Blog

Heading toward Cebu! [2018-12-21]

Reneal has had a big year, installing ten new computer labs in 2018 with six of these new labs in the Philippines.  Thanks to some wonderful donations in 2018 (including Free Geek in Portland, OR, World Computer Exchange, Sound Family Medicine in Bonney Lake, WA, Maloney Elementary School in Fremont, CA, and UNeed2 in Tracy, CA), Reneal has had a wealth of computer hardware to share with schools in the Philippines.  We were especially pleased this year that Reneal Team Philippines organized and executed three installations while Neal and I were far away in the US. 

Reneal Team Philippines: Meet Ervin Formentera! [2018-11-15]

Reneal installs computer labs in high schools in both the Philippines and Tanzania, and we just couldn’t do it without our dedicated teams in each country.  The newest member of Reneal Team Philippines is Ervin Formentera, a student at Cebu Technological University in Danao City.  Ervin is doing his on-the-job training in his final year of college under Sir Jade Reyes at Arcelo Memorial National High School.   Jade, long-time Reneal intern during his own high school and college days, is now a high school computer teacher at Arcelo.  Part of Ervin’s responsibility is supporting the Reneal projects in Cebu, and he works closely with Reneal computer technicians Rhog Sampan and Lloyd Tuñacao.  Together these three computer wizards have installed several computer labs in Cebu the last few months.  We are very grateful for their skill and effort.  It’s time to meet Ervin!

2018 Tanzania in review [2018-10-29]

Planning for the 2018 projects in Tanzania started in late 2017, right as we returned from Arusha.  It is gratifying to look back now and see that Reneal Team Tanzania was able to achieve our goals.  Thanks to our partners at the Arusha District Council, Arusha Regional Office, Habari Node, and Arusha Node Marie – we couldn’t have done it without you!  And of course a huge THANK YOU to our partners in the schools, the school heads and computer teachers who bring Reneal’s resources to the students.

Home again [2018-10-19]

Here in California, it’s 1 a.m. Friday morning.  Back in Arusha, It’s approaching midday at the schools.  For much of the last two months, at this hour we would have been well into our work for the day – installing a new computer lab, making repairs in an existing lab, talking with the computer teachers – with the sounds of the school surrounding us.  How very strange it is to be back home suddenly without a school to visit tomorrow.

SUPER! USERS! [2018-10-14]

This week was the crux of Reneal’s time in Arusha in 2018.  Thanks to an amazing team effort, everything got done and we’re down to just one more school visit before Neal and I head back to the US.  Our room, full of Reneal t-shirts and servers and piles of equipment just last Sunday, is much more spacious now.  We visited three schools this week to share with them the new updates in their servers, and our team completely rewired one of our 2013 schools.  Best of all, we had fantastic meetings yesterday with the school heads and the Super Users (computer teachers) of the fourteen schools in Arusha District with Reneal computer labs!

Four in a row [2018-10-07]

Almost from the moment Neal and I got home from the 2017 Tanzania trip, Reneal’s Tanzania team has been planning for this year’s work.  With the help of many generous donors, Reneal gathered 115 laptop computers to bring to the schools here.  Neal built four new servers, and we worked with our trusted vendors in Arusha to reserve the equipment we purchase here.  David scouted for candidates for new computer labs, and he guided them carefully in preparing the computer room with tables, chairs, electrical outlets, and security features.  With the help of Reneal Board members Sharon Fingold and Katherine Yen and their husbands, we transported 18 boxes of computer equipment from California to Arusha.  With tremendous support from our partners at Habari Node and Arusha Node Marie, the equipment has been installed.  After all of the hard work and angst of the past year, it’s so thrilling to look back and see four new secondary schools with computer labs in Arusha District!

Max Q [2018-09-29]

It’s funny how quickly one transitions during a trip from the halfway point … to the point of anxiety.  Not the best analogy, but it feels a bit like a rocket reaching its maximum dynamic pressure, “Max Q” – for us, lots of work to do yet but options to readjust the schedule are diminishing.  We, especially Neal, are also feeling the fatigue of nearly constant effort.  Things always take longer than expected!  But we were thrilled this week that Reneal’s new computer technician, Robert Nyangaka, took on the challenge of the teacher orientation at Sokon II Secondary School.  It’s wonderful to have a team in Arusha now that can do the whole school installation process without Neal and me!

Halfway Point [2018-09-22]

We’ve been here in Tanzania for a bit over a month now, almost exactly halfway through our time here.  Happily we are also about halfway through the work, or at least it appears so from our schedule.  With the help of our team here, we finished the second new installation this past week (out of four planned) and Neal has finished the updates on four of the ten existing servers.  The fifth updated server is sitting here about ready to go into the box for Monday.  One thing we’ve learned though is that “being in control” is an illusion, so we’re trying our best to take what each day gives us.

Karibu Tanzania [2018-09-16]

“Karibu” is an expression that one hears repeatedly here in Tanzania.  It means “welcome”, and we surely have felt so thus far on this trip.  We were joined during our first week of work by Reneal Board of Directors members Sharon Fingold and Katherine Yen, along with their husbands Antonio Martinez (former Board member) and Marcus Lee.   We were able to visit five of the Reneal schools with them, and together we met the Reneal Tanzania scholars for the first time.  It is incalculably helpful that our Board members were able to experience conditions on the ground and talk with teachers and students about the role of the Reneal computers in the schools. 

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