Message-ID: <340318B5.E3C@iprolink.ch> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 19:56:05 +0200 From: Ray Cole <mailto:rcole@IPROLINK.CH> Subject: E-Mail Project in Uganda To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
This report from Uganda was forwarded to the Development Special Interest Group of the Geneva Chapter of the Internet Society. I hope you will be interested in a status report on how an HF installation is being used to service that area.The initial paragraph is from Daniel Stern, who can be contacted at "Caroline Wieland" mailto:<connectu@starcom.co.ug>
Upcountry connectivity got a boost yesterday with the installation of
a pilot network in the northwest of Uganda. Uganda Connect, in
collaboration with the World Food Program, set up a Codan HF radio and
9002 modem for sending and receiving e-mail over the Internet for
neighbouring hospitals, agricultural projects, NGOs and mission
stations.
The single engine Cessna on which I flew brought a mailbag for the
local hospital containing e-mail printouts from Kampala!
It gives you a pretty good idea of the significance of this new
network and how it will benefit the local community. All the
equipment is being run off of deep cycle batteries charged by solar
panels (and supplimented each evening by a couple of hours of power
from the main grid).
Here is the report from Paul Wyse: ARUA PILOT E-MAIL PROJECT
Arua is located 500 kms north west of Kampala near the Sudan and Congo borders. Communications outside of Arua is mostly by HF radio. There is an automatic dial telephone within the town of 220 subscribers. There is one outside line which is a VHF link to Kampala which is very busy during the day with often 10 people queued up at the post office to place a call. The post office closes at 6 and after that sometimes it is possible to place a call.
My phone was not working for 8 1/2 months due to a bad under ground cable. It was finally repaired several weeks ago and I tried to pick up my e-mail from Nairobi at 9 PM one night. The first connect was interrupted. The second and third calls did not establish hand shaking. The 4th call was successful and sent one message and received 7. The cost for this was nearly 7,000 shillings. I have tried many times since and have not been able to establish a link.
I have been using amateur radio to send personal e-mails via a station in South Africa. This has worked fairly well but is based on having an amateur assigned here and is also no good for any serious type traffic. My use of e-mail has raised the hopes of a number of entities and individuals here in the area.
Kuluva Hospital a mission hospital is located 12 kms from Arua. It has the reputation of being the best hospital with in miles. Two years ago a project from German put in a 150 KV hydro plant so it is the only hospital in the North with 24 hour electricity. They have the best stock drug store in the North. Kuluva is working jointly with several labs in the UK and regularly send specimens back by DHL. The problem is that results take so long to get back. Kuluva is known for it's preventive medicine approach as well as reconstruction for children who have had polio and leprosy work. They are very anxious for an e-mail connection.
A small non profit organization working in Aringa County, called Here is Life, runs various agricultural projects such as a rice project complete with a rice huller, Two posho mills, oil processing plant, medical services and a library - all community based projects. Their offices are in Arua and they are anxious for e-mail services.
In Aru, Congo, CMS has a medical agriculture development project. Aru is 25 kms from Arua. I am in VHF contact with them. Their project encompasses a number of health centers along the borders from Bunia to the Sudan Border. They also have an agriculture development project which includes fish farming, rabbits, ducks as well as use of donkeys as draft animals for plowing and pulling of carts. There is also introduction of new varieties of seeds and improved agriculture practices. Aru has no communication with the outside world with the exception of some private two way radios.
Besides the above there are two theological schools in the area. One training Sudanese pastors and the other Ugandan pastors. One also has a demonstration farm connected with it. The leaders of these organizations are begging for some e-mail services. Simon Martin teaches in one of the schools and is also deputy director for the African Inland Mission and is frustrated with the limited communications here in Arua.
My Organization, The summer Institute of Linguistics is working in a number of language projects and needs communications to organize language and literacy workshops for a number of vernacular language groups in the area.
My vision for e-mail for the Arua area is to have a hub in the SIL offices with VHF links to Kuluva, Aru and Simon Martin. The possibilities exist for some telephone modem connections within the city as well. The interest is here. The help of Uganda Connectivity Project in collaboration with WFP is a big step in e-mail for the area to be come a reality.
Paul Wyse Support Service Manager Box 414 Arua, Uganda Uganda Connectivity Project P O Box 23500 Kampala tel: 256 41 347 400 mailto:uconnect@starcom.co.ug uconnect@easynet.co.uk