A new look for the old blog

Any time now, the blog is going to start sporting ads on one side. We are not being taken over by corporate america, but rather this is a way for us to make a few dollars for the Cahuita computer center. Every time somebody drops by to read the blog we get a few pennnies. If you click on the ads, we get a few more. So feel free to click away! You don't have to buy anything, just clicking helps.

This is a bit of a science experiment, and may not make more than a couple dollars, but dollars go pretty far here. Many thanks to Geoff Burd who has done all the legwork for us - he's been a fantastic help as we continue to battle the local telco monopoly to get internet access back.

I'm also working to get this charity recognized as such in Canada. Several folks have asked how they can donate a little, and getting a tax break is only fair. It has US status already, so adding Canada should be simple. Then again, so should getting internet access :-)

Yesterday I visited 2 schools. The school system here is quite different. There are no school busses, so every few km there is a small school. Most have fewer than 5 classrooms, an office, a place for a bit of food preparation, and washrooms. Kids walk to school, or bike, or if they are quite far, ride the public bus. Uniforms are mandatory. If you can't afford the uniform, you don't go to school. Most have fewer than 50 students, few textbooks, and a 4 or 5 overworked teachers.

In Canada, with schools typically of several hundred kids, a computer room with 15 or 20 machines is economically viable. In Costa Rica, such small schools would never be able to buy one computer, never mind enough for a class, without Opportunity Access. This organization basically procures the computers that large companies replace every 3 years, usually by corporate donation, then refurbish them, put appropriate (donated) software on them, and get them to these small schools. They also maintain them, network them, and get them connected to the internet if the school has a little budget for this, and other stuff I discussed already early in the blog.

The picture today is a class taking a break. If you look on the left you can see concrete pillars, that hold up the school, 8 or 10 feet in the air. That's because it is in a low lying area the floods when the rains come. It's a fairly new building, because the old one, on the same site, did not fare well being under water every year. The country around the school is banana plantations, and most of the parents work the plantations - long, hard, physically intensive work. The company housing is not exactly one of your more desirable neighborhoods either. Education for their kids is the hope for the future, and they are proud of the computer lab in the little school. I'll be back there in a week or so to refurbish 15 machines and get the network going - it should be a blast, between the kids questions and my limited communication ability. There's another major adventure coming too - I'll tell you when it's closer, but it involves mountains and horses. 'nuff said. Adios for now.

Mango Break