I’ve only a few distros available in country, and am seeking to add several more flavors. Does anyone have the time or ability to download a bunch of Linux distributions and send them on a DVD this way?

Currently installed here is Linux Mint v11. We have both 32 and 64 bit versions here. We also have older Suse circa 2005, and Ubuntu 10.4 32 bit. Anything anyone wants to offer will be great.

Work continues as it always does, two steps forward one step back. I’m becoming increasingly aware of the impending departure from this lovely country within the next year. This means all my time and effort needs to be driven into making my projects sustainable. I’m trying desperately to get the teachers at the primary school more confident in their abilities, so this way the XO laptops continue to be used to their maximum capacity. I’m also pulling more and more IT savvy Swazis into the “Swaziland Computer Society.” This is the organization my counterpart and I have been trying to create just to network with more people in-country that are interested in computers. So far so good we have connected with about 6 people so far. Sounds small but considering every IT technician here is an island unto themselves, it’s a big step.

Other work is being done to move forward with a survey on acceptance or interest in Linux. This will likely end up being a more formalized survey than I originally anticipated but it may be good to get a feel for the current penetration, and the basic knowledge regarding an alternative to Windows.

Once results of that and other projects become available I will remember to share them here. In the meantime if you are interested in computers please check out the group either on Facebook or on GoogleGroups.

Swazi.Computers@groups.facebook.com

or

Swaziland-Computer-Society@googlegroups.com

I have been teaching computers at the Primary School for a few weeks now.  At the end of last term I pushed several teachers through an intense crash course on everything the XO computers could do.  In case you aren’t familiar with what the XO is, I can tell you a bit of what it is.

The One-Laptop-Per-Child program (www.laptop.org) was started by Nicholas Negroponte about a decade ago.  Nicholas Negroponte was the director for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab for many years.  The Media Lab is one of the most prominent and advanced technology centers in the world. MIT’s Media Lab could be considered a rocket-powered space station on an intergalactic voyage.  The mission of this voyage is to create new ideas and new technologies, and then applying these ideas and technology.  I’ve been a fan of Nicholas Negroponte for a number of years, particularly after reading his book Living Digital.  After Professor Negroponte left MIT he started working on the OLPC project, whose aim was to enable all children of the globe to have access to information technology.  Focusing on economically poor countries and students, the OLPC foundation created the XO.  The XO was designed to be a low-cost computer, low enough to be put in the hands of every small child in the developing world.

It’s not a great computer by the standards we expect today.  It wouldn’t have been an icon of powerful computing 5 years ago either.  It has a 266 Mhz processor, which is slower than most of our phones.  It has 1GB of memory which actually is the short-end of what many new netbooks are coming with.  It has roughly a gigabyte of storage.  These all might be seen as shortcomings in a computer for us.  If we saw it on the shelves at Best Buy most of us would walk away, or at least the sales guy would try to get you to move on.  These features are only describable to the children using one word.  A word that is continually overused in modern society, just ask Bill Engvall.  These computers are Awesome. I can share with you a glimpse of the joy children experience with these computers, only because it has been captured in a few photograph  An unrelated survey was given to a 5th grade class this week.  In the survey it asked the children what is their favorite class.  So many of them answered computers, I’m honored.

The first class was fun.  It consisted of trying to get children to point out the various part of the XO.  What are the speakers, where is the camera.  Almost everyone has played with a cellphone here, so it became “the camera that is just like the one in the cellphone.”  And the speakers were “just like the ones on the really loud buses.” Most children memorized the parts of the computer pretty fast, but lacked mastery in approaching the mouse.  The mouse in the case of XOs a touchpad.  I still feel obligated to call it a mouse, because 30 years after its creation, the mouse is no longer a pointing device.  It is a concept.  And it is a concept that I took as granted.  I somehow lured myself into believing that mouse usage was universal, and had somehow already established itself in the collective unconscious of children all over the globe.  The lesson learned by me was not to skip anything with these children.  Any knowledge I have is completely new and foreign to them, including the simple word “click.”

At the end of the first lesson, after getting the children to turn on and immediately turn off their computer, I asked them an interesting question. One of the more popular questions asked by Peace Corps volunteers to their students is “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Because the question has been asked here by plenty of volunteers before I got here, I was prepared for the answers.  Almost all students answered one of a few things.  Police, soldiers, teachers, and nurses.  One student wanted to be a banker, and the other an accountant.  It is true that children want to grow-up to be the occupations they are exposed to.  The children are ready and ripe for something as intense and powerful as computer and the internet.  I feel there is a critical mass of curiosity building in these students, and computers are the perfect relief valve.  Not to be caught in a trap of dismissing the children’s interest as ‘status quo’ or ‘to be expected,’ I asked them an additional question.  “How do you think computers would be used in the job.”  A few kids muttered some answers, but one hopeful policeman said “it would help me catch thugs.”  These kids were ready for computers and I was ready to get them working.

