[Lancaster] Fw: Linux-refurbished Laptops for Nepal Appeal![follow-up] [was lugmaster]

Wed Feb 14 22:31:49 GMT 2007

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:28:07 +0000
From: "Richard Smedley" <smedley358 at btinternet.com>
To: <lugmaster at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Cc: <thesouk at uwclub.net>; <staffslug at staffslug.org.uk>;
<northwales at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Subject: [lugmaster] Fw: Re: Linux-refurbished Laptops for Nepal
Appeal![follow-up]

Hello all,

There were a number of points raised in question over the
charitable actions of a small shop in Mid-Wales, who asked
for GNU/Linux Laptops, to send to a school in Nepal.

Particular objections came from people who considered all
foreigners dishonest, or only needing pencils, but there
were also many reasonable and valid concerns, so I asked
the original poster, and the shop-owner, to answer some
of these points - to address the considerable fears that
the campaign seemed to raise for people.

Alan Hill, of the Souk in Llangollen, has below addressed most
of the points brought up on some of the lists - I suggest anyone
with further questions CCs him in your list reply, or reply
directly to him off-list, as appropriate.

I have removed from his mail a binary attachment containing
a copy of a hand-written letter from the school's headmaster
asking for various items, with computers at the top of
the list.

 - Richard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Begin forwarded message:

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:57:07 -0000 (GMT)
From: "thesouk.uwclub.net" <thesouk at uwclub.net>
To: "Richard Smedley" <smedley358 at btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [lugmaster] Fwd: Linux-refurbished Laptops for Nepal
Appeal!

>
Dear Richard

Thanks very much for forwarding Matt’s email to the N Wales LUGs.  I was
very interested in the responses you received.  I realise that people
have responded on the basis of very little information, indeed some of
the comments are exactly the sort of thing I would have said in the same
situation.  I would like to take the opportunity say a bit more about
what we do and also to respond to the points made. I realise that you
are only the conduit for these  so forgive me if at times I speak
frankly.

My wife and I run a shop and very soon an online shop.  We have recently
started to import goods from Nepal for wholesale and retail.  We have
done this in part because we have become disillusioned with the current
concept of “fair trade” which allows companies such as Tesco and
Sainsburys to wave the fair trade flag as part of their marketing
strategies. (see War on Want report Nov 06).  I deal directly with
producers in Nepal that pay their employees a reasonable wage (relative
to Nepal), have reasonable working conditions for their employees,
don’t employ kids, etc. I have visited many producers in Nepal and have
selected a small number (who have satisfied our conditions) to do
business with.

Further to this we also support the Shree Garma School in the
Solukhumber region (up near Mt Everest).  We support them by donating
approx. 10% of the retail cost of each item to the school. This
donation takes the form of the actual cash or things the school have
stated they need.

I am also working on a longer term project to fund a small
hydro-electric generator for the school (the school has no power)
possibly in conjunction with the charity Practical Action (see the
Guardian’s Christmas appeal). The school has also very clearly stated
that they, as their highest priority, would like computers. (see
attachment)

We do not place any conditions on what the school uses these funds for.
We also occasionally ask people to make a donation in the form of
things, in this case old laptops. We do not ask for money. We have
found that when we tell people about what we do many will either buy
our products or want to donate some money. Preferring not to take cash
donations we ask people to go to the Pound shops and buy a £worth of
pens and pencils etc which we can add to what we take over.

We do this because we want to make a social investment in the third
world country we source our goods from.  In these times of global
trade, the rape of the third world and unrestrained corporate
capitalism we’re are trying to find a way of conducting our business
that sit comfortably with our political and ethical views, either that
or we’re just well meaning Guardian readers.

Points raised
1.“
people in Nepal need pencils, shouldn't be let near a computer”
I agree with this statement whole heartedly and to that end we regulary
send stationary to the school. Computers would not have been my
priority, if it was up to me I’d have picked electricity or glass for
the windows or even better shoes for the kids etc, however it is not up
to me, and therefore not for me to “tell” the people of this school and
village what is good for them.  (The luxury of being neither a charity
nor a Christian I suppose).

2. “
wouldn't have the electricity anyway, old laptops have no battery
life”, They don’t have electricity, that is correct.  There is power to
the village (although few can afford to be connected to it) so
recharging the computers or rather recharging car batteries for the
Laptops to run off is possible. We are also currently looking at small
solar or wind rechargers

3. “
this is just a scheme to dump toxic waste on the third world”.
Why would I want to go to all this trouble and expense to first collect
and then dump toxic waste in the third world when I could use the laybys
and open spaces of North Wales ???  ( A real puzzler this one).

4.  “
.the computers will never get there”
All of the things we buy/raise get there because I or my friend, who was
born in the village, take them ourselves when we visit Nepal. Our next
trip is planned for May/June.

5.”
not a charity - it's not even a registered company
No, we are not a charity, we are a small business.  We are also
individuals who wish to make a small contribution to others. I know it’s
not the most fashionable of businesses practices but we want to see if
we can combine the two.  We have been supporting various charities over
the years (education and sponsorships being our preferred areas) but as
with the fair trade “brand” we have become somewhat disillusioned.
Amongst numerous concerns is that many charities supporting third world
issues, Oxfam for example, are large “corporate” entities with all the
paraphernalia that accompanies such organisations.  The current chief
exec. at Oxfam is on approx. £80k a year + expenses + car + generous
pension plan and has recently overseen the multi-million pound
relocation of the organisation’s HQ. No prizes for guessing where the
cash for all this comes from.  For some this is OK, to function an
organisation must have a viable structure. For me though, I like to
think that if I donate something it’s going to go to the people I have
donated it to.

I do not wish to denigrate the good work of many charities, indeed I am
in discussion with Practical Action about a possible collaboration but
anything we raise from others gets to the people the others wish to
help. Does your respondent believe that is it only Registered Charities
that are able to do something useful? When you donate to something to
what you believe is a good cause will you only donate it if there is a
Registered Charity acting as the middle man?

As for the point regarding us being a registered company.  As sole
traders we are not required to be registered at Companies House but if
your responder would like to come and visit our shop in Llangollen (on
Oak Street) to further check us out he/she is welcome. Might I further
suggest he/she may find greater use for his/her talents in the CIA or
maybe the FBI,  - just a thought.

5. “..will be sold by the Nepalis, they will only be used for porn
anyway. Having met the teachers and pupils of the school I know that
their requests are sincere and that they will make the greatest use of
what ever resources we can assist them with.  This is an isolated and
impoverished community in the High Himalayas and there does not seem to
me to be a “quick buck” mentality.  As I stated earlier, we place no
conditions on what we give to Shree Garma School. However it is not for
me to judge or dictate how this school chooses to use these resources.
That means that if the wish to sell them or wank themselves into a
frenzy every hour on the hour, it is up to them.   These people are not
children or ignorant savages, they are capable of making informed
decisions on what is best for their community. Maybe with a few laptops
they can become even more informed and also have the means to argue
these rather insulting points for themselves.

I asked Matt to contact you as I believed that Linux Users may be
interested in what we are doing and may further be interested in
offering some assistance.  The help we are trying to give this school
is geared towards their empowerment. Surely Linux users can see this
point. I’m not only after a few old laptops but also some expertise in
setting the things up in a more egalitarian way and not dependent on
the Microsoft Monster. There have been some great responses from Matt’s
email and I feel confident I can achieve our aims, particularly on the
technical support side.

I would welcome any further enquiries about what we do and will gladly
supply further info, photos etc.  Thanks for your help and the
opportunity to respond to the points raised.

Alan Hill
The Souk
Oak Street
Llangollen

> I forwarded your e-mail to some LUGs near N Wales, thinking you'd
> be able to get offers/help/advice.
[snipped summary of some of the responses on a couple of the lists]
> If you want help from LUG members you will have to answer some of
> the points raised on these lists.
>
> Best wishes,
>
>  - Richard

[original mail to lugmaster list, left in for those not following
well...]

> On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 11:27:38 +0000
> "Mark Broadbent" <mgjbroadbent at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I've been asked by a member of my LUG (Herefordshire) if the
>> following notice could be circulated around as many LUGs as possible
>> please.
>>
>> All follow-ups to this should be directed to Matt Rhys-Roberts at
>> eccn at spherica.demon.co.uk
>>
>> Thanks
>> Mark Broadbent
>> Herefordshire LUG
>>
>> ---------------
>> A small business in North Wales has hit upon the idea of supplying a
>> school in an impoverished area of Nepal, with refurbished laptop
>> computers running Linux. In their own words:
>>
>> "The Shree Garma Secondary School is in the Solukhumbu district of
>> Nepal and is only 40 miles from Everest. It is extremely isolated and
>> there are no roads. It can be reached by an internal flight from
>> Kathmandu followed by a three hour walk. It is obviously very poor
>> and most people are subsistence farmers.
>>
>> The school caters for around 150 children of all ages. They have only
>> the most basic facilities and no electricity. Their main priority is
>> to have computers. Initially we are going to try and supply them with
>> six lap top computers which can be charged in houses which do have
>> electricity and longer term our aim is to develop a hydro power
>> station which could potentially provide electricity to many houses as
>> well as the school.
>>
>> Katlan Trading Company based at The Souk in Llangollen is committed
>> to helping this school through importing goods from Nepal. A
>> percentage of all sales will go direct to the school. We are not a
>> registered charity but instead are aiming to help through direct
>> trade."
>>
>>
>> The company wishes to enlist the help of any UK LUG members who can
>> a) gather unused laptops, b) install Linux on them, and c) send them
>> to a central collection point to be announced.
>>
>> The ideal Linux distro remains to be decided, since equipment will
>> vary greatly. However it is hoped, hardware permitting, that each
>> laptop will have installed on it a minimum of: a working X server,
>> OpenOffice (or smaller office apps for lesser machines), a graphics
>> package, printer and network support, email, IRC, and of course the
>> Nepali language as far as possible. There appears to be a Nepali
>> distro already underway at http://www.nepalinux.org/ , which may be
>> suitable for some hardware. For lesser machines, perhaps Damn Small
>> Linux, Vector Linux or Knoppix may be more appropriate.
>>
>> The village has no phone network yet, but one is anticipated there
>> within the next 2 years!
>>
>> Please contact me if you can contribute in any way to this project. I
>> aim to help coordinate efforts to source donated laptops, test them,
>> install appropriate software, then perform a final quality check. We
>> are still at the planning stage, seeing who's really available to
>> help. No doubt this project could generate some very good publicity
>> for Linux abroad, waste prevention and fair trade.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Matt Rhys-Roberts, Wrexham
>> eccn at spherica.demon.co.uk
>> (Herefordshire LUG member)
>>
>> PS. Further reading for inspiration (it looks like there's already a
>> good & growing Nepalese Linux user base!):
>>
>> http://www.researchut.com/repository/linux-nepal.html
>>   A non-profit organization dedicated to promoting GNU/Linux in the
>> kingdom of the Himalayas
>> http://www.nepalinux.org/
>>   The new release NepaLinux 1.1 is a relatively bug-free and revised
>> version of the previous beta release.
>> http://www.linuxnepal.com.np/aboutus/
>>   A Linux enthusiasts' site in Nepal
>> -------------------------
>> -------------------------
>

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