Current Vision for Development

While yesterday was our first day at work, today was the first day that we actually worked at work.  We drew up a work plan yesterday which is somewhat an exercise in organization, somewhat just putting stuff down on paper to make people, be it in our host organization or FSD, have an idea of the general direction we hope to move in.  Our thoughts yesterday, were that a high, but incredibly powerful goal for the summer and for the youth center would be to develop into an internet café themselves, and by teaching or aiding with solar technology, computer skills, and capital management, create a similar center in another underserved community.  As of yesterday afternoon when Julian and I talked this over I thought it was a ridiculous plan, to expand miles beyond Lwemode, but after talking to Junior (the youth groups main spokesman) and the rest of the youth center today it seems in crazy way quite possible.

Just a note: As we discovered, youth actually goes up to the age of 40 in Uganda. So the people we are working with in the youth center are actually much older than we expected. It seems to be ranging from 20-40.

Junior seemed incredibly excited when we mentioned that an internet café was the project we wanted to direct our solar power towards.  He had recently bought a new computer for the center, but without wireless access it was limited to provide organizational and word processing services to the center.  Computers are his area of expertise, particularly buying computers and how to find different parts, so he had insight into how much another computer for the center would cost.  Good secondhand computers, always bought in Kampala for the cheapest prices, cost between 400 and 600 thousand shillings (average of $200 USD), however to purchase a keyboard, monitor, and mouse, the total cost is only 130 thousand shillings (about $50 USD).  What this means for us is that if we got a raspberryPi functioning, we could essentially halve the cost to install an additional computer (raspberry pies cost $35 USD, and allowing for the cost of shipping to Uganda via a service like DHL, it’s still much, much cheaper ).  It appears from Junior’s accounts that internet cafes in Uganda actually use raspberryPis (or very similar devices) instead of larger traditional computers, although he claimed that in order to purchase such a small, energy efficient computer, you would have to pay 1 million shillings (about $400 USD).  His claim was that prices in Uganda reflect an understanding that power efficiency and transportability are desirable, and can be sold at a greater price.  Therefore, looking to source raspberryPis from outside suppliers appears to be a better option. 

As part of the FSD program, we have the opportunity to use a $300 USD seed grant on our project, so buying a new computer for the center would take less than half of that grant, and leave plenty left for investing in other things.  For instance, using the remainder to make the initial payment to a mobile phone company to provide internet via 3G would enable the center to get internet up and running sooner as opposed to waiting for capital from phone charging to build to the point where they were able to invest in that service.  Based on the demand for phone charging, it seems like an internet café would pull in many customers.  Lwemode is the only place for phone charging between Dim, a fishing area about six miles up the road that runs to Lake Victoria from Lwemode, and Lusaka, a slightly larger village that is maybe halfway in between Lwemode and Kalisizo (Lusaka is 5 miles in the other direction).  People from everywhere in between come to Lwemode to charge phones, and Junior said they would take them  up on internet services as well.

Lwemode appears to be developing relatively fast as well, expanding from only a few homesteads to hosting a new church, a large primary school (ages four to six) and several emerging businesses like the youth center.  On top of that, it’s the seat of the subcounty, and has the office of the LC3 chair, whom we met today.  He was incredibly excited about the idea of not only bringing internet access to Lwemode and therefore the subcounty, but also with the idea of expanding.  He asked us about opportunities for teaching others and what we were doing to reach as much of the subcounty as possible and generally just seemed to “buy” the idea, as Junior put it.  Junior also recommended working to expand by building one café in Dim, so those in between Dim and Lwemodde could travel in either direction and have reasonable access to internet/power.  The idea behind what is basically a satellite site is that the expertise would come from Lwemode, as well as part of the capital investment, and as a result, part of the profits could return to Lwemode.  So it would not only expand their outreach and services, but also their opportunity for profit.

The LC3 Chairman (left) and Junior (right) in our small meeting.

Lydia, Julian and the Chairman.

This brings us to kind of a surprising revelation about the community center.  Coming into this project, Julian and I both anticipated that if a family owned the node, it would receive better care.  Personal ownership with personal profit hinging on the upkeep of that node seems like the best assurance of adequate care.  We assumed that families, seeing the device as a means for profit or for power, would protect it within their homes.  However, seeing the youth center in action, it’s clear that the group is capable of actually realizing collective ownership and collective protection.  Their shop already has valuable pieces of equipment, like their TV and now a computer, and the shop has the appropriate precautions in place (locks, steel door, etc.).  They have maintained their possessions and their tools for the years that they have been working together, and don’t tend towards the tragedy of the commons issues that we originally thought community centers/community ownership might lead to. (as we actually told by a professor.) 

What we are reaping here is this groups passions for technology. Junior said that in Uganda, people don't lack the interest or the power, just the knowledge. In this way, the driving force for the project can very much be a teaching and capitalistic impetus.  The community center is incredibly well run and handles its profits from phone charging in a way that is positive and encourages its members that they are working towards goals of personal gain (i.e.: getting T.V. access, getting power at night to hang out with friends, etc.).  They immediately were excited that they might be able to access internet from their center, and even more so that that access could lead to more profits which could provide other services as well.  Junior said that their goals for the center for the year were to begin to provide video game and computer classes (we’re still not sure the point of video game classes, but if that’s what Lwemode wants…), a welding machine, battery charging, and a photocopier.  It was evident from our classes today that they truly want to learn about solar technology and circuitry and to be able to use those skills to improve their own access to technology as well as enhance the services to provide for others. 

For now, the goals they have in mind include phone charging services, phone repair, internet cafe, into to computer classes, electronics classes (which replicates our classes) and setting up other internet/power centers which inherently means training more people in other villages in computer/solar technology.

So now with these discussions in mind, we anticipate using two of our nodes at the youth center itself, to provide for phone/battery charging needs as well as to power at least one computer when grid power is iffy.  The third node can be a practice in expansion, the first step to install power in a town, possibly like Dim.  There, even if the node is only going to charge phones, some amount of money can be built up in the community that can eventually be turned into an internet service as well with the expertise/advice of the Lwemode group.  So that is the general motion of our project at this point in time, and we’ll probably continue to see many adjustments and developments.