The first class was an introduction to me as to what my service could actually look like.  It wasn’t until my second class though that I felt my own awe at what I was experiencing.  Our second class consisted of a review from the first class, including “phone cameras” and “bus speakers.” My main focus was trying to get the students acclimated to moving a ball through a maze in a very simple game.  It is literally a maze, such as the ones we find on the back of cereal boxes.  The object is simple, get the ball to the end of the maze.  Movement requires the use of the arrow keys.  Up, down, left, right.  Simple concepts once you have been exposed to them, and had time to experience just what “left vs. right” might mean.

And it was in that moment when I was looking at the different faces in the room that I realized I was engulfed in the “help” I had so incredibly wanted to bring.  I was aware of the physical presence the silence of the students had on me.  I heard nothing bu intensity from the students. I immediately went to the front of the room, something told me I needed to see this from a beter perspective.  The silence of the students was they key for me to recognize that something was happening.  The students were entranced by the glow of the screen, and completely absorbed in the decision of going “left vs. right.”

Knowing that I was there and I helped these students engage a part of their brain that up until that moment was untouched, gave me the incredible satisfaction of helping.  And it gave me my first real Peace Corps experience.

We have been exceedingly busy lately, occasionally taking a day off to do nothing but sit on the floor and wish it was cleaner.  It is quite difficult to keep things clean, and we have had a several hour conversation about just how far do we lower the bar on what “clean” means.  It has been decided that “unfilthy” is the new clean.  After a few weeks of work on our new ceiling insulation, the feed bags are up in the living room.  We are the proud owners of 50 used chicken feed bags, 14 of which now hang from the tin roof above my head.  The idea is to create a space beneath the tin roof to trap the heat.  It so far seems to be working as the room was considerably cooler today.  The unfortunate part of this process has been the amount of chicken dust kicked into the air.  Regardless of how much Thandiwe has tried to prepare the bags, they still are sprinkling minute particles of magic chicken feed dust on our heads.  The bags have been cleaned, stapled together, and cleaned some more.  They were even left outside for a few hours, but there has been a fine layer of dust on most surfaces after working on them.  I have given up on the idea of hiring a traditional healer to cleanse the place, as it likely involves more unpleasant smells.  Thankfully now they are hanging, the dust should be an absolute minimum.

(insert sounds of donkeys, crickets, and drunk bomake (mothers) clapping and dancing)

Where was I?  Oh yes… dust.  Something has been affecting my sinuses, and I had to go into the Medical Office last week, as I have been suffering from moderate dizziness and irritated sinuses.  I have been given a steroidal spray for the rhinitis, and taken off Mefloquin, in case that is the cause.  I was unhappy about being on Mefloquin due to the side effects, but now I must say I miss it.  I have to take doxycyclin now once a day, and I receive none of the fun side effects of Mefloquin.  My dreams have mellowed out, and my daydreams are gone with them.  Goodbye hallucinations, goodbye out of control sleep patterns.

Some of the good things to come out of the office visit included picking up mail, and getting to see one of our good friends from training.  The PC office is so far from we we live that in a car it might take 90 minutes.  When taking the public transportation here, it is 2 buses and a khumbi (minivan) for a total of 3-4 hours.  Just long enough that we will be required to spend the night in town when we want to get our mail.  Thankfully Mfonzile (Joe) lives about 90 minutes from the PC office, and had enough floorspace to have me over.  And he happens to be a fantastic cook.  I was served $40 equivalent worth of appetizers in the form of radish, butter, and tarragon.  I say $40 as that is what it would cost in the US, here is was closer to $10.  Then I was spoiled with a E60 bottle of 2008 Pinotage, and some home made Indian dish.  That was followed by great conversation, catching up, and getting lost on our morning hike.  We were supposed to only go down to the river, so it was acceptable to me that I left my phone, wallet, and water at his place.  I am pleased at the result however, I was able to see untarnished and uninhabited Africa.  No people it seemed for miles, no trash anywhere, running water, green trees, and absolutely minimal signs that humanity had ever touched the ground around my feet.   And then it started to rain.  We likely doubled-back 3 times before we gave up and cut through someone’s cabbage patch.  In the end it turned out exceedingly well, as Mfonzile made friends with the son of the cabbage-patch owner, and they will likely be working on a few projects together over the next few years.  Just three kids hanging around in the cabbage patch.  <insert joke here>

