Archive for janvier, 2005

Malian village of Yanfolila bypasses phone lines, goes wireless.
In collaboration with USAID, Helen Keller International (HKI), and Geekcorps Mali, Radio Wassoulou in Yanfolila launched its Internet service via satellite.

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Geekcorps volunteers’ ingenuity saves time and money.

The difficulty of getting high-tech supplies can be a source of frustration to Geekcorps, but, as in the case of the do-it-yourself antennas, sometimes it prods us to invention.
Most recently, volunteer Moussa Keita used a PVC tube to enclose a wireless access router so that it is weatherproof. This allows the router to be mounted 30 meters high on Radio Wassoulou’s tower (in Yanfolila).This DIY enclosure cost about $10. The alternative, a NEMA enclosure ordered from the US, would have cost about $250. See also: bottlenet.

In the summer of 2004, Robin Taylor and Pierre Kaluzny evaluated a number of open-source content management systems (CMS) to identify the one that would best meet Geekcorps’ needs.

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In the summer of 2004, Rian Aldridge investigated satellite technologies available to Geekcorps Mali.
The report (linked below) discusses these technologies, examines offerings from vendors, and looks at what factors should be considered in selecting a system.Note that this document is not a recommendation as to the exact product to be implemented at specific sites. Such decisions should be revisited at a date closer to the implementation of each site’s connection, to take into account the changes in options (which are growing all the time).

Geekcorp Mali VSAT report (390 kb)

Access to good and timely information is critical for radio journalists. The Geekcorps Mali project is focused on finding ways to improve that access with technology, in particular by using the Internet.As described in an earlier article Radio Guintan, in the quartier of Magnambougou in southern Bamako, was connected to the Internet using low-cost technologies in the fall of 2004.

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UNESCO multimedia center in N’ko allows rural residents to print newspapers.
One of those classic “we wouldn’t have imagined that you’d use this that way” stories.
UNESCO has found a curious byproduct of installing a telecentre in the rural village of N’ko. The local hand-printed newspaper has now been digitized, and at the click of a button it can be printed off 1000 times. Visit UNESCO’s website to read more: Mali CMC Makes N’Ko Newspaper’s Circulation Soar

Sikasso and Segou regional medical use the internet to provide better health services.
A telemedicine centre was installed in Segou and Sikasso, regional capitals of Mali, to improve the ability of these medical centres to both communicate and provide quality medical information. These systems are also being used for “tele-radiology”, where these centres can scan an x-ray, then transmit it to specialists in Europe or the United States for a second opinion.
This is an initiative of IKON technologies, read more at REO-reduction:http://www.reoafrique.com/article.php3?id_article=111