Today was our first full day at KBC. When we arrived at about 9 AM, we got started by unpacking all of the monitors and thin client PC’s and getting everything laid out and setup on tables in the library room.
- Kasulu Bible College
We have 5 computers in all for that room, which will be used mainly by KBC students. The other 13 or so stations in the main computer lab room are used both by students and the general public. KBC has been a center for computer studies and application use for Kasulu in general since we first introduced the systems in 2006. It’s interesting to note that we are still using some of the original thin client PC’s we supplied back then, which gives you and idea of how durable and long lasting they are. We would have had to replace them long ago had they been regular PC’s. Thin clienting is definitely a good way to go for locations like this in East Africa. The environment is very dusty during the dry season(s). With that, regular PC’s would easily wear down and fail in a few short years. But since thin clients have no disk drives, have low power, low heat processors and hence, no cooling fans to jamb up or wear out, they just keep on running for many years. The trick is to have a good central server and keep it clean, which they do.
- Thin Client Workstations
I also spent some training time today with Reginal, Matthew from the Bible College and also my friend Festus.
We reviewed how to make network wires, which we need to connect the new thin clients and also we have a good long classroom session on how networks operate and how Interneting and TCP/IP work, both in the small network setting and the world wide Internet setting. It was a great day. We accomplished a lot. I have a feeling we will be through most of what we need to do by mid-week. That would be great, as we did not get a chance to have Swahili lessons today, so I’d like to make up for that with more lessons during the week.
- Making Network Cables
I can’t thank the Lord enough for the wonderful experiences and the time we have had so far in Tanzania. Even things like having our own vehicle to travel in has been a great blessing to us. It’s made our time that much more enjoyable.
Tomorrow we’ll finish up the thin client setup and hopefully get to the reconfiguration of the KBC wireless network to get it working properly again. We still have a color printer to install and we need to setup two laptops and a projector. Most likely, we’ll have those finished by Wednesday.
Thanks for stopping in and keep praying for our time here, that we remain on track and productive on the KBC Network expansion project.
Yours in Christ,
Canon Bill
Hope you enjoyed some of the photos I posted from the past few days. Today, being Sunday, is a day off for us. We worshipped this morning at the Cathedral in Kasulu. We had a chance to greet the congregation and even shared a song with them. It is one that we learned at St. Paul’s during the past year. It’s called “Song to the Savior”. We were able to translate the chorus into something the congregation here could join in with. The original words are:
Sing a song to the Savior
Lift your voice and believe
Sing a song to the Savior
Sing a song to the King
We translated this into a simplified Swahili version:
Kuimba kwa mwokozi
Kuimba na kuamini
Kuimba kwa mwokozi
Kuimba kwa mfalme
Afterward, we returned to the compound and shortly after that I when back down to KBC to go to Daudi NDahana’s home to pick up his car. Yup, you guessed it. I’m borrowing a friend’s car while we are here so we can get around without callingon the Diocese to supply drivers and vehicles for us. 
And yes, they drive on the left side of the road, so there is a little bit of that to get used to. Even so, I’m glad to have some independence. We can definitly work more efficient this way because there are always delays when arranging rides to and from the Bible College.
Tonight I’m going to prepare a sermon that I’m to give at the 7 PM service at the Bible College on Thursday. Then Cathy and I are going to watch a movie together (using a laptop computer) and rest to prepare for the work we will start tomorrow at KBC.
Blessings to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus,
Canon Bill