Updates from the Director

Week 6

Saturday was a combination of sightseeing and GIS work.  Two groups went separately to Monte Café, a working plantation known for its rich coffee.  Everyone also traveled further up the mountain to a waterfall.  I was accompanied by Jeanie, Sarah and Ashley.  Everywhere we go Jeanie and Sarah are logging way points to be mapped.  As an example, when we go through Trinidade they take a reading, when we got to the waterfall they took a reading, and all along the way they take periodic readings to map the geographic location of the road and points of interest.  Martin stayed home working on infected computers and catching up on email.  Since we have a dialup connection it is more effective if there is only one person on at a time.

Sunday was a fun day.  James our key partner arranged for a boat to take us to an island just off the coast from Sao Tome City.  He also arranged for a picnic.  We invited some of our friends and enjoyed great food and company.  Ashley’s friend Fabio met us with his jet ski and several people went out for a spin.  Later in the afternoon some went to Ned’s to use his Internet connection.  Other than a few sunburns it was an extremely enjoyable day.

The power went out Sunday evening and did not come back on until later Monday afternoon.  Monday was Jeanie’s birthday which she spent working on GIS among other things.  Martin, Jeanie, Damon Sarah and I had our usual meeting to discuss the week’s schedule and priorities.  We discussed photovoice and how it would be applied to the OLPC project.  Tuesday saw us busy each working on our various projects.
Wednesday was the last day of training for one of the OLPC classes.  They collected the XO computers to be returned after summer break.  Jeanie and Sarah began their first of several GIS training sessions.  The training is conducted in partnership with the Institute Superior Polytechnic (ISP).  The training is a primer of GIS and it is being presented to faculty, students, government officials, UN officials and anyone else interested in learning about this useful tool.  The hope is to bring in a broad range of individuals with existing data bases to populate base maps as the first step in a comprehensive GIS.

First thing Thursday morning Damon and I went to the national library and conducted interviews as part of our research on technology (computer) sustainability and maintenance.  We found that the lab GSLIS students has built over the last couple of years has been dismantled and the computers placed in offices.  This is due in part because the Taiwanese set up a lab two years ago and they did not believe that two labs were sustainable.

After the library James and I met with the Minister of Infrastructure to discuss a future project conducted by Prof Laura Lawson.  She intends to teach a studio class in Landscape Architecture which will examine the waterfront and Independence Plaza in Sao Tome City.  They will work on developing design scenarios to improve the esthetic and functionality of the waterfront space.  The Minister hit on an intriguing idea where Prof Lawson and her student would present a workshop to his staff on basic elements of landscape design.  He basically suggested that as part of future faculty/student research they present a workshop or training in their discipline.  The notion that all future faculty/student teams would pass on some of their knowledge in the form of workshops to interested people here is a great idea.  Everyone wants to learn.

Thursday was the last day for OLPC training with students.  All the XO computers will be stored in the principal’s office until school starts in September.  The OLPC team will work with James and Elves next week to familiarize them with hardware repair and the software applications.  They will be the key to the sustainability of the project through the year.  When school begins in September they will return the computers to the students and will regularly monitor their progress.  Today was also the first day of training at StepUp for the computer class instructors.  Martin and his LIS 451 students are conducting training modules in networking and Linux operating systems.

Friday I met with the Prime Minister.  I had met him last year and he is very keen on the university conducting research in Sao Tome.  There has been more political stability over the last year and a half because of a power sharing agreement between the three largest parties.  Ministers are in place now long enough to implement projects.  A good example is that the streets in the city have been for the most part have been repaired with very few potholes.  A lot of credit goes to the Prime Minister for pushing forward building projects.  During our discussion he inquired about the projects we were working on this summer.  He was pleased with the OLPC project and interested in how the GIS project could result in real support in government decisions.  I inquired about what his priority for research would be.  He indicated that urban and regional planning was of particular importance both in Sao Tome City and particularly along the north coast.  There is a 600 million dollar project to build a deep water port just off the coast.  It would serve as a transfer facility from large cargo vessels to smaller regional ones.  This will have a huge impact on the coast in terms of housing, roads, water, sewer and schools.  He inquired if the university might be of assistance in conducting strategic planning.  It could be an interesting project for FAA and could include a number of departments.  Martin, Damon, Sarah and Jeanie conducted the second module of training at Step Up for the technical class.

July 25 – July 31
Paul Adams