Our own work has come a long way over the last several weeks, yet we are still up-in-the-air as to what is the best approach.  Peace Corps stresses “capacity building” as the definition for development, as opposed to the traditionally thought of “build it, give them money, and the will come” approach.  This puts us in a position of trying to motivate the people around us to do things that require no money and obviously this idea meets with a lot of blank stares.  Occasionally I can pick up on someone’s eyes glazing over when I say we “bring no money”.  (more donkeys)  In spite of no-money approach, we have been repeatedly introduced to how desperately our community desires is water.  Even the pastor said water is most important.  There is one NGO in our area, and the Govt itself working on a water project, so that puts us out of the running for what everyone is looking for.  It is a good thing however since sustainable water projects cost millions, and still don’t always work out.  The quick fix small borehole may cost a few thousand Emalengani, but when that 60 meter borehole dries up, people are going to be really upset. 

The best news out of the water crisis is that the second most desired thing we can do is work with the youth on empowering leaders for tomorrow.  If you are a boy and you don’t play soccer, there is very little for you to do here.  There is supposedly a boxing club of 4 people.  If you are a girl you are lucky to have free time.  There is a youth center here which is in bad need for restoration, as it has been mangled through neglect and lack of funding.  The pool table has a 45° slant to it, and the foosball table is a few players short of a full team.  The burglar door has been pulled off by either an overweight kid, or an overweight kid riding a bull.  The keys were lost and all the interior doors now have a doggy-door hastily installed in case Lassie needs to help kids on the other side.  The grass is green.  It is also waist high.  It is quite funny with all of this, how all I can see is an incredible stroke of luck for us, and all the potential this place can be.  Now we just need to figure out how to spread our vision.  Step 1 : Fix Youth Center.  Step 3: Profit.

We are exceptionally lucky to live in a community which so far seems quite versed on HIV and we haven’t confronted much stigma around it.  People are sick and dying, but people aren’t afraid to talk about it.  Condoms are passed out frequently, and the male circumcision program is strong here (ask me sometime what circumcision can do for you). All this does bode well for our role in actually feeling like we are accomplishing something.  I believe we are riding on the wave created by the Group 6 volunteers who left the site better than they found it.  Thanks to Dumsane and Lindelwa!  I rarely get mistaken for Dumsane, but Thandiwe corrects at least two people a week that she is not Lindelwa.  Happened yesterday actually.  “Not Lindelwa” had a good day of staying inside and reading the Darwin Awards today.  Ahh reading… what a great past time.  Reading is entirely underrated in the US, and I am pleased to need more than one hand to count the number of books I have read in the last 4 months.

ACK!  4 months!  I saw some video of Chicago on TV today while I was interviewing a local business owner.  It seems like time has just blown by at an astronomical speed.  There was much talk during training about the Lifecycle and moods of the volunteer, and it resembles a roller-coaster.  Now that Thandiwe nami (Krista and I) are out of training, speaking siSwati more often, and integrating, we are supposed to be slowing down considerably and adjusting to “Swazi time.”  So far it hasn’t been happening in obvious wa ys, but I will look up from my gardening and 5 hours have passed.  We are now growing carrots, chives, tomatoes,  green onions, basil, hybrid green peppers, organic peppers, dill, and oregano.  The two types of peppers are kind of an experiment to see which grows better, tastes better, etc.  They are planted side by side and will get the same treatment.  The organic peppers will likely be able to have their seeds harvested and planted next year.   Mfonzile was telling me that the big seed company here was bought by an American company, and Walmart bought Shoprite.  This means even more of the money spent in Swaziland will go to US companies who pay taxes, which then get given to Swaziland as foreign aid.  What a world right? 

(take a breath… changing subjects)

I am also growing cactus, iboza and wild something-tree (name censored!).   As much as I talk about the climate and scenery being like southern Arizona, nothing drives it home more than realizing I am growing cactus.  The kind we have looks just like ocotillo, but is terrifically short like a shrub.  The point in planting it is to keep the tinkhukhu (chickens) out of the garden.  I came all the way to Africa to cultivate cactus, and what a good job I am doing.  But here is something I can bring to Africa.  Prickly pear jelly is something that will be widespread and marketable by the time I am done.  My book says it grows here, now I just have to find some.    Of all the plants however, nothing I have seen is quite as beautiful as a Jacaranda.  If you haven’t seen how gorgeous that tree is, Google it and look for pictures of it in bloom.  If it isn’t invasive I am bringing some back home with me.  If it is invasive I will take up painting so I can at least bring that back. 

