Dear Kennedy Odhiambo,

Joy Tang and I chatted today about your work in Kisumu for One Village
Foundation. I am sad to hear that your new office and equipment were
destroyed by fire during the recent turmoil.
http://blog.onevillage.tv/wp/?p=555 Our Minciu Sodas laboratory is also
active in Kenya, especially now as we mobilize ourselves to help.

Joy encourages us to work together. I am writing to invite you to join
our Minciu Sodas laboratory's working group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/backtotheroot/ led by Jeff Buderer who you
know from One Village. Send a blank message to
backtotheroot-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Please write to us about your
values (do you have a deepest value in life?) and your current priorities.

Joy is working to send wireless routers to Kisumu and asked me if they
might be useful. Joy is active in the movement for open source wireless
routers. I think perhaps they might be useful for Ricardo and Samwel's
work in Rusinga Island and Mbita, but I'm not sure. (Ricardo, what do
you think? Joy works at http://www.accton.com but here she is working
with a grassroots initiative for open source routers) We haven't yet
any plans for Internet access in Kisumu. But I do note Tom Ochuka's
+254 725 678 641 work there with the deaf and as a peacemaker. I
encourage you to talk and meet. We are actively building a "Pyramid of
Peace" http://www.pyramidofpeace.net and he can explain, too, and he
should be very interested in the community center you are organizing.
Perhaps the deaf might play a key role?

I share our chat.

Andrius Kulikauskas, Minciu Sodas, http://www.ms.lt, ms@...

----------------------------------------------------------

Joy: Hi, Andrius,
Andrius: Hi JOy
Joy: Hi, how are you?
Andrius: Working hard to help Kenyans with our Pyramid of Peace
http://www.pyramidofpeace.net
... Looking for a corporate sponsor.
... How are you?
Joy: i am fine. working hard as well from the quiet side.
Andrius: How is Henry Migingo?
Joy: the diagram - hard to read.
Andrius: yes click on it
Joy: yes, did that
... got it
Andrius: and click again
Joy: thanks
Andrius: yes
Joy: is there a need for a communication networks?
... is the process taking place on the virtual site?
... or are they focused on a specific city / site?
Andrius: we have a network of people reaching out to many hotspots in Kenya
... http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HelpKenyans
... so we're doing best on-the-ground, for example, engaging the
Kalenjin fighters
Joy: ok
Andrius: with text messages, sending them mobile phone air time, peace
meetings
... we can do much more but it would be very helpful
... to have for example corporate sponsors for key people in the pyramid
... such as myself
... as if we were athletes
Joy: do you think some more meshed routers would help in this process?
Andrius: for example, $5,000 per month
Joy: you are in the pyramid
Andrius: so that I could focus on raising and distributing money.
... Yes I am at the top.
Joy: you are in the heart of it
Andrius: Yes
... and then I work with Dennis Kimambo and Kennedy Owino and it fans out
... We've been covered by Public Radio International
Joy: great!
Andrius: and by some prominent bloggers.
... Thanks.
... So imagine a logo next to my name on the Pyramid
Joy: answer my question from earlier: do you think some more meshed
routers would help in this process?
Andrius: We don't any use any now that I'm aware of
... so I don't know
... what they do or who would use them.
Joy: you mentioned the hotspots -
Andrius: Yes these are places where people's housed are being burned down
... and some peope are being killed by tribal / youth / gang / militia
violence.
Joy: hotspots = burned down houses?
Andrius: I mean places where there is the most intense violence and turmoil.
... This is where we are directing our network
... we are sending cell phone airtime to people who participate in our
network and agree to publicly post their telephones and reach out
further for dialogue with troublemakers
... people can share cell phone airtime and they can also barter it for
food, medicine, transport
... and so we are able to work with people who are very isolated.
... That's why our work has been reported.
... So it's possible that $5,000 per month could be a very
... inexpensive way to get favorable attention and good will from a network
... http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?HelpKenyans
... here are the locations and the phone numbers
... and here are the links to people who have blogged us
... http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?KenyanCorrespondents
Joy: very good work and way of using ICT in addressing such urgent issue
Andrius: Thank you! and yes we've been very timely and adapted very quickly
... the priorities change every 2 days or so.
Joy: are you working w/ any Kenyan telecom service provider on this?
Andrius: Also, in January so far we have been receiving 60 letters per
day and more than 100 people have written letters, plus we have wiki and
chat
... http://www.ms.lt/news.php?start=200801
... No, but we're making use of the service http://www.mamamikes.com
Joy: i am checking that.
... and you listed 2
Andrius: yes I use mamamikes
Joy: digesting -
... I am locating some wireless meshed routers - if this would help, let
me know.
... open source based, modifiable,
Andrius: This would be for a wireless network, yes?
Joy: it would enable the extension of the communication networks,
Andrius: We are setting up an Internet access point at Rusinga Island
... where Samwel Kongere is (he's recovering from a sudden illness)
... Ricardo from the UK has provided some funding
... and perhaps the routers would be a great help.
... May I share our chat with him?
... Or with our group?
Joy: Kennedy from Kisumu (OVF lead there) reported back about the
situation there and we discussed about what would help the most, he
mentioned the relief needs and one of them is a communication center and
he is working w/ bunch of volunteers for the 'save kenya' effort -
Andrius: what is his last name?
Joy: that is why i want to know if this kind of the devices would be
helpful to the Pyramid of Peace effort
... Kennedy Odhiambo - he has been working w/ Seduan refugee peace
relief ongoing - and just set up a small site ready to engage more with
the work and then the burning of the city...
Andrius: How might we work together?
Joy: Samwel Kongere - i hope he is OK...
Andrius: He is in Mbita, yes?
... Samwel is getting better, he started eating and talking today
... for two weeks he had only milk and water
Joy: no - Kennedy has been in Kimusus and Nairobi
Andrius: because of sores in his mouth
Joy: aand Sudan
Andrius: where is the center?
... Kisumu, yes?
Joy: y
Andrius: Do you think he would be interested?
[...]
... Tom Ochuka is in Kisumu, he works with the deaf
... would it be possible to use some routers in Rusinga Island?
Joy: Kennedy Odhiambo has been working w/ Peace resolution for Sedanese
refugee camp and he wants to do something along the lline we had
engaged... we have not able to