HARDWARE FOR HONDURAS By Project Managers: Sharon Fass McEuen, David Williamson, Pat Ramsey Project Managers: Sharon Fass McEuen, David Williamson, Pat Ramsey and Jerry Thompson David Williamson and Pat Ramsey of Southwestern University traveled with Special Missions Foundation’s Jerry Thompson to Honduras in November 2002 with a collection of much-needed computer equipment. The computers were leftovers from the university—practically worthless in the United States, but an invaluable resource if they could be brought to Honduras. In a four-day whirlwind expedition, they set up more than 30 systems in three schools, a clinic, and an open lab at the office of Save the Children. The first visit was to the office where the computers had been grouped as whole units, including monitor, computer, keyboard, and mouse. There they met Miguel, a local techie in training, doing his internship at the Save the Children office. He had worked with the computers before the three North Americans arrived to isolate the problematic ones and familiarize himself with the systems. Miguel assisted Pat, Dave, and Jerry as they took five of the computers to the Instituto Lenca high school located outside La Esperanza and installed them in the school’s new computer lab which had been refurbished with new desks and electrical circuits. After installing the computers, they returned to the office and gathered ten more systems, these ones bound for the primary school, Pedro Nufio. The technicians didn’t arrive at the school until three in the afternoon, yet all the children were still there waiting. The school put on a special ceremony for the visitors, with several officials speaking in turn. Once they began their work, the technicians found themselves swarmed by eager children who flocked eagerly around each new computer to try its games and software. A power outage cut work off at five and the children were sent home with a "Vámonos, muchachos!" For a brief while, Pat, Dave, and Jerry chuckled nervously hoping that the power draw from the ten computers wasn’t responsible for the outage. After finishing their work at Pedro Nufio the next day, the three moved on to the vocational school, Centro Artesanal. When they arrived later that morning, they were surprised to discover that the students had already unpacked and hooked up all the computers. Some were looking at an old cad program while others were working with PowerPoint. The mood could only be described as joyous. Jerry, Dave, and Pat were at a loss for words. They pried the children from the computers long enough to install some additional software, as well as installing surge strips and troubleshooting a couple of bad CD-ROM drives. By now they had a solid routine. They would load software, make quick repairs where needed, and work with Miguel in the process so he would learn these skills for future use. When they completed their work, it was time to return to the office to get the computers for the new training lab at the Save the Children office. There were more systems than the lab needed, but as it turned out, some of the computers failed in one way or another. But even the broken systems weren’t a total loss. The extra computers could be stripped for parts to construct a complete computer, as well as give Miguel some spare hardware to explore. They organized the remaining parts and left Miguel and the rest of the staff at Save the Children knowing that something wonderful had begun and they were a part of it. Computers are tools that can do as much or as little as you want. They have no doubt that these computers are going to be used well and even in ways that they haven’t thought of. And for their part, Pat and Dave have been so energized by the experience that they are already planning a repeat performance. They’ve learned what so many others have as they’ve worked in Honduras. It is a country filled with people who see a bigger role in the world for their children. All they need are the right tools and they can lift themselves to wondrous heights. As always, this project would not have been possible without the assistance of numerous others. - Bob Paver, Sharon Fass McEuen, David Williamson, Pat Ramsey, Traci Willis, Bob Radford, Scott Sandoval, and Dr. Daniel Castro for their help in selecting, sorting, packing and moving the donated computers. - James Sloan and Ryan Smith, ITS student volunteers. - Bob, Joanne, and Kyle Mathis who donated their computer and software to go with this shipment. - Sue Mennicke, Director of Intercultural Learning:  International and Off-Campus Programs at Southwestern University for help with logistics to set up and install the computers in Honduras. - Dr. James W. Hunt, Provost and Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Education at Southwestern University for on-going support of educational efforts in Honduras. - Dr. Daniel and Mariella Castro for providing contact information with Magnolia Forwarding Corporation. - Magnolia Forwarding Corporation for providing its services free of charge so we could ship the computers to Honduras. Maria Tan made ocean freight arrangements at very reduced rates with Ivan Lopez at Navivan Corporation for these purposes.