Speaking of paintings the art available at the big tourist market is incredible.  Goods from all over Africa are traded as this market.  The market itself is likely the size of Tucson Mall, and all outdoor.  Some areas are two stories, but it is all wood planks and wood stairs.  It is precisely what your mind would picture a market in Africa being like.  Drums, jewelry, and paintings are available.  Some for as little as $1 US.  My plan is to buy a drum and several of pieces of wall art next time we are there.  Right now we are actually feeling the squeeze of living on a PC budget, and recognize that my $2 a day juice habit may need to go.  The juice habit is incredibly satisfying though.  I can buy a liter of 100% fruit juice for $2, and it is the most delicious thing I have ever drank.  The price may be lowering in the next few weeks also, so the juice habit won’t go quite yet.  Sadly the Mozambican bread habit is already on its way out.  The bread is only good with the spicy bean patties they make, and we just bought a 2 pound sack of chilies for less than $1.  Just not sure what we are going to do with all those chilies.

One thing I am sure of is we will be eating under lighted circumstances now, thanks to the solar lights Pop sent us.  Pop… those things are great!  I put together a small outdoor charging rack so they are less likely to be trampled by goats while outside.  We can now truly stay up until 9pm again and not bump into walls doing it.  The same time as the solar lights came, Powertraveler fulfilled its promise and delivered free of charge a solar-powered battery that will recharge the laptop.  The battery takes about 8 days to fully charge in the sun, but can charge the laptop 5-6 times on a full charge, so I should be able to type on a real keyboard like I’m doing now more often.  This is a good thing, because as great as I have been about keeping a journal, it is devolving into a series of bullet points on what has been happening, and doesn’t include any personal interpretation or substance to it.  It is nice that I ate cornflakes.  Again.  (more donkeys… they really are dumb asses).  I don’t need to look back on my journaling 50 years from now and say “yup.  I was regular in those days.”  Hopefully when inspiration for writing something of quality is on my mind, I will enshrine it here.  In the meantime I am still trying to learn how to juggle and do magic.

It is also true that black mambas are super fast!  Growing up in Arizona it was normal to see snakes whenever you went looking.  The snakes I grew up with had fast strikes, but generally moved at the speed you would expect a snake to move at.  The puff adders in Swaziland apparently move slow also, and constantly get stepped on.  The black mamba I saw yesterday moved fast enough to make me shudder, and fast enough for all the bomake(mothers) in the village to sprint after it while the chucked rocks and tried whacking it with sticks.  In the end it was bomake 1 snake 0.  We have been told that when you have a snake just tell the women of the village, and the snake problem will be taken care of.  In the case of it being a living animal, it is sad to see an animal meet its demise due to humans, and then not get eaten or made into boots.  Knowing that at 6 feet it was a small mamba, but potentially a man killer (or cows, donkeys, goats, or puppies, they were all there) made me feel slightly better.  I do regret not taking the body and doing something with it. 

4 meters is the length the black mamba will get up to according to the “Wild Swaziland” nature book I bought a few weeks ago.  I got the book at a bookstore here, but it is likely available on amazon for $10 or so.  Speaking of Amazon I have started a “wish list” both there and on www.thinkgeek.com Also.  They are under my email address. Karen (my sister) mentioned that a small flat-rate box from USPS is only $13 to here. (hint hint)  It turns out that the only things that aren’t available here is technology and delicious candy.  They have solar panels at most shops, but they are really expensive compared to their bought online counterparts.  Fixed solar panel installs are apparently a common target for theft, so the portable solar that we brought is turning out great.

One of the best things so far that I brought were the small $2 solar lights taht are intended for your driveway.  Without electricity, those things are great!  I have one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom.  We had an electrician out to the homestead a few days ago to quote prices on getting juice, and it is extremely expensive, coming in just under $1000 US.  So we are sticking woth solar.  I have been in an email fight with this company that sells solar laptop chargers, since it is not charging my laptop.  The customer service rep says she will send me some additional equipment to remedy the situation, so I will not disparage the company’s name yet.  Being a techie for the group is paying off as I can say things like I have 15 orders I need to place, and I am govt, etc etc.

Once the solar/tech issues are fixed, it seems the largest issue is getting a candy fix.  They have some candy here, including kit kats.  What they don’t have is root beer barrels and m&m’s.  I had the luck of running across both of these before I left, but supplies are running thin.  We may be able to run across to South Africa and find them there.  We haven’t yet crossed into Mozambique either, but that is coming soon.

