Tazengwa Pentecostal Bible College (TPBC) in Nzega, Tanzania, became the host of the first digital library developed and implemented by PeerCorps Trust Fund, back in December of last year. The College has welcomed medical students who have come to work at Nzega’s hospital through PeerCorps for the past several years, and as a result, the community means a lot to the organization and to these individuals. The digital library was given as a gift to the school and the community, and it was made possible using the resources that TPBC and PeerCorps each could offer. Unfortunately, about a week after the set-up was complete, the system experienced technical difficulties that kept it shut down for several months before we were able to visit.
This was my first time to TPBC, and sadly I did not have the technical skills to offer very much assistance in the repair. Instead, to start out I just took lots of notes and pictures, observing how the set-up had worked and getting to know a couple of students and administrators. Unlike in Ilembula, I noticed the computers here were much older and more worn down. It was a little bit of fun because making things work was like a mix-and-match puzzle . . . If one monitor is not responding, the solution is often to switch two around and to see if that might fix it! Unfortunately, the overall repair was not that simple. After hours of working with the computers and server, my supervisor found that the boot disk on the server had been corrupted (most likely due to improper shut down from an unexpected power cut—an almost daily occurrence here). Because of this, the server could not start properly and the library contents were inaccessible. We would not be able to make the repair.
We were really disappointed, but I guess not too surprised. The library here had served as somewhat of a pilot project, to determine the extent of the system’s vulnerabilities to factors such as power surges, dust exposure, and a wide variety of users. To me, the short lifespan of this digital library offered really convincing evidence of the need to use a more secure, laptop-based setup. Unfortunately, this is quite a bit more expensive . . . We had really hoped to be able to use the computers that many schools and communities already have, to keep the costs down. However, unlike the desktop system, laptops are resilient in the case of a power cut, offer a decentralized means for storing library content, and are less vulnerable to corruption. They are also relatively easy to transport, and only four to six would be needed for each library. While they would have to be purchased for each installation, they would also most likely last longer than most of the computers that communities already have, and could be standardized to allow easier repair (especially from afar) if the digital library model is to be expanded.
As we shared the issues we had run into in the repair process with the staff at TPBC, we offered our hope to, by December, be able to offer them a more resilient digital library using the laptop-based model to overcome previous challenges. It will be our goal to raise the funds necessary to purchase these systems to ensure the content that they were so excited to see six months ago, is available to them, again.
For the next few days of our stay we focused upon helping the community in any other ways that we could. I have to admit, I was really nervous about this at first. We had come in able to do one thing for this community . . . Now that we could no longer make the repair, what in the world could I do in this small town for a whole week?!?! On the plane ride to Tanzania I re-watched “Eat, Pray, Love” to (hopefully) embrace the “hakuna matata” lifestyle here, just as Liz masters the Italian art of “doing nothing”. But still I did not think I was ready to sit around for a week!!
Looking back I can see I should have been much more relaxed. In Tanzania, people are not afraid to laugh a lot when it becomes clear that this “mzungu” (loosely translated as “crazy foreigner”) has no idea what she is doing. But at the same time, most of the people I have met love nothing more than to grab confused guests by the wrist and show us around.
The morning after our attempted repair, I ran into the school’s Vice Principal while I explored the campus. He seemed to sense that I had very few plans and suggested today I would come with him and see the school and their activities. Sending me off to change into something nice, he insisted that I would attend their morning devotions, and then join them at tea. Afterwards, I went to an English classroom, then was invited to give a practice English discussion class, and in the evening I watched a volleyball game with both students and staff just playing for fun. It turned out to be such a nice day.
The rest of the week continued in a very similar way. I attended their beautiful morning devotionals to watch the singing and dancing every day, and they even projected some of the lyrics in English to help me along! I explored a couple of other projects, as well. We were able to provide technical assistance by making publicity materials for the college, like a website and a brochure. I offered to use my camera to take pictures to promote the college, so I continued to visit all of their events, but as a photographer, which was really great!
