ChangeWaves

Africa may have new fibre-optic internet links, but the continent’s extremes mean that even gaining access to the web is a challenge for many of the continent’s poor. Find more pictures here

In Kibera, a sprawling shanty town not far from some of Nairobi's most important addresses, there are few signs of the new fibre optic broadband. here, just getting online is a challenge and the costs are high

Away from Kibera, though, change is afoot. Many of Nairobi's coffee shops now offer free or low-cost wireless Internet, and tech ethusisats have access to the latest computers and 3G mobile phones

In Nairobi, fibre optic links are being rolled out in the city centre. Coils of cable are common sight as are the bobbing heads of workmesn digging trenches. The men are paid appr 1.40 USD for every metre laid

The streets of Kampala, Last week

For over one week, I had heard over the news the hullabaloo involving the Kabaka’s (King of the largest ethnic group in Uganda) impending visit to one of the areas in his Kingdom and government’s feelings about it. As it turned out, the Kabaka was determined to visit his subjects while government feared for his security. Whatever the reason, the subjects took the streets and the government responded albeit forcefully.

Anyway Thursday last week was rather weird in away. I sat in my office that is about five minutes drive from Kampala City centre and did my work gleefully. At the close of business, it was time to head home and a friend told me I couldn’t drive to town. Reason, there were Mambas , police patrol cars, anti riot police men fighting with goons to restore

On the outskirts of Kampala city

calm in the hitherto serene Kampala city.

As a person who has been under one president for most of my life, I don’t have stories of the Idi Amin era, violence is one thing I have never experienced. I was scared. We were forced to house friends who also couldn’t get to their homes because of the insecurity. But even with five girlfriends in on house, it was not like a girl’s day out. We stayed glued to the television sets and radio just to hear the latest developments. But then about four radio stations were closed down, some journalists arrested while others stopped from holding their talk shows. As a journalist, I was worried.

Whilst bearing a huge responsibility for shaping public opinion and action, how can the media ensure that there is objective reporting of events. You can tell me about this

But if the foundations crumble, what will the citizens do. I have rephrased a popular statement in the Bible. I think the citizens have to become more sober and forge a way forward.

As members of the third sector in Uganda, ChangeWaves joined other CSOs through the Uganda National NGO forum to come up with a stand about last week’s events. Download the statement by Civil Society on the recent riots in Kampala and neighbouring Districts

Is the web your window to the world? Or are you struggling to connect?
BBC News is preparing a series of reports from Africa – asking if the arrival of high speed broadband internet will make any difference to people’s daily lives.
Are you in Africa? Do you use the internet to work, play, or talk to your family? We want to hear your experiences.
Tell us – do you feel connected? Or are you held back by slow download speeds and expensive costs?
In particular, we are looking for:
Musicians – are you able to promote your music online?
Schools - are your pupils connected? Or are they struggling to get online?
Nigerian model with cell phone
Do you surf on your cell phone?
Farmers - do websites help you grow your crops, and your market?
Students - are you able to study for qualifications online? Or is the web too slow?
Business owners – how does the internet help you expand and make links?
Tourist operators - does the internet help you attract visitors?
Sendyour stories. Or if you can – why not send a video clip? Show the world why the internet is important to you.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/8238855.stm

Here is a summary of some of the hottest ICT news stories from East Africa and beyond.

Kenya: Rural Folk to Miss Out On Cheap High Speed Internet
Majority of Kenya’s Internet service providers have no capacity to supply downstream consumers with fibre optic bandwidth, leaving room for a few players, who may use the advantage to keep prices high.It has emerged that only six ISPs – mainly the big telecoms firms – have the right of use with the TEAMs cable or have bought capacity at Seacom.
They are Telkom Kenya, Kenya Data Networks, Safaricom, Jamii Telecoms, AccessKenya, Essar Telecoms and Wananchi Group.Connecting consumers to the fibre optic platform requires an elaborate terrestrial network that only a few companies have the ability to build and run profitably.

Uganda: ICT Ministers Quizzed Over $10 Million Project
MPS on the information and communication technology committee yesterday grilled ministers and officials from the information and communication technology (ICT) ministry over the botched $10m national IT project.
The project, aimed at establishing IT centres in selected districts and eventually wiring the entire country, has been rendered ineffective by incompetence, the MPs noted.
This was after a researcher who was sent by the committee to verify the existence of the centres showed the committee a footage showing unconnected computers lying on floors, other gadgets still packed in boxes and lamenting managers.

