Update for the month of March

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a few projects in the works; one of them being working at the computer lab at the local high school. The high school received computers several years ago from an NGO; however, they did not have electricity at the school so they had to rent out a space at a nearby hotel so that students could use the computers. Now, the school has electricity and has moved the computers into their new lab space. The school is really excited and on-board with me teaching some basic IT skills to the students and to use the lab at night to teach people throughout the community; however, there are several obstacles to overcome.

First and foremost, the students and teachers are still on strike, as they have been for most of the school year (teachers are on strike because they aren’t getting paid and the students are on strike because the teachers do not show up). Nevertheless, there are some students and teachers that show up each day, so I may be able to work with those students. If not, hopefully my replacement will be able to work with the school next year. Second problem, I have never set up a computer lab so I am not sure if this is an issue anywhere else or just due to poor quality of supplies, but I am afraid that the computers are using too much power and will eventually cause a power surge and killing all of the computers. I have spent the last two weeks, off and on, working with the technicians at the school to help even out the system…we’ll see how it works out. Third, not all of the computers have the needed programs on them, such as Microsoft Office or an anti-virus program. I am currently looking into a way to add these programs to the computers, as inexpensively as possible. There are several other small issues that I am working to address, but I hope that the lab will be up and running in a few weeks.

In other news, Macky Sall was sworn in as the newest president of Senegal yesterday. After what could be described as a very unstable election season, President Wade graciously admitted defeat and Sall congratulated the people of Senegal for using their votes, not violence, to make a change. Way to go Senegal! It will be interesting to see what President Sall has in store for the country...

Latest mural project:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal." Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Mural representing reverse gender roles in Senegal