Category Archives: [:ca]Informàtica[:en]Information Technology[:es]Informática[:]

The birth of a new project: NEPCAT connection

Writen by Marina Viñas, volunteer of Children’s Home

On the plane Barcelona-Nepal, an special passenger accompanied us: NEPCAT CONNECTION, a project whose main objective is the cultural exchange between Balmandir children and Catalan children, opening the door to new ways of living and understanding life by exchanging emails.

In Catalonia we have an accomplice – Glory Iniesta, teacher of the Col·legi Mestre Pla of Castellar del Vallès – who presented the project to their colleagues. All of them agreed immediately. So good! They have two classes of 5th and two 6th grade with which we started the project. So we can make four groups. Come on, let’s go!

We created an email account and divided the children into four groups, mixing them for ages, so the eldest ones can support the younger kids. It looks like an easy job, but it’s not when we start. The first day, I immediately realised that including one of the elder boys in each group was a great idea. That day, I had to start only with the two youngest children because the eldest had to study. When I said: “Come on, how can we start an email?”, I just got silence and astonished faces as answers. But persisting, in two weeks we managed to finish and send the first mail with each group. Then it was the turn of the Catalan students. Will they answer? Will it take long?

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From left to right: Bishwo, Ashish, Samir and Manoj. The first group to send email.
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Purnima, Raju, Ramesh and Sushil writing one of the e-mails

Meanwhile, we connect to google maps and begin to look at the place we are sending the emails. Children enjoy seeing the buildings and streets of Castellar del Vallès. Once we have seen the school and the houses around it and we have discovered this new Internet tool, the kids request me: “Can we see the Camp Nou?”. So “travelled” around the Camp Nou, Sagrada Familia and the sea! As if we were looking through a window.

Four weeks after landing to Nepal the project had already begun to take shape: one group had already received the first response! yuhu! And now, after eigth weeks of the arrival in Nepal, we had exchanged photos, food recipes, traditions…

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Sixth B class from the “Col·legi Mestre Pla” (Castellar del Vallès)

We are very happy and thrilled, hoping that the trend is going to be very positive and gradually grows. It is not only an exchange of perspectives, of their day to day, of the concerns, traditions, etc. The “connection NEPCAT” wants to go further because it will also allow the group work, practice English, explore new tools to search for information, Internet tools, etc.

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This is just the beginning

Expanding the computer room

Written by Anna Brunet, vicepresident of Amics del Nepal. With the collaboration of Xavier Calvet and Marina Viñas.

When we heard that the hospital where we work, Parc Tauli of Sabadell, gives used computers to NGOs, we thought it would be a good opportunity to expand the computer room of Balmandir. So far we had only one computer and three laptops (donated by UPC Reutilitza, the exvolunteer Mar and Montse) for 26 children.

For ten computers, after working many years, instead of the expected retirement, it starts a new adventure and long journey. But to take the computers to Nepal will not be so easy. Each computer (tower, screen, keyboard and mouse) weighs 15 kg. Volunteers and a trekking expedition group from Terrassa will take them to Nepal with their own luggage.

To start we sent only two computers to see how the plan works. For this purpose we wrap and protect them well, so they begin their journey. First from Sabadell to Barcelona and then to Kathmandu by plane (two planes in fact). Once in Nepal we put them above the roof rack of a taxi and finally on the top of a jeep (for more than three hours). We have been lucky because it has not rained, but the road is not easy, nor for the computers nor for us, with turns and jumps.

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Anna, Joana and Marina in the airport of Barcelona taking the two computers to Nepal.
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Marina and Joana in Kathmandu waiting for the jeep to go to Bhimphedi with the two computers.

Finally the two computers have reached Bhimphedi where we installed them and connected to the Internet. They work! Even the speakers! So great!

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The computer room of Balmandir looks already pretty good. Some of the small kids using the computers supervised by Rojan, the elder of the kids.

Now the next challenge for the computers will be to survive as long as possible in the hands of Balmandir children. We expect the kids take good care of them and learn a lot about the use of computers.

Soon the rest of the computers will be here as well! Thanks to Parc Taulí and to all people who have helped us to take them here!

Internet at the Children’s Home – Second Part

Days pass and nobody calls us to go to Hetauda to buy the cable, phone and router. We begin to worry… But suddenly, a car stop at the entrance of the center, and two gentlemen say they have come to install the phone-line…

– But you bring the necessary equipment for installation – Ask a surprised Ram, the cook of the center.

– Oh, still haven’t you bought the cable? – asks an even more surprised technician.

– You told us you would call us so that we could go to Hetauda to buy everything you needed and then the technicians could come with us. – Assures Ram.

– How could we have called if we didn’t have any contact number on our papers? – Protest the technician.

– I gave my phone number – Ram answers.

There is nothing we can do now, maybe some other day we will be more successful… but at least we make the technician to tell us exactly what we need to install the phone-line: 120 meters of cable, a phone, a modem, a couple of line boxes (or something similar)…

– Sunday we will go buy everything! – Ram says.

– Uff, but we will not be able to come till next week, on Friday… – says the technician.

Ram protest a little bit. But I would be very happy if we get the internet connection next week…

On Sunday it rains, on Monday Ram has a meeting with “neighbours” (he lives on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, I do not know who will show in this meeting…), Tuesday is a holiday, so on Wednesday we go to Hetauda to buy the cable…

After all the shopping we go to the office of Nepal Telecom to confirm that the technicians are coming this week. The bureau chief sees us there again and asks us if we have not yet Internet. “It can not be!” says flatly. And he asks for an explanation to the technician. The technician explains the misunderstanding, and says he will go on Friday to finalize the work. The boss asks “Why Friday? What work do you have to do tomorrow? Go tomorrow”, the technician says “Hunchha” (meaning “ok”), so he will come to install Internet tomorrow morning.

Friday morning the technicians come to install Internet.

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When they finish to connect the cable and equipment, we are asked to sign some papers, and then they will go to the office to activate the line. Signed, they leave, and after a while we have phone-line but no Internet… It was too good to be true…

After two weeks of repeatedly calling different employees of Nepal Telecom, ask a computer technician to try to solve the problem and even change the year, the head office of Nepal Telecom decides to send a technician “Thursday, Friday morning or Sunday. “Maybe someone will come Sunday, if we’re lucky…

Surprisingly on Friday they tell us that a technician is on the way! I just do not believe it until he reaches the center.

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After two hours, we have phone line and Internet. It seems that this 2015 will be a good year!

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The first website never opened in Bhimphedi Children’s Home.

From the Bhimphedi Children’s Home, through our new ADSL, Happy 2015 to everyone!