Tech Squad Hits Epikuro

Also known as Post 10, Epikuro sits 150k outside Gobabis, the nearest town on a very dusty road.  Andrew, the Peace Corps volunteer there arranged for a very nice trip and we got quite a bit accomplished.

Our standard pose in Gobabis by the massive bull statue.	We got a tour of SchoolNet Gobabis where we were taught more about the OpenLab linux distribution	The kids were very excited to see us and flocked around us as we walked .

Our primary goal at Epikuro was to setup a Photo Lab and work with the computer teacher there to organize computer classes.  It was great visiting a primary school as the learners there were timid, curious and very excited to meet these "big city" kids.

The crew showing teachers and learners how to edit photographs on the computer	During a tour of the school the Tech Squad got a nice picture on top of a stump.  The tree was cut two years ago because it's roots were tearing up classroom floors.	Our meals were very good and prepared with care.

The school there, Goei Goop Primary made us feel very welcome and prepared excellent meals for us.  They truly value their computer education there.

The Squad in their favorite pose. Pictured is Olivia, Mervin, Joel, Kali and Lydia	A view of the schoolyard between two classroom blocks.  These massive trees are as old as 200 years!	At night we walked to the local shop and ended up dancing with an elderly Hererro woman.

The Tech Squad was introduced to the Linux operating system as Goie Goop has a SchoolNet lab.  They have the OpenLab 4 distribution which was made by South Africans for schools throughout Africa.

All said, the kids had a great time.  We got to see ostridge, springbok and plenty of cattle.

Tech Squad Visits Amunuis

Last Friday we left for Aminuis, which is 200k south of Gobabis on a dirt road.  Gobabis is 250k east of Windhoek on a very nicely paved road.  Suffice it to say, the trip was very long and dusty.

We first stopped by the SchoolNet office in Gobabis so that the Squad could learn more about Linux and the OpenLab operating system.  Max, one of the technicians there gave them a brief introduction and allowed them to use the computers for a while.

A group shot with the bull- a statue highlighting the importance of cattle to this area of Namibia	Gracious shows some learners at the school how to take a computer apart and teaches what each piece does	Leena uses the Linux computer, exploring OpenLab for the first time.

From Gobabis we went straight to Aminuis, a very small town in the heart of cattle country in eastern Namibia.  The terrain is about as flat as it gets out there.

The school we visited is the site of Chris Pexton.  The school is the oldest school for blacks in all of Namibia, established in 1935.  Their computer lab wasn't quite that old, in fact it had newer computers than most.  They have 5 SchoolNet computers and three windows machines.

The food was adequate.  We ate hostel food for dinner and breakfast which consisted of a piece of bread and a glob of porrage	Here I'm leading the discussion on installing ink cartridges (don't think that the squad does all the work!)	The squad- Petrine, Matroos, Leena and Gracious standing proud.  The cleared viruses out of the two computers behind them.

We took a photo printer with us and taught them how to run a photography lab.  Teachers, learners and members of the community were all part of the training.  Overall I'd say it went really well.

We were able to see a few sights before leaving for Windhoek Saturday.  I'm hoping everything works out for our trip to Post 10, north of Gobabis this week.

A little sillyness on the way back to WIndhoek.	We stopped by the salt flats before leaving Aminuis for a group picture.

Again, another back post (sorry!!)

On February 23 the Tech Squad took their first trip out of town.  They went to a small village north of Windhoek called Otjimbingwe, Dan's site.  We left after school on Friday and arrive after 5:00.

After settling in, we got to work on the computers.  Dan asked us to help network the computers together and install some software, which we were happy to do.  The Tech Squad learned how to make network cables and install utilities over a network share.

The youth at Da Palm Middle School were very excited to see us.  It was a good experience for the youth on the Tech Squad as none of them had been to a hostel before.  They spoke with the learners there and learned what life is like in a rural village.

We had lots of fun and hope to return again sometime soon.

This... Is... Tech Jeopardy!

The audience- a few members of the photo lab crew. I was surprised to see them all stay for the whole thing- they seemed to enjoy it!	Each quad stood behind a computer that tallied their scores.  They buzzed in by simply raising their hands.  A different member of each squad stood to answer for each question, but the whole squad was permitted to discuss.	The categories included hardware, software, instruction, programs, ports, networking, things found in a window and slots.

As a fun way to take a final exam, the Tech Squad participated in a Tech Jeopardy game last week.  They participated in their assigned squads, groups of four that will travel together over the course of the year.  They loved the game and what they didn't know before they certainly know now!

The final scores.  There were some major shifts during the game, but it all came down to final Jeopardy where the question was: what is the numerical value of 1001 0100?	The game lasted about an hour an a half with the Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy and Final Jeopardy rounds.  We had commercial breaks in between where I played funny clips on the computer.

Tech Squad Trips

There's been a LOT of activity this past week with the Tech Squad.  Below are some of the trips we've taken

Omaruru - TRC (Teacher's Resource Center) and SI Gobbs High School
We went to Omaruru (a 2.5 hour drive) one day skipping half a day of school to help get the internet working in the TRC computer lab and also repair a computer that stopped working.  We also checked out the hardware at SI Gobbs HS that was recently donated so that we can prepare an estimate for setting everything up.

Patrina and Leena working on formatting a computer that died in the TRC Computer lab	Our standard photograph outside the school or office we were working by the "badge"

Rehoboth - Rehoboth High School
We made a quick trip to Rehoboth (70k south of Windhoek) after school to assist with a brand new computer lab they got recently.  They only purchased the hardware and signed up for the Microsoft Schools program for software.  We went to help install this software.  We failed though, as the software we brought to clone the computers would not recognize the new SATA hard drives they had.  We return this Wednesday to try again.

Gracious and Matroos sitting... confounded by the problems we kept encountering.  I assured them this was a part of working on computers... endless problems.	Their new computer lab- 20 pc's and a server.  It will be very nice once it's up and running.

Computer Donation to the School
The Tech Squad recently received a donation of 30 computers from the Ministry of Education to distribute as we see fit.  They are in various states of operability but we got most of them working.  In appreciation for the support of the school, we gave three computers to the teachers for use in the staff office, library and counselor's office.

Our presentation to the school	The three computers we donated.