Finish what you start

I have some good lessons to take away from my trip.

First I have to thank the Long's for sharing their home with me.  Happily they have a wonderful place to stay and can have the leather shop close so it is a safe environment.  I also have to thank the Ngozi Creations staff and especially Johnson for my belt.  Some items are special, some are beyond that.  Mostly I have to thank the Hacker Community for keeping these guys going, and holding the events that got me involved with HFC.  

My final couple of days were a whirlwind, I was able to help with a couple of technical projects, and just basically discuss some neat thoughts that occurred to me.  Now the job is mine to complete.

I will give you some closing comments in a bit, I have some things we could help with, as a community.

Ok so I showed up with loads of luggage and curiosity.  I had one task to complete, the stitching machine.  

We unboxed it and learned how to use it.  I wasn't going to be happy until I saw lock stitches in leather.  Johnny and I setup and got the machine working.  Expect neat products in the near future.  I feel that I have done what I came for, now on to bigger things.

My last few days in Jinja were about community.  I met some great people at The Keep.  Missionaries that hire trained people, that Johnny has trained-the-trainer for and learned basic skills,  keeping the missions rolling.  I met a nice factory owner that wants to use some machines to help Ngozi move into other projects.  Cutting straps for belts, for instance, takes this factory just seconds (It takes much longer when it is done with basic tools).  Then it can be tooled by an artist and sold at a reasonable price, giving both quality and consistancy.  This nice man just threw the doors open and offered to assist because he hires from this community of Jinja, and wants to support it and I think he really understands what Johnny is doing in his shop.

I wanted to also just look for things that would draw me into motion.  Door handles aren't really my forte but learning is.  So I fixed a pesky problem Johnny just didn't have time for, just new handles so a useful door can be used.

The wifi in the house kinda was slow.  So I did what I do at home.  I am on wimax, I have to position my base stations somewhere with good signal.  I also look for the best Access Point placement as well.  I setup in the leather shop and geeked out on donated equipment, add a cache to the mix and viola, new access gear.

Small simple projects at home, Africanized when in Uganda.   Picking up the AP I didn't know the vendor, communication method for configuration or options available.  I hadn't logged into a Blue Coat for 5 years and made sure I had most things and hoped for the best.   Turns out a patch cable isn't easily found (an assumption, I realize now the level of assumption you cannot cross).  Similarly, zip ties for cable management are hard to find.  Immediately we saw how much more difficult setup in the morning is for the Ugandan staff, and how tear down will be at closing.  Now we need a server cage so we don't hurt the cables or equipment but can keep them secure.   The local cage builder has been summoned, it'll be a few days.

Why was putting faster more reliable service so important?  Community.  Johnny can now offer both inexpensive and low bandwidth Internet to those that need it (via queuing on the metering software).  He can offer tourists fast Internet that is more expensive and charge for their use.  This facilitates collaboration for those helping and ability to flex to the customer needs.  Many of these missions are businesses with boards back in the US, he can offer the service they need to keep the local population moving forward.

I got to see the Computer Training Center as I was leaving.  It's a bit small for a training center in the US, I think 20 seats with stations but,  looks like a modern facility in the US.  The folks that take classes there get skills and certification that easily becomes a job in many possible places.  Literally saving lives.  Yet, Johnny and the staff at the CTC will tell you there is so much more to do.  

So here is the promised wisdom.  Please stop trying to kill Johnny!  I mean this with love and with the understanding that we want to help.  We just need to realize there is a component to helping that can become a burden on someone else.  He's had quite a few people help out with donations but if the thing being donated isn't something the hands on the ground understand, it becomes a burden.  

Here is an example drawn off of modern US problems:

Let's say I come to your house and notice a brick loose on your porch or sidewalk.  I'm neighborly so I run down to the hardware store and buy a new brick, some mortar, a mixing machine, and sand.  I drop it all on your lawn with this note.  "hey neighbor, I noticed your loose brick, you are welcome, let me know when it's fixed!". 

Or, I hear you are a mason so I further direct said neighbor to you and they say " I have everything you need" except it's mortar you have never used with instructions that assume you have and a mixer that runs on horse drawn power, and you have no horse.

HFC can use money and I used to be the guy that could throw $100 bills at whatever.  Trust me, if you want to they will be well received funds and put to a good use.  But, if you want the kind of fulfillment I am currently riding, GO to Uganda.  You don't have to work, just don't create work for Johnny.  I think it would be even better if you had an idea of need before you go, and finish that one thing.  Heck, one project and a safari on the Nile, not a bad vacation.  Just about anyone can find the time to come and work one project.  Just be willing to make sure it gets finished.  

If you have a good idea, awesome!  If you want to mail a complicated thing to Johnny expecting him or an uneducated Ugandan, to start and finish, you have to rethink how you help.  We all have talents, it's ok to use them.  My head runs heavy with ideas for this and that, I just have to restrain myself to ensure it doesn't become a burden because I didn't factor in: dust, high theft environment, high humidity, power that is unregulated, i.e. Uganda.  

I would like the hacker space to have a mig welder.  I did Ugandan analysis of this.  Arc welding draws huge power.  Can the shop's power handle it?  Shielding gas available?  Filler wire available?  The answer btw is no.  Also, no one knows how to shoot mig to teach it.  It's a great example of a great and super teachable technology that could help change lives.  I need to do way more research to figure out feasibility.  Had I bought a 110V (Uganda is 220v) welder and some wire and shipped it, it would just sit until someone on the ground figured out the need and power etc...

One project I did conceive while there is a DIY voltage regulator.  Able to handle 100vac to 400vac and give steady 220vac up to 1000w, would be a huge help.  I am going to get a design and prototype done.  If its easy enough we could potentially offer soldering and basic electrics as a class, in Jinja.  This teaches skill, safety, and allows for hard earned electronics (20 line text phones are pretty normal for those with more than minimum wage jobs) to survive such a harsh environment.  Repairs on the regulator, should it break, would be done by the hacker space as educational so the price can stay low.  My end requires finding, funding and delivering a completed regulator design, finding parts for the first batch , getting soldering irons, voltage regulators shouldn't be a problem, solder, training materials and time to deliver it all as a complete thing.

Going there gave me the context to understand that those starving kids in Africa your mom told you about, are still starving only now they are 17-25 years old and want to learn a trade.  With some education we can get them a meal, we just can not assume that cash will solve this, at the end of that monetary line are a set of hands that might just be busy with something else.  Johnny and Jen both work two jobs helping out those who want it.  Go.  If you think you can help, do.  One of the things that Johnny really needs right now is support from the hacker community.  He has a very important project that needs skills.  If you want to volunteer, ping me.  Need OpenWRT knowledge, some rsync services ideas and anyone that knows GSM radio/comms/phones to help decipher log messages, please let me know.

I guess what I am trying to say is, help any way you can but finish what you start.

If you can Donate, please do.  I can assure you 100% of the money goes to good use.

I enjoy this community of security professionals and geeks I get to hang with.  BTW, jinjacon isn't a bad idea, teams of hackers hacking all the things.  

Thanks for reading, if you want to send some cash to help...do.  Just think about helping in any way you can. 

I will follow this post with one that has photos.  Bandwidth isn't free everywhere in the world so it will have to wait until I am back on my home SSID.