Although TPBC’s digital library did not turn out as planned, I really feel that, getting to know the community, I came away even more convinced of how wonderful the library will be for them. I am so hopeful we will be able to provide a new and stronger model this December, and I cannot wait to hear about all of the positive change that it will bring.
This was my first time to TPBC, and sadly I did not have the technical skills to offer very much assistance in the repair. Instead, to start out I just took lots of notes and pictures, observing how the set-up had worked and getting to know a couple of students and administrators. Unlike in Ilembula, I noticed the computers here were much older and more worn down. It was a little bit of fun because making things work was like a mix-and-match puzzle . . . If one monitor is not responding, the solution is often to switch two around and to see if that might fix it! Unfortunately, the overall repair was not that simple. After hours of working with the computers and server, my supervisor found that the boot disk on the server had been corrupted (most likely due to improper shut down from an unexpected power cut—an almost daily occurrence here). Because of this, the server could not start properly and the library contents were inaccessible. We would not be able to make the repair.
We were really disappointed, but I guess not too surprised. The library here had served as somewhat of a pilot project, to determine the extent of the system’s vulnerabilities to factors such as power surges, dust exposure, and a wide variety of users. To me, the short lifespan of this digital library offered really convincing evidence of the need to use a more secure, laptop-based setup. Unfortunately, this is quite a bit more expensive . . . We had really hoped to be able to use the computers that many schools and communities already have, to keep the costs down. However, unlike the desktop system, laptops are resilient in the case of a power cut, offer a decentralized means for storing library content, and are less vulnerable to corruption. They are also relatively easy to transport, and only four to six would be needed for each library. While they would have to be purchased for each installation, they would also most likely last longer than most of the computers that communities already have, and could be standardized to allow easier repair (especially from afar) if the digital library model is to be expanded.
As we shared the issues we had run into in the repair process with the staff at TPBC, we offered our hope to, by December, be able to offer them a more resilient digital library using the laptop-based model to overcome previous challenges. It will be our goal to raise the funds necessary to purchase these systems to ensure the content that they were so excited to see six months ago, is available to them, again.
For the next few days of our stay we focused upon helping the community in any other ways that we could. I have to admit, I was really nervous about this at first. We had come in able to do one thing for this community . . . Now that we could no longer make the repair, what in the world could I do in this small town for a whole week?!?! On the plane ride to Tanzania I re-watched “Eat, Pray, Love” to (hopefully) embrace the “hakuna matata” lifestyle here, just as Liz masters the Italian art of “doing nothing”. But still I did not think I was ready to sit around for a week!!
Looking back I can see I should have been much more relaxed. In Tanzania, people are not afraid to laugh a lot when it becomes clear that this “mzungu” (loosely translated as “crazy foreigner”) has no idea what she is doing. But at the same time, most of the people I have met love nothing more than to grab confused guests by the wrist and show us around.
The morning after our attempted repair, I ran into the school’s Vice Principal while I explored the campus. He seemed to sense that I had very few plans and suggested today I would come with him and see the school and their activities. Sending me off to change into something nice, he insisted that I would attend their morning devotions, and then join them at tea. Afterwards, I went to an English classroom, then was invited to give a practice English discussion class, and in the evening I watched a volleyball game with both students and staff just playing for fun. It turned out to be such a nice day.
The rest of the week continued in a very similar way. I attended their beautiful morning devotionals to watch the singing and dancing every day, and they even projected some of the lyrics in English to help me along! I explored a couple of other projects, as well. We were able to provide technical assistance by making publicity materials for the college, like a website and a brochure. I offered to use my camera to take pictures to promote the college, so I continued to visit all of their events, but as a photographer, which was really great!
Although TPBC’s digital library did not turn out as planned, I really feel that, getting to know the community, I came away even more convinced of how wonderful the library will be for them. I am so hopeful we will be able to provide a new and stronger model this December, and I cannot wait to hear about all of the positive change that it will bring.