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ChangeWaves is partnering with the Common Wealth People’s Association of Uganda to conduct ICT training (Social Technopreneurship) for young people in Uganda. The training will be conducted in August.

The course modules include

Elementary Class: Basic Computing (MS Office & Internet)

Intermediate Class:Web Designing, HTML (Namo, Macromedia, Dreamweaver, Macromedia Flash and Photoshop)

Advanced Class:

Networking & Applications

Web 2.0 (Introduction to Web 2.0,

- Introduction to social media tools

- Introduction to Social networking

- Blogging, Podcasting, V-blogging, Digital story telling)
ChangeWaves will cover introduction to Web 2.0, social media tools, social networking, introduction to blogs and blogging, podcasting, V-blogging and digital story telling. ChangeWaves has tailored a curriculum to cover the above topics.

For details, check the ComputerTrainingProgrammeleaflet2009

This training is part of CPA Uganda’s programme in ICT4D (ICAP) and the UN DESA- Global Alliance on ICT for Development- Community of Expertise on Youth Social Technopreneurship

My friend Clint Rogers was fascinated by a true story i told him of a business man in Nigeria that had a problem solved by a homeless man, who most people knew was crazy. Clint asked me to record the story so he can share it with his ICT4D class that is scartered all over the world.

I obliged. Surely some of the best solutions come from the most unexpected places. What I know is Africa has a lot of solutions for some of the problems faced by the world’s super powers BUT only if someone can listen…

Share with us what you think about this and the video.

Sometimes the best solutions come from the most unexpected places!

Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program
The Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society is pleased to announce a unique fellowship opportunity: the spring 2010 Emerging Leaders International Fellows Program. The program provides nonprofit sector leadership training through seminars, applied research and mentorships. The program is open to young scholars and practitioners from outside the United States who are interested in building Third-Sector capacity in their home countries or regions. The research topic for applicants to the 2010 Emerging Leaders Program is community foundations. A limited number of fellowships for research on diaspora or corporate philanthropy may also be available. The deadline for application is Thursday September 3, 2009.

Workshop for Women Leaders of Diaspora Associations

Theme: Mobilizing Diaspora Civil Society for International Development: A Capacity Building
Date: November 16 – 26, 2009
Venue: Haifa, Israel
This ten-day workshop aims to strengthen the capacity of migrant women to lead diaspora organizations and to mobilize diaspora contributions and human and financial capital towards the development of their country and communities of origin. This workshop targets migrant women leaders of diaspora organizations in Europe, North America and other host countries who are active in projects to facilitate the socio-economic development of their origin countries, as well as the integration of their peers in their destination countries. Their partners in the country of origin who are active in joint projects may also apply.

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Uganda: Cost of the National ICT Backbone Questioned

Kampala — The outgoing chairperson of the Parliament’s committee on ICT, Edward Baliddawa, has raised questions about the cost of the national ICT backbone infrastructure project. Baliddawa raised the questions earlier this week in a handover brief to the new chairperson, Nathan Igeme Nabeta.
Baliddawa’s brief raised queries regarding the total cost of the project. He indicated that Rwanda is carrying out a similar project to lay 2,300 km of fibre cable at a cost of $38 million.
In contrast, Uganda’s fibre projected to span 2,130 km will cost $106 million, or three times more. The committee has asked for an audit of the work so far completed on the first phase of the project, he noted.
Baliddawa also wonders why the Rwandan equivalent is scheduled to be completed in a period of one year, thus by the end of 2009, while Uganda’s project, that started over a year ago, is still ongoing.

“Of course it is known that our project has some extras, but the question to be answered is how much benefit that will bring to the ordinary citizen who will be responsible for paying back most of this loan,” he noted.
The backbone project is intended to ensure that high bandwidth data connectivity is available in all major towns of Uganda at a reasonable cost.
Huawei Technologies is the Chinese company responsible for implementing the backbone project in Uganda.

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Angola: Minister Says Optical Fibre Network to Bring Benefits
Kuito — The Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, José Carvalho Rocha, on Wednesday considered in Kuito city, central Bié province, that optical fibre installed to connect various regions will bring about benefits for population.
Speaking to press, after assessing ongoing projects in Chinguar district and Kuito city, the government official assured that this equipment will favour 13 capital cities, with highlight to Benguela, Huambo, Kuito, Malanje, Ndalatando, Luanda. According to him, it will facilitate mainly the quality service rendered, with accessible prices for the country’s communities.
The Minister also informed that the government will outline modernisation strategy in the sector of mail, telegram and telegraphs.

