MORE ABOUT HAITI
Pendus Cyber Cafe
Started as a dream of Father Ronel Charelus and the
teachers at St. Joseph School, the Pendus Cyber Cafe was completed by Father
Wilner Donecia in December 2008. About two weeks before the December visit from
St Mary to Pendus, Father Wilner sent the first email from Pendus to Jeff Newell
-- telling him to bring the laptops as the Internet service was now available in
Pendus! He had obtained a satellite dish. It was installed on top of the guest
house at the church compound and the wireless router inside one of the bedrooms
below. Now all that was needed were the six laptops donated by Bob and Ellie
Haan. To avoid the chance of damage and theft, we packed these laptops in our
carry on luggage (instead of as part of our checked-in suitcases).
Kyle Newell got the computers up and running along with a printer that was also
donated. The wireless service could reach most everywhere in the church compound
area, including each of the classrooms at St. Joseph School. Andre Angrand had
wireless on his Blackberry phone and he even found signal in the Pendus market
area (probably 100 yards from the router!)
Andre conducted most of the instructional clinics with teachers from St. Joseph,
Kayimit and Massacre -- as well as with may interested students. However, Kyle,
Jeff and Sharon Newell and Father Wilner also spent time with many of
the interested folks in Pendus. We especially spent time with Ives Vernet, the
principal of St. Joseph. It was amazing to see many of these people seeing a
computer for the first time -- meaning instruction had to start with basics
(such as turning on the power, use of the keyboard and mouse etc.) I am sure
there will be many more instructional sessions to come!
The next phase of this project will include adding an inverter and set of
batteries to help store power for use during the day -- as well as to save wear
and tear on the generator.
Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture. Use the arrows to the left and right of the thumbnails to see more pictures in the gallery.
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