Even without candy and power, we are getting an amazing amount done.  I am finishing one book a week.  The last book I finished was Jason Carter’s “Power Lines.”  It is a story of the Peace Corps volunteers life living on the border of South Africa and Swaziland.  It is very interesting, and pretty accurate to our own life here.  We are making progress on work, our 3 month assessment of our community is going well.  We made it to the outskirts of the community yesterday and saw the second high school.  They also have a really nice computer lab, so I am really excited about that.  Sadly the transport back from there is difficult, and even with a partial ride, we walked about 5 or 6 miles in the 105 degree heat, going about 1000 feet uphill to.  From the bottom of the plateau to the top.  I will remember to bring more water.

The walk wasn’t all bad, we did see a squished puff adder that moved to slow.

Will write more soon… Thandiwe says hi!

Send letters or postcards!

Brian Deyo, PCV   (or Krista Clark, PCV)
U.S. Peace Corps
P.O.Box 2797
Mbabane, H100
SWAZILAND

Just kidding.  I just had the last hot shower I may have for a long time.  Same to the running water, electricity in my room, and flat-screen TV.  Good way to pamper us before we get to see what the real Peace Corps experience is like.

Internet access so far is highly limited and expensive, clocking around $9 per hour or $15 per 250MB.  I’m certain this won’t be the last you hear of us, it just might be a few weeks before anything else gets put up here.

Thanks to everyone who helped make our goodbyes so pleasant!  We will miss you and write often!

Please Please Please contact me either through this blog, email “brian[at]briandeyo.us” or please call the Tucson Police about case 1006220819.  This laptop was to be my lifeline back to this country while overseas.  There is a reward for the return.

The laptop was taken along with a SolarGorilla solar panel, an external PowerGorilla battery , an external Toshiba 320GB black & white hard drive, several MicroSD cards, and other small belongings.   A reward will be offered for ANYTHING returned.

Please contact me if you have found this laptop!!!!!

Say goodbye to my Cisco VPN client, and say hello to BitLocker.  Say goodbye to Exchange and say hello to Windows Live Mail.  I haven’t been a user of information technology in close to a decade.  All my adventures in advanced IT has gotten my this far, so I can’t discount my appreciation much.  I am thankful for a new page turning in my life.  There really is as much stress working on huge projects with deadlines as portrayed on TV and in the movies.  I am suddenly free of the mantle of IT administrator, and I am no longer expected to develop technical solutions to technical problems.  I am free to mount an offense to suffering in the world and try desperately to do my part in making the world a better place.

It’s an exciting time for myself, and I’m sure for Krista as well.  Thanks for everyone for being so supportive and patient over the last several years.  I feel relieved and loved for having so many incredibly positive and encouraging people in my life.  Thanks!!

With that in mind I have set out looking for the easiest way to distribute information, updates, photos, and notes online with the least amount of effort.  It’s difficult to want to type and maintain multiple social networks, when I know that the point of technology is to enable more efficient processes.  With that in mind I have set about a slightly complicated yet hopefully worthwhile attempt to maintain as much useful content as possible in one single upload.  If I have an internet connection once a month, it would be nice to have to write one post that reaches all my friends, and not have to write something for every network. 

This all starts with the blog at www.briandeyo.us.  I can use Windows Live Writer to compose blog entries offline, and will be able to post them when I am able to.  Once I post them to the main blog they should also update MySpace, Live Spaces and Facebook.  The biggest issue with this is any comments that are made on one network will not transfer over, so comments will still be disparate.  The easiest way around that is to ask all of you to check the website for updates and photos.  When I post something on the site it should update my status and write on my wall that I have posted something new.  It should be a link that you can follow to see the complete post. 

Sounds great in theory, but I’ll wait to see what happens after I publish this.  I haven’t fully tested this wonderful mass-publishing yet, so the results will be unpredictable for a few days.  In the meantime I will say that I am completely without a phone, check email a few times a day, but otherwise I’m very hard to get a hold of suddenly.  Additionally I’m starting to understand how debilitating it is in modern society to have the option of constant contact revoked.  Please look for me on Skype and check the site for any news or pictures that are worth seeing.  I will be more vigilant in my communications through this medium as long as an internet connection exists.

Camping was great at Thomas Woods this weekend.  We played lots of games, ate lots of bacon and used 4 or 5 cans of bug spray just to get a fighting chance.

Now that we are back, it is off to the races.  We are wrapping up a bunch of loose ends, including changing my Skype info, updating this page a bit, exchanging my hat, last minute online ordering, cleaning, and eating everything in the cupboards.