Almost done

But only almost. All 48 Mini-computer are in place, installed, the desktop set up and the backup made. But some clients decided either not to start after the reboot or to shut down again after a short runtime. Dust was the reason in most cases! This had impured the motherboard, especially the socket of the central processing unit (CPU) and thus led to overheating. Remedy: open the case, and while holding the cooling fan, blow the dust away from the motherboard. In most cases, this worked. But some PCs remained resistant to this treatment – presumably adding a larger cooling fan will remedy the situation. It would be a miracle if everything worked right away.

On Wednesday we welcomed visitors from Karen. Prioress Sr. Rosa accompanied by Sr. Ruth, who has taken a sabbatical in Kenya after her term as Prioress in Tutzing, stopped by. She got a tour of the St. Scholastica Catholic School with the Linux4Africa computer installation and the recently completed expansion of the UZIMA maternity ward. Two day later, on Friday morning ,Sr. Lucy introduced the L4A team to the assembled students.; in the afternoon the team visited Karen in return, meeting Srs. Paula and Serva.

Birgit, Michael and Werner then got out of bed around 5 a.m. on Saturday, and, headed for Wilson Airport. Michael Schmelzer, who had been given the suffix “junior” to distinguish him from Michael Scholtz (senior), stayed behind to get the rest of the clients up and running and to continue teaching Sr. Rita further informatiom technology. The Skyward Express took the group to Eldoret, where Sr. Consolata and driver were already waiting . After breakfast and a visit to the St. Scholastica Catholic School in Kimumu (about half the size of its counterpart in Ruaraka) They continued the journey to Chesongoch in the Kerio Valley. While it was pleasantly cool at the top of the mountain range, the temperature rose noticeably as they descended into the valley. Sr. Marcella and her fellow sisters gave the group a warm welcome and lunch. Memories from former visits were refreshed, the mission building and the hospital visited, and the 7 clients as well as the server, were moved to the kindergarten. After dinner, a video of a previous visit to Kenya was shown, and familiar faces (Sr. Michael-Marie, HP Merkel and many more) were greeted with a “hello”.

The exchange of the computers in the kindergarten succeeded very quickly. However, it seemed that the old computers had not been used much lately, or perhaps not at all. In view of the decree of the school authorities that computer science will be introduced as a test subject, a change is urgently needed. The responsible Sr. Consolata has been briefed and, together with Sr. Marcella (Head of MissionSuperior) continuous exchange of information has been agreed upon. Hopefully this will work.