Dear Frederick, Timothy, Don, Cornelio, et al, I have been meaning for some time to put in some comments on these issues from a while ago, but am only now finding the time to do so. My message has two parts:
1) A description of my observations on the WCE distribution of computers in Nepal to the NGO, Committee for the Promotion of Public Awareness and Development Studies (COPPADES) <http://www.interconnection.org/coppades> 2) General comments on a few points made by others on this topic During the first several months of 2002, I had the privilege of visiting the COPPADES office in Kathmandu a number of times to meet with the director, Dikendra Kandel, and his staff to find out about their collaboration with WCE. I also visited a several schools in and around the town of Damauli which had received computers. This was part of my doctoral field research on social aspects of the introduction and spread of the internet in Nepal. A few months ago, COPPADES received recognition for their work when they were chosen as a finalist in Italy's Global Junior Challenge <http://www.gjc.it/2002/en/mostra.asp?ID=352>. I first met Dikendra and learned about COPPADES' project in March 2001 on an earlier field research trip. He was already deep into the process of getting the computers at that time. As Timothy pointed out, it is neither quick nor easy to organize this. When I returned in February 2002, they had only recently received the computers, and had been working very hard to match computers, monitors, keyboards, mouses, and printers into approximately 75 functioning sets, that were to be sent to schools spread across 5 different districts in Nepal. The components had numerous problems, but COPPADES had the technical staff necessary to fix whatever needed to be fixed and coordinate the components. They were just finishing this process, and had already started sending the computers out to the schools when I arrived. Distribution of the computers was no easy task either. Some schools were in towns on paved roads, but others had to be flown in to the nearest airport far from any road, and then ported on footpaths over long distances. The ongoing Maoist insurrection which affects many parts of the country made the task that much more difficult still. In my first trip outside of the Kathmandu valley, I spent four days in the town of Damauli, where I was able to visit several schools and a small college campus that had received WCE computers. The Education Society had taken charge of the coordination for their district. Several research informants in Kathmandu had commented that school staffs often wanted computers simply for the prestige, but that they were seen as too valuable to ever let the students touch them. So they were either used only by the school administration or kept safely boxed up in a locked room so that nothing could happen to them. In and around Damauli, though, all the schools had their computers out in freshly painted rooms on custom built workstations constructed by local carpenters. Teachers were anxious to get started teaching computer classes, and were interested in whatever ideas I might have to help them out. At the local junior college, classes had already started. In addition to the classes for students, there were two early morning sessions for the teachers to learn more about how to use computers. Everybody was enthusiastic and making the most of the chance they now had. By the end of my visit , I was so impressed with the enthusiasm of the teachers and staff at the various schools in the area that we agreed that I should return for slightly longer visit to run a set of workshops on tips for effective and efficient use of the internet and e-mail, given the constraints of high connection costs and slow connection speeds. There was no ISP point of presence in the district, so all connections involved long distance phone charges. There were challenges at all stages of the process. Nobody in Nepal had an easy time of it in acquiring the computers. Dikendra and his staff at COPPADES put in countless hours in the tasks involved: * identifying schools * putting together the proposal * finding funding for shipping costs * dealing with the customs office * arranging for teacher training * ensuring that all schools were committed and had adequate facilities for the computers or were willing to have them built * COPPADES focuses on development activities for the district of Lamjung, so they needed to find partner NGOs in the other 4 districts with which to collaborate. The schools had to set up or build facilities to house the computers, identify teachers at the school to teach computer classes and release them for training, and find funds for maintenance of the computers and e-mail/internet accounts. In Damauli, the junior college instructor was the only individual in town who was proficient with computer maintenance, so whenever any computer in the region did something confusing, he was sent for. Besides him, the nearest resources were over an hour away. Comparatively, Damauli was fairly well off. I have been slowly thinking over the issues raised by everybody with respect to my experience in Nepal. I think that Frederick's various concerns are perfectly valid, and I find that I often have similar ones. One point in particular that I would like to address that he raises: > What is the impact on recipients in the Third World? Is there no > better and more sustainable way of getting access to PCs? Are such > gift-horses appreciated well, or simply abused and misused by > recipients, who feel they've got the PCs in an easy way anyway? In the Nepal case, the recipients certainly appreciated getting the computers, and were starting to make good use of them. Of course, there were the other stories I heard about school computers being nothing more than status symbols. If computers are just dumped at an organization's doorstep, there is nothing to prevent this from happening. If, as WCE does, the recipients are required to come up with a viable, well thought out plan to be eligible, and to start the initial steps, such as room preparation and teacher training then there is much more chance for success. For a "charity" to be successful, it has to work with target audiences as equals, not simply provide them with handouts. As long as the planned obscelence model of computer design continues, there will continue to be a source of computers available through donation. The more sustainable approach would seem to be to have enough people refuse to stay on the Moore's Law/bloatware bandwagon so that a market is created for cheap, sufficient computers with basic operating systems and applications which people will keep for longer periods. If this happens, there will be fewer computer donations, but organizations in less industrialized countries will find computers more affordable. There have been a few recent movements in this direction, such as the simputer in India, the volkscomputer in Brazil, and Walmart's Linux-based machine in the US. Hopefully more will happen in this area. Cornelio raises valid concerns about computer dumping. According to the Basel Action Network's report, "Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia" <http://www.ban.org/>, some over-industrialized countries, the US in particular, sidestep the Basel Accord's limits on exporting toxic waste to less industrialized countries by selling unwanted computers as material for recycling. In reality what that often involves is parts being melted down over open fires or in acid baths out in the open with the fumes causing serious health problems and the toxic runoff contaminating the environment. For a quick graphic display, see <http://www.ban.org/Library/Guiyu_A.jpg> for a picture of CRT monitors imported to China for recycling, but laying as waste along the Liangjiang River. India and Pakistan have similar toxic electronic import problems. However, I question the relevance of the serious issue of computer dumping to the issue of providing functioning used computers to organizations in these countries. Granted the computers will not last as long as new computers, but even new computers will eventually wear out and need to be disposed of. Saying that these countries should not get computers until they can be disposed of properly is not an option. I think the real need is to develop computers that use less toxic chemicals; a point I have seen raised once or twice, but not often. Layton Montgomery [EMAIL PROTECTED] PhD Candidate Centre for Research Policy University of Wollongong Wollongong, NSW AUSTRALIA ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
