Inveneo

Duke University Students Build Vital Community Center in Rural Uganda

Some of the first customers at the Internet café in Nkokonjeru, Uganda.
by Ted Miller, Inveneo Volunteer

For the past two summers, groups of the students from Duke University traveled to the town of Nkokonjeru in rural Uganda to build a computer resource center and bring Internet access to the local community. The students, members of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and Duke Smart Home (DSH), started with an ambitious goal of building a 1,000 square foot solar powered facility with a cluster of low power computers that included a 1,500-book digital library targeting the most appropriate needs for the villagers and local community.

Execution promised to be a challenge, so EWB and DSH partnered with Uganda’s Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD) to identify the site and make connections with organizations that could help them with the material, technological, and labor costs of the project.

Shortly after choosing the site, the students learned about Inveneo from the CEO of a worldwide aid organization. When the team contacted Inveneo and discussed the RASD project, it was clear that they were the perfect match. Inveneo had worked on ultra low-power computing, communication, and hub server projects in 14 African countries, and they quickly worked to identify a solution provider in country that could provide the solar and computing system for the project. They chose Linux Solutions, a company that they had successfully certified and worked with on projects in the past.

"Inveneo helped us tremendously. With no grid electricity available, the Inveneo solar-powered system was the only sustainable solution to bring computer access to the RASD resource center. Linux Solutions was professional and knowledgeable and helped tremendously with the installation and maintenance of the system." -- Will Patrick, Duke University

In the end, the first summer turned out to be a huge success as the resource center building was completed, the solar power and computer infrastructure were set up, and the digital library was installed on all of the computers. The new resource center was now up and running and able to be used by the local community to access much needed information on agricultural techniques, medicine, water filtration, and basic daily do-it-yourself, and fix-it guides. One of the resources, The Appropriate Technology Library, was immediately used by locals to repair a sewing machine.

The leader of RASD had been given an antique (circa 1900 model) Singer sewing machine from another development organization. As soon as the computers were up and running, he asked if perhaps the Duke students knew anything about them. They didn’t, but the digital library had a specific guide on the operation, maintenance, and repair of Singer sewing machines. Continuing to look through the digital books, members of RASD found guides for starting small coffee operations from seedlings. This was one of the projects RASD had been looking to start in their community for some time, since large coffee farms in the district were doing quite well.

The lack of quality information was keeping many of RASD’s best ideas -- and previously acquired equipment -- from being put into useful service. The Inveneo machines were the catalyst to solving this issue.

Returning the following summer, students from EWB and DSH found that the computers had been used in ways that no one had really anticipated. While they knew that leaders of RASD would use them to write grants and organize proposals, the RASD leadership also found the computer screens to be a useful presentation device. Working with another aid organization, from University of California at Davis, that was conducting water filtration studies in the region, RASD organized seminars and used the computers to explain the purpose of the study and to show examples of good and bad sanitation practices. Additionally, with the growth of the resource center and the presence of the computers, RASD was able to attract a Peace Corps volunteer to work in the community for two years. All without having Internet access!

When the students from EWB and DSH returned this past summer, the goal was to bring Internet access to the resource center and create an Internet Café to help finance the cost of it.

For the Internet solution, the students decided that going with a hard Internet connection would not be viable because of the overall lack of infrastructure in the region and reliable and stable electricity. So, they decided to create an over-the-air “connection” by bringing in a cellular GPRS network through a special modem that was compatible with the Inveneo systems. With the help of the RASD, the students worked out a data plan agreement with Ugandan operator MTN who also helped the group identify and set up the correct modem that would bring the Internet access to the Inveneo computers.

The final issue to resolve was how to pay for regular maintenance of the resource center, a system administrator, and the monthly data plan from MTN. The EWB and DSH students agreed to work with local community leaders to create a campaign to promote the resource center as an Internet Café location which would set aside specific times during the day for visitors and local university students to access the Internet.

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