[Sussex] Linux Not as We Know It

[Mark Barber]

Phil Slade wrote:

>http://www.jhai.org/jhai_remoteIT.htm
>
>
>Our Jhai PC and Communication System responds to villagers express needs for
>telecommunications, business opportunities, and enhanced education for their
>children through the development of a solid-state, low-wattage computer that
>can be powered by a foot-crank, a high-bandwidth wireless network, and
>support for village small businesses.
>
>Farmers in Ban Phon Kam and nearby villages are now able to grow surpluses
>of rice and other crops-thanks in part to organic farming techniques that
>Jhai helped introduce. To profit on their surplus, however, they need
>accurate and timely information about pricing in the market town of Phon
>Hong and the capital, Vientiane.
>
>The expert women weavers in the villages have begun the use of natural
>dyes-again with assistance from Jhai-and would like to weave textiles for
>export. They hope to find partners among expatriate Lao who will help them
>market their weavings and receive reasonable returns.
>
>
>
>Technology for harsh conditions
>
>Without telephone lines or electricity, amid torrential rains followed by
>high temperatures and thick red dust, standard technologies won't function.
>Many of the villagers whom Jhai is working with are low-literate and do not
>speak English, so e-mail won't help them, the Internet is inappropriate.
>
>To respond to their needs, Jhai Foundation is developing:
>
>
>A rugged computer and printer assembled from off-the-shelf components that
>draws less than 20 watts in normal use - less than 70 watts when the printer
>is printing - and that can survive dirt, heat, and immersion in water
>
>
>A wireless Local Area Network with relay stations based on the 802.11b
>protocol, which will transmit signals between the villages and a server
>located at the Phon Hong Hospital for switching to the Internet or the Lao
>telephone system
>
>
>A Lao-language version of the free, Linux-based KDE graphical desktop and
>Lao-language office tools
>Villagers in five villages and their surroundings will use this Jhai
>Communications Center to make telephone calls within Lao PDR and
>internationally (using voice-over-Internet technologies), and for the
>activities, such as accounting, letter writing, email, that are so important
>for their start-up enterprises.
>
>Village youth and children will receive technology training and
>microenterprise training using the Jhai Computer, with some young people
>joining the project as Youth IT Entrepreneurs. The Youth IT Entrepreneurs
>will support their elders in the use of the technology and in business
>operations.
>
>The design team is led by Lee Felsenstein, one of the leading design
>engineers in the world. Two of Lee's designs are in the National Museum of
>the United States, the Smithsonian. The implementation team in Laos is led
>by Vorasone Dengkayaphichith. Lee is assisted by a large international
>team,about 25 people in all, including notably, Bob Marsh, a pioneer
>hardware engineer and project manager, Anousak Souphavanh, a Linux
>specialist who coordinates the localization effort, Mark Summers, a wireless
>network expert and engineer, who assists Lee on both hardware and software,
>and Steve Okay, a software developer and system admnistrator. All the people
>in the design team are donating their time, a priceless collective gift. The
>design is meant to meet the specific needs as expressed by the villagers in
>Phon Kham and associated villages. The Lao members of the team, including
>the villagers, see this effort as a gift from the people of Lao PDR to the
>world's rural poor.
>
>
>A sustainable, replicable solution
>
>The Jhai PC and Communication System will be owned by the villages. Small
>fees will be charged users for running costs, replacement costs, and suppor
>costs, making the project fully sustainable immediately upon completion of
>the training period.
>
>The Jhai PC and Communcation System, with wireless network and youth
>entrepreneurial support for business creation, will serve as an easily
>replicable model for the delivery of Information Technology services to poor
>and remote regions throughout the developing world.
>
>To date (April, 2004), we have been approached by people from 85 countries
>who want to replicate what we are doing.
>
>
>For more information:
>
>Proposal to SIDA (330 kb PDF)
>
>Proposal to IDRC (11 kb PDF)
>
>
>These PDF files can be opened using free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.
>
>You can also read what our friends at The Economist have to say about the
>project.
>
>
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>
>
>  
>
Is this an April the first thing, or was I staring at the sun too long 
this morning...

Mark Barber