ICT4D Research Weblog

My last week in Pretoria was packed with various interviews, with stakeholders of both ADP and tuXlab.

The time in Pretoria was a very effective time, and although only having two weeks for the amount of interviews planned, I managed to conduct most of them.

I am especially grateful for the great support I received from the ADP team. They not only took the time to speak with me, but moreover, they showed great interest in my work and supported me by suggesting more people to speak with and by helping me arrange meetings with them.

Posted by Nikos at 06:08 PM | Permalink

June 16, 1976: Hundreds of young people die in Soweto, the biggest township near Johannesburgin, in a violent turnout of a peaceful demonstration against the Bantu Education System which leads to further demonstrations and riots throughout June 1976.
"Many consider the riots an event which signified the beginning of the end for apartheid. The effects of the riots echoed across the country. After the riots, many black citizens were awakened to the reality of apartheid, and started to resist, while some white citizens also withdrew their support for the government." (cited from Wikipedia article).

Today, June 16 is "Youth Day", a national holiday in South Africa.

June 16, 2006: 30 Years later, around 60 people, most of them under 20 and from different disadvantaged communities around Johannesburg meet in a bank office in one of the fanciest malls of Johannesburg.
Coming from different forthcoming tuXlabs, they will get whole weekend of training, including the set-up of a computer lab and the use of the various software that comes with a tuXlab. Different sponsors, including a bank, a computer distributor, an internet service provider, are also there to present their contributions, for example a bunch of new computers or a life-long internet connection for the affected tuXlabs.
And again: it's the young people who impress me most: their deidication to learn, their dedication to improve their situation, to overcome the "Economic Apartheid" that is still present in South Africa, their dedication to also help others through what they are doing and not only themselves. And the tuXlabs help empower them to do so.

Posted by Nikos at 11:21 AM | Permalink

This is the fourth update on how my cooperation with the organizations I am working with is going:

Africa Drive Project (ADP) (more about ADP):
I am in very good email communication with people that worked or used to work with ADP. Being in Pretoria since two days. I already conducted very informative interviews with three ADP stakeholders, including SAP Research and eDegree.
Tomorrow, I am going to visit the University of North-West, Mafikeng Campus to participate in a ADP Technology Meeting. Other meetings for interviews with "ADP people" are scheduled for next week.

Cell-Life (more about Cell-Life):
Very helpful and forthcoming team so far. I visited their office a couple of times and were told to come in whenever I want to. Already conducted interviews with Cell-Life staff, with a representative of the Desmond Tutu AIDS Foundation, as well as with counsilors of the Hannan Crusaid Treatment Centre in Guguletu who use the Cell-Life technology to make Anti-Retro-Viral Treatment more effective. There, I had very interesting discussions, also besides the interviews, with the women who both get treatment and counsil other clients...
I am planning on conducting some more interviews with Cell-Life stakeholders during my last week in Cape Town.

tuXlab (more about tuXlab):
Met with part of the tuXlab team and already had a great discussion about the project. Went to a fascinating launch of a new tuXlab in Khayelitsha (see below) and conducted first interviews. Besides, I had a very good talk with Computers 4 Kids.
I am going to attend a tuXlab event in Johannesburg on June 16 and hope to be able to talk to some of their other stakeholders, including co-ordinators of some of the tuXlabs in schools in the Western Cape Province in my last week in Cape Town.

Posted by Nikos at 06:07 PM | Permalink

This is the third update on how my cooperation with the organizations I am working with is going:

Cell-Life (more about Cell-Life):
Very helpful and forthcoming team so far. I visited their office a couple of times and were told to come in whenever I want to. Already conducted interviews with Cell-Life staff and with counsilors of the Hannan Crusaid Treatment Centre in Guguletu who use the Cell-Life technology to make Anti-Retro-Viral Treatment more effective. There, I had very interesting discussions, also besides the interviews, with the women who both get treatment and counsil other clients...
I am going to conduct interviews with more Cell-Life staff, as well as a representative of the Desmond Tutu AIDS Foundation the following week.

tuXlab (more about tuXlab):
Met on Tuesday with part of the tuXlab team and already had a great discussion about the project. Went to a fascinating launch of a new tuXlab in Khayelitsha (see below) and conducted first interviews. I am going to talk to some of their partners, including co-ordinators of some of the tuXlabs in schools in the Western Cape Province and Computers 4 Kids. Also, I will attend a tuXlab event in Johannesburg on June 16.

Africa Drive Project (ADP) (more about ADP):
I am in very good email communication with people that worked or used to work with ADP and I will be in Pretoria, where the headquarters of ADP are, from June 12 to June 23. There, I am going to conduct interviews with ADP stakeholders, including SAP, eDegree, GTZ and some of the involved schools.

Posted by Nikos at 10:38 PM | Permalink