to tell so soon. We're now with a company called NewSkies, which is not based in Israel. We seem to have slightly better ping time through their satellite, but they use the same private addresses as we do, which is annoying but acceptable.
- There will shortly be news involving chocolate!
Our first big community meeting in a year happened yesterday morning. Many folks from around the island showed up to hear us give a "state of the network" report, and discuss the mid-term goals and needs for the project. They asked good questions, made good comments, and generally showed a lot of enthusiasm and interest in the advancement of the network. Those goals are: - Straighten out our financial situation, and make sure it stays that way. Ideally, this would be the responsibility of some trustworthy person, who also has some responsibility for strategic development of the project-as-business.
- Train a number (3+) of technically-adept folks who are geographically dispersed about the island to do new installations, maintenance, and support. This implies setting up at least one school and Sí a La Vida, which will be done as part of the training.
- Expanding the network, making the service more reliable, and adding clients to reduce the financial burden of (and severe dependence on) our present commercial clients. A new tower, successfully installed in Sinacapa with a wireless link to the mainland, should bring us a long way in this direction.
Several of these items require, or don't make sense without, more money than we currently have, being Very Little. Also, we can't expand the network or add new clients without more antennas. The last ones we sent down were confiscated by customs, and there don't seem to be any for sale in country.
David Adler has been here for a few weeks to babysit his very successful coffee roaster project. Finca Magdalena is now roasting their own, high-grade coffee in an approx. $1000 barbeque-based roaster, rather than over an open fire. The result is far less labor and smoke inhalation, a much better roast, and a far superior cup of coffee.
You can read about his experiences, and those of his comrades, on their blog.
I've got a phone: +0 505 654 0645. I don't have access while at home, mind. You can SMS me at this webpage. If anyone finds an email->sms gateway for Enitel, please please let me know. Also, El Nuevo Diario wrote an article about the project and forgot to tell me about it. Linked above. They got all their information from the project proposal, and didn't bother to interview either David or me. But hey, 30 seconds of fame, etc. I found the same article under three different dates. I don't know if they published it three times, or if their web site is broken. Excitement lies on the horizon—hold on, boys.
I guess I've neglected this blog of late.
I arrived safely on Ometepe last night, having run into Kim, Ela (sp), and Emily while waiting for the ferry. Everything is just a little different, myself included.
Most significantly, people seem more enthusiastic about the project. They're doing less nodding and taking more action to provide for something that's important to them. I'm not just talking about the hotels; the mayors of both Altagracia and Moyogalpa have gone out of their ways to show their interest in the project. Partly for this reason, and partly because I don't broke any more, I'm more optimistic about the project this time around. I don't have a lot of time--about two months, a break, and about two more months--but I hope that will help keep me on track.
We're (the project fund) mostly broke, by the way. I brought a couple more routers down, but I think we're out or nearly out of antennas. David and I will look for a source in Managua on Monday. There is supposedly some money we can make a bid for, though, so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to set up a tower on Sinacapa, near San José del Sur, sometime this year. The mayors should be able to help us find the money.
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