June 2011
18 posts
ALIN visit
We visited with the Arid Lands Information Network yesterday. There vision is just about perfectly aligned with ours - to use technology to connect rural/poor communities to information for improving their lives. We had time to visit one of their Maarifa Centers - community knowledge centers - in Isinya. This center has power and is connected via cellular modem. Folks at these Maarifa centers...
“The speed at which the world is moving is very very fast. If we are to ever keep...”
– Principal Salmet Githonga of Leparwa Primary School
—RM
Kithoka Amani Children's Home
We visited Amani today. What an amazing place. The director, Dr. Karambu Ringera, set it up originally to care for the orphaned children of Kenyan women who contracted AIDS. She’s doing amazing things there to help the orphans of the area.
Dr. Ringera has a vision of a “Digital Village” that really resonates with E-MAGINE’s goals. She wants to get her center...
E-Magine in Meru
We’ve been surveying schools in and around Meru for our system. We’ve met with the staff and students at three primary schools (1-8 grade) - one in Meru and two within the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The two sites in Lewa are very remote (must either hike in, or take a 4x4). This makes helping both difficult and all the more important. Helpers are few and far between.
We were very...
Entrepreneurship + Kenya = A Bright Future
With the conclusion of the Pivot25 conference, I truly felt as though I had gained a good understanding of the state of entrepreneurship in Kenya. This was made possible through my observations at the event and also through the conversations I shared with uniquely different individuals – from cab drivers, to street vendors, to local and foreign university students, and all those who attended the...
ALIN and Antennas
Due to the weekend, and in particular Sunday, part sourcing was put on us until today.
This morning we are meeting with the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) to gather information about their initiatives, and ICT projects as well as how E-MAGINE may be incorporated into existing or future projects.
Later this afternoon we will be heading out to source the radio equipment.
—JD
“E-MAGINE’s concept is amazing…..I believe that with the right...”
– From an interview with George Mwangi: Kenyan Businessman & Entrepreneur
—RM
A Great Day for Everyone!
Today presented an amazing networking opportunity for E-MAGINE. I managed to discuss the project at length with several people who all presented really interesting perspectives and a tremendous amount of insight into the project. The consensus among everyone I spoke to was that “E-MAGINE was a great project with a whole lot of potential!” A representative from the WorldBank and a few other...
Pivot Top 25 Mobile Developers, Innovation &...
The first day of the event was a great experience overall! It was clear right from the beginning that this was no ordinary event as it was the first of its kind in East Africa. Attendees were no ordinary members of society either, but instead movers and shakers of the ICT and Business sectors in Africa! From multi-national company CEOs to government ministers and venture capitalists, these were...
Day 1: "Karibu Kenya"
Already getting accustomed to the Kenyan way of doing things, we arrived on time at the airport with hardly any time to spare….Doubting whether or not we would make it onto our flight, we all worriedly checked-in at 6:15pm. Our flight was set to leave exactly ONE hour later and we still had to get through the long airport security lines…! Fortunately enough, we all made it through,...