Affordable computer solutions launched

Affordable computer solutions have been developed to manage data and information storage. The solutions known as NetApp solutions for oracle, V-series for heterogeneous storage environment and NetApp for a fibre channel SAN solutions, enable maximisation of storage, data protection, increase storage facility and enhance data availability.
Speaking on Tuesday at a workshop organised by NetApp Distribution Partner at Kampala Serena Hotel to educate professionals on how to improve operations using efficient ICT technology without increasing the organisation budget, the Chief Executive Officer of NetApp, Mr James Munene, said the solution will reduce operational costs through advanced data management solutions that also maximise availability.
He said NetApp has solutions to handle growing data with efficiency unlike the traditional system that is costly with technology that demands a lot of space.
“Given the importance of data storage, it must be handled separately because it is what makes an organisation,” Mr Munene said.

Source: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/business/Afford

Public affection of love is a contentious issue in Uganda. When the queen of Buganda kissed her husband (the king), tongues waged. It made headlines. The conservatives frowned while the young blood punched their fists in the air and screamed “that’s is how it should be.”

But the young blood in Northern Uganda seem to have their priorities and emotions misplaced.

Standing outside my hotel on my first evening in Gulu, I couldn’t help but notice the teenagers who walked in pairs, holding waists, hugging, giggling and speaking in low tones. Sometimes the girl looked down as the boy talked, seemed to cajole and finally win in taking her somewhere she seemed hesitate to go in the fist place.

When I asked why there were so many young people moving in pairs and talking in a way that suggests they are not discussing physics or and chemistry, a friend who has grown up in the area simply said, “Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camps)”.

Apparently most of these people’s parents were idle so they spent time making babies. Sometimes the children would be listening.

Fathers spent time drinking and manufacturing children.

The huts most families share are too small. Sometimes parents and children share beddings! The level of poverty is appalling.

As a result, children got to eaves drop on what their parents were doing.

The generation is sex crazy. I am not sure the girls even have reproductive health information. What does one expect from this generation?

It may not be too late though but how do you avoid HIV in this generation? If it is too late to tell them to wait then should they be encouraged to use condoms? I don’t want to do that. I substitute the condoms with Christ.

Surely the war in this part of the country may be history but the generation needs to be saved. What is the solution for Northern Uganda? I am thinking. Please think with me.

I spent the third week of June in Gulu Distric, northern Uganda about 350 km from Kampala City. For years, I had read, heard and been told about Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony and the atrocities he committed. Sometimes they seemed so distant. Sometimes the updates came from CNN or the BBC. It was hard to believe that such inhuman acts were being committed in my country.

After more than 22 years of a senseless war, I managed to visit Gulu district which was at one time among the most affected. It is now that I realize that Joseph Kony is a real devils advocate. He attacked his very own (read relatives and village mates), abducted young boys and girls including boarding school girls in the area, massacred his own people, cut of their limbs, lips, plucked out their eyes name it. Those who managed to escape discovered later that they were either orphans or childless because their children were murdered or abducted. Abductees rarely return alive.

To protect the people, government placed them in internally displaced people’s camps. These were congested places, with poor sanitation, poor health facilities and no schools.

Enter NGOs both local and international.

Unfortunately they came with the idea of handouts. This solved the problem momentarily since the people had no source of income. Men and women had nothing to keep them busy other than making babies which in its self has caused a lot of harm. I will tell you about it in my next post. But the problem of handouts has rendered a lot of people that are known for their hard work to become lazy.

There are so many posh cars, bazungus (Whites), signposts on the streets of Gulu town. Once you mention the name of an NGO or CSO, all that people think about are handouts. How can we stop this.

The region is now relatively stable. People should be able to work. The people in the camps are now free to return to their villages. Granted they may need some resources to start and CSOs and government are providing farm tools, iron sheets and seedlings for the returnees.

But the people in Gulu and other regions that have been affected by the war need more than just plants and food. They need to be empowered to take charge to solve their own problems.

While talking to Annet a graduate from the village, she told me;

if the young men can be taught to transport people on bicycles at a fee (referred to locally as boda-boda) they could earn a living out of it instead of waiting for handouts

I though the mind sets can be changed. I promised to talk to one person at a time if I can’t talk to a multitude.

It is up to us to create the change we want to see. I won’t wait for a muzungu. I feel bad it took me this long. But Yes we can!