Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach

Northern Uganda War and Displacement

in the last 20 years Ongoing Peace Talks

with rebel LRA group Massive Internal

Displacement at Height of War Nearly 2 million

displaced Extreme isolation of

people in IDP camps

BOSCO—A solution to isolation… and so much more Increased access to

information and communication will be a key issue for economic and social reconstruction. Currently it is unusual for any rural school to offer education related to Information Technology (IT) and computers. Basic service providers (such as schools, health centres, local government, local NGOs, CBOs, etc.) have very limited access to information through the Internet, especially in rural areas.

BOSCO - History Initiated by group of University of Notre

Dame Alumni and Archbishop J.B. Odama in 2004

Licensed for operation by UCC in Dec. 2006

Land Survey and meeting Communities done early 2007

Phase I Deployment and Installation with Inveneo finished in April 2007

BOSCO Mission Provide Communication and Information

Technology to foster social and economical Development and Peace Building in Rural Communities of Northern Uganda using a collaborative, web-based approach.

Technical Solution BOSCO is using technologies designed for rural areas with

no access to power grid Low-power, solar powered “thin client” PCs linked over long-range

WiFi to central server and Internet Internal (Intranet) network content management page Free VoIP telephony access from station to station within network

and to selected area codes in U.S. and Europe

BOSCO Content Programming Collaborative ICCT (Information, Communication and

Collaboration Technology) Education “Training of Trainers” (ToT) program at current locations Training key leaders at our sites and working with them to encourage them to train

their local community members using collaborative Web 2.0 technologies for self-advocacy in each community

BOSCO Content Programming

BOSCO Content Programming Development

Fostering creative partnerships with local organizations in e-agriculture, human rights monitoring, and economic development projects

Individual users using the Internet and wikispace to post proposals for funding community development projects

Micro-donor program for educators at site locations

BOSCO Content Programming

BOSCO Content Programming Information Access

Accessing basic local news resources in remote locations for the first time Using the web to seek out education opportunities and/or advancement of

current profession (e.g. information on agriculture or small business accounting

practices, human rights monitoring)

Phase I Deployment—April 2007 Phase I deployment covered 9 sites,

including 6 rural IDP camps

Current Status Technology has been proven successful in rural environment Collaborative ToT user groups forming at each site (38 registered

volunteer trainers) Need for new 30 meter broadcasting tower Various programming and connectivity partnerships underway:

Human Rights Focus-Gulu, local and district government, NGO’s around Gulu

Grant proposals for funding: Unicef, USAID, WCRWC, Gates Foundation

Local Capacity Building BOSCO now established under umbrella of Archdiocese of Gulu Two new, local, full-time coordinators (project coordinator and technical

assistant) hired

BOSCO-Uganda and Inveneo Inveneo is a partner to BOSCO supplying

all equipment as well as remote technical support after installation

http://www.inveneo.org

BOSCO Needs Construction of 30 meter tower

Should be built on BOSCO property to avoid future disputes over use

Further implementation and evaluation of Web 2.0 training programs at each site

ICCT curriculum support and evaluation Evaluation and monitoring of ToT program

Funding to expand the current network's infrastructure by installing long-range Wi-Fi relay points in already-mapped strategic locations across northern Uganda.

Transportation funding is needed to help establish local user groups to host communication stations

Current Partners BOSCO-USA

Provides managerial oversight to BOSCO-Uganda Vetting of all technology and remote monitoring Fundraising and collaboration with US based partnerships

Horizont3000 Provides salary for one full-time development worker/advisor Providing 50 percent salary each for capacity building (local

technician and project coordinator)

Human Rights Focus-Gulu Partnering with BOSCO-Uganda on a Women’s Commission grant

opportunity Partnering with BOSCO-Uganda on a USAID proposal to train human

rights field volunteers in collaborative ICT use for peace building and human rights monitoring