The Wolfreton Rushanje Community
Partnership
The Computer Project
A Computer being used by Rushanje students
Q. What’s different
A. It’s being powered
During the 2003 visit, a unique experiment was carried out to try to provide access to computers for Rushanje students.
What are the problems?
1. The electricity supply from the generator is restricted to about 4 hours per day during the hours of darkness.
2. The generator is too expensive to run during the day
3. Computers (especially the monitors) are heavy items to send from the UK
What we did
We took a laptop computer with us which had been donated. Laptops are much lighter than desktop computers because thet are smaller and the monitor is in the form of an LCD screen. We knew from preliminary tests that it would operate from a 12V car battery and we purchased one when we arrived at Rushanje. All we had to do then was to use a suitable lead to connect the two together. Within minutes staff and students were experiencing IT, many for the first time. Solitaire had never been so popular!
Why not just use the internal battery in the computer?
Older laptops have very poor batteries that only last for a short time and were unreliable. Replacements in Uganda are difficult to find and are expensive. A car battery will last for several days before it needs a recharge, which can then be done by the generator at night.
For the very first time in July 2004, all the school exams were typed and printed by computer. The pictures show Fred and Agnes using their new computers. (Note
Update July 2004
On our last visit we ncreased the number of laptops to 4. Some of our time was spent teaching the staff how to use them.