12 April 2010
TPP Staff Kit Out African School with IT Equipment
In January, three members of staff from TPP (Jo Leslie, Sven Lowry and Ashley Brook) were sponsored by the company to participate in a ten-day trip to Bogu, Eritrea, to help install up-to-date IT equipment at a school.
Eritrea, which borders Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, has had a turbulent history. It became an independent state in 1993 after a 32 year long armed struggle with Ethiopia. In 1998 border hostilities led to two more years of conflict, adding to economic difficulties already endemic in the country. Around two-thirds of the population of 5 million still receive food aid.
The team began their trip in the capital, Asmara, and were accompanied by Jane Plastow, a Horsforth local and friend of TPP, who has been working with the school for many years on various projects, including installing solar power, improving sanitary facilities and laying football pitches.
The school, which has only recently been kitted out with solar power, has been working with one computer. Jo, Sven and Ash worked with teachers at the school, installing six new PCs and teaching staff how to use them correctly, so they could make the most of them. Sven said that "Some of the teachers hadn't previously used a computer, so we had to teach them the basics, from turning the computer on and off, to holding the mouse properly."
Jo commented, "One of the greatest difficulties of the trip was actually getting the computers out of the airport and taking them to the village. Eritrea is a very bureaucratic country and has a lot of rules owing to its turbulent past. We weren't allowed out of Asmara for two days, and travel further afield than this is only possible by permit.
"Tourists are usually only allowed as far as the next big town from the capital, but thankfully we had a lot of contacts who acted as aides and were able to help pull strings for us."
For Ashley, building a relationship with the teachers—most of whom were not teachers by profession but were posted to the school as part of their military service—was a bit of a struggle to begin with. Ashley said, "At first the teachers were really shy and it was hard to begin to build a relationship with them; but as the week went on they opened up to us. By the end of the week they were asking lots of questions and making conversation with us."
The PCs that were installed were specifically recommended for use in Africa as they use less power than regular computers and they only have one moving part. For Sven, the team's technical lead, this would help to overcome the major problem of dust: "After the first day the keyboards were covered in it, so it was good to know that no dust could get inside the computers via the fans which could cause them to break."
The computers had educational software, including an interactive encyclopaedia, installed on them to help the children gain valuable research skills. Educational games on science and maths topics were also installed to make learning more fun and memorable.
The team taught the teachers and pupils how to use the encyclopaedia as a research aid for a range of different things. Sven added, "The geography teacher used it to research soil erosion, and then used this to help teach the children about it. There were also a lot of Africa-specific pages on the program, such as interactive maps, which the children found really interesting."
Along with bringing obvious educational benefits to the children, the team also feel that the computers will benefit the community as a whole. For Sven, "The biggest benefit of giving the computers to the village is that it will give the entire community a window to the outside world - it gives them a chance to see things they haven't seen before and probably wouldn’t get the chance to see otherwise."
As well as setting up computers, the project also contributed to the community in other ways. Ashley took up the task of leading sport sessions with the teachers giving the children football coaching. This, with the addition of the 60 England football kits provided by a charity for the children, made for a lot of very happy faces. Ashley said, "The kids loved the football strips. They didn't take them off from the moment we gave them out. They were still wearing them when we left!"
The trip has had a huge impact on Jo, Sven and Ashley, and it was the people they met on their trip who have given them their greatest lasting memories.
Sven said, "The trip was the most humbling thing you could ever experience. The people over there had so little and were genuinely grateful for all we were doing for them. It meant a lot to them that people from outside their country were thinking of them."
For Ashley, "The people were the friendliest and most welcoming people you could possibly meet. We were treated as VIPs at all times, even though we didn't think this was necessary. It just shows you how respectful their culture is.
"The trip has made me more appreciative of the things we take for granted in this country. I now try not to get frustrated when something goes wrong or breaks because I know I have the funds to get things repaired. The people over there are always prepared to help each other out if and when things do go wrong."
Jo added that her defining memory of the trip was of the school children singing the Eritrean National Anthem, "On our second day at the school we were waiting to go in when the children lined up and began to sing for us. It was the national anthem.
"This was poignant as whilst we were in the capital we met the writer of the anthem, an ex-freedom fighter who now works for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs. He told us passionately how important the lyrics he penned were, especially when the struggles Eritrea has faced in gaining independence are taken into consideration. It was really moving to hear such powerful words sung by the children. You could tell they meant every word they said."
When asked if they would like to go back, all said they would. Sven said he would love to go back to see how things have changed, but he thinks, "It would be good for more people to go out there first. That way you would be able to see how much the project was benefiting the village." Ashley added that "I would love to go back, if not just to see the people."
What next?
TPP are hoping to sponsor more staff to visit Bogu in the near future so that the good work already carried out there by Sven, Ashley and Jo can be continued. It's hoped that on the next trip we'll be able to take more computers for the whole class to use and to install more software.
