[kictanet] Laare computing center in Meru

[Riyaz Bachani]

Follow Harry Karanja's 'cathinoned' exploits in Meru - story from his  
blog.

Members of this forum would also be interested in the work Eric has  
done at Laare, getting support from MIT.
(attached is a job posting for a manager/trainer he's looking for)
http://laare.csail.mit.edu/



http://startupkenya.blogspot.com/2007/08/internet-charity-and-miraa- 
day-one.html

Back in July my good pal Eric Mibuari (next M.P. of Ntonyiri  
Constituency and MIT alumni) invited me to help him set up internet  
access at a computer centre he founded in Laare, Meru. The idea was  
to use my internet in the village model which I had already deployed  
in two other places. I jumped at the idea, not only is Eric a fun  
guy, but I had never been to Meru and I needed a holiday from Forex  
trading. So together with another of my pals, Dru, we piled into a  
4WD and headed off towards Meru.

Now, I have never been to Meru so I didn't really know what to  
expect. I borrowed the 4WD from a friend suspecting I'd be in trouble  
without it but I was pleasantly surprised to find well paved roads  
most of the way.

There was another reason I borrowed the 4WD, it was because it had  
enough storage room. The previous week Nakumatt (Kenya's leading  
retailer) had announced the opening of its Meru branch and I had my  
eye on a big-screen TV that was going to be on a special half price  
offer. I was sure of getting it as I would be in Meru on the day  
right after grand opening.

A rapid learning experience my trip was to prove, the first thing I  
realised was that Meru is a very wealthy town. If the fact that the  
TVs were all sold out on day one by 11:00 am did not convince me of  
this fact then it was the brand new Toyota Hilux pick-ups scattered  
everywhere making up 1 of every 3 cars. I was to learn in due course  
why this was the favoured vehicle.

Eric was already in Meru and asked us to rendezvous with him in Maua  
- a town 50km north of Meru and near the Meru National Park. We  
finally got to Meru at about 6pm and I discovered the second thing  
about Meru; at 1800M above sea level and off the slopes of Mount  
Kenya, the place is extremely cold. By luck Dru and I had both had  
packed heavy woolen sweaters, although the cold seemed to seep  
through those too. While waiting for Eric, who was coming from the  
centre, we took a tour of Maua. To our surprise we found that half  
the town's occupants were of Somali origin. Now for a non-Kenyan to  
understand this you must appreciate that rural areas are usually  
homogenous in ethnic makeup. We expected at least 90% Meru ethnicity.  
Somalis however are extremely capable merchants and Maua has a very  
valuable and tradeable commodity, miraa. So like flies to honey they  
flocked in their hundreds to the small yet extremely rich town.

By the time we got to Maua I had been driving for six hours and over  
400km but when we finally met up with Eric he insisted on taking us  
to see the centre. So after checking in to our hotel we drove on to  
Laare, about 10km from Maua. The centre is temporarily hosted by the  
Laare Catholic parish. This stoked the fire of conviction that  
churches form a good backbone for such community projects; direct  
access to the community and structural resources.

Our trip to the parish was also our first chance to interact with  
locals of Meru - the priests. Kimeru language is not so much spoken  
as it is sung, with alternating pitch, tempo, and rhythm. It was  
fascinating to listen as the priests and Eric weaved kimeru in and  
out of the English conversation. Our hosts generously served us some  
hot tea and bananas (incredibly huge bananas) as they found out about  
our mission to Meru.

Eric also showed us the computers and equipment that had been donated  
by MIT for use in the centre. An impressive number of relatively new  
PCs, laptops, routers and switches all the way from Boston were  
stacked up in one corner of the priests' living room waiting for us  
to set them up the following day.

We finally left at around nine o'clock and slowly drove back to Maua.  
Slowly because it was a pitch black moonless night and the cold  
mountain air hitting the warmer tarmac caused instant rising mist on  
the road.

Used to Nairobi's fast pace we found ourselves still eager to explore  
the place at that late hour. However the few places we checked out  
were lifeless (it was a Tuesday) so we decided to go to the hotel and  
strategize on the following day. Before retiring though we purchased  
some of Meru's finest.

So while chewing on a few choice stems, we tried out the EDGE  
internet connectivity from the hotel room using my laptop and my cell  
phone as a modem. The connection worked quite well and I was even  
able to open my forex trading platform and put in a few trades.  
(Isn't technology wonderful - you can buy and sell off Wall Street  
while in a hotel in Meru right on the slopes of Mount Kenya!)

I finally gave in at 1:00 am as even the cathinone in the miraa could  
not erase six hours of driving. I left a 'cathinoned' Eric sending  
emails and on the phone with his colleagues in Boston late into the  
night.

Watch this space for Day Two coming soon...
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