This post is by Sanjay Patel, he’s currently working on getting internet connectivity at our partner school in Tanzania.

Today is OneWebDay, a movement of organizations, citizens and consumers who are committed to universal and equal access to the Internet.  This year’s theme, “One Web. For All.” is an opportunity to focus on economic and educational inclusion.

Since we just happen to be working on internet connectivity options in Tanzania right now for our partner primary school in Tanzania, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share how vast the Digital Divide remains.

In the table below, I’ve added what it costs me on a montly basis to get cable speed internet here in the United States along with 3 different quotes we’ve received for installing internet connectivity to a school that is a stone’s throw away from one of Tanzania’s largest cities:

1. Arusha Node Marie provides expected download/upload speeds during peak hours. Speeds may increase substantially during off-peak hours.
2. LiNK iDirect provides maximum shared capacity figures for download and upload speeds but expected speeds may be significantly lower.
3. CIWI also provides maximum shared capacity figures for download and upload speeds but expected speeds may be significantly lower.
4. 2008 estimates according to the CIA World Factbook. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html)
5. This percentage excludes initial set-up costs. In all cases, the set-up costs are more than the annual average income.

Yes, you’re reading that correctly, 32 kbps for $60 USD (~78,090 TZS) per month.  That’s less than 1% of the download speed I have as I sit now in my living room.

Admittedly, connectivity and access are changing quickly, and mobile phones are providing interesting options.  The infrastructure is improving too – just 2 months ago, SEACOM, an undersea fiber optic cable went live in East Africa and industry experts expect a significant reduction in the cost of bandwidth in the range of 60 percent.  That said, even in our own country, many people have limited or no access to the web.

For more about the challenges of connectivity in Arusha, check out this blog post about the difficulty of access during our recent IdeaBlob competition, which included web voting from internet cafes in Tanzania.

Posted: September 22nd, 2009 under The Foundry.
Comments: 2

“What if I’m not good enough?” he said last night, in not so many words.

I recognize and translate the other phrases, ones I whisper so often to myself:

• “What if it’s too hard?”
• “What if I don’t have the right resources, the right connections?”
• “What if I run out of time?”
• “What if no one else helps?”
• “What if they laugh at me or my idea?”
• “What if they ignore me?”
• “What if they don’t recognize the importance of this idea I hold so dear?”
• “What if I don’t reach the goal?”
• “What if I (gulp) fail?”
• “What if I get hurt?”

And I said what I would say to myself if I were as brave as I know he is in other moments, as brave as I often wish I was.

“Be fearless.
There is no such thing as failure.
If we try, we have won…
because so few would dare to do even that.”

As it escapes my lips, it resounds of a platitude and, to be honest, that’s not the whole truth:  there are two ways to try.

There are attempts restrained, suffocated by fear and worry. I will try, but will shield my attempt from scorn. Keep it quiet. Ask timidly. I will not push too hard, not rock too many boats. I will imagine that the answer will be “no” so I can avoid making the risky asks. I will find others to blame because they were unwilling to help. Then, if it fails, I am safe. I retain plausible deniability.

These attempts sometimes win, but rarely big. They may find success, but they are not game changers. They are safe.

Then there are fearless, bold, epic attempts. Bet it all. Double down. Go big.   These attempts are as audacious as a woman who believed that the money she made selling chickens would be enough to build the school that will transform her community.

Neither will these attempts always succeed. People who make these types of attempts stand to lose big, and publicly.

But they are also the only ones who will ever change the world.

“You are more than good enough,” I said last night, in not so many words, “but will you be fearless enough to let the whole world see?”

I wonder if I was speaking to him or to me…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
- Excerpted from Marianne Williamson, Return to Love

Photo by Patience Salgado, @kindnessgirl, at a recent Epic Change strategic planning event where the most fearless people I’ve ever met gathered to dream big.

Posted: September 22nd, 2009 under The Foundry.
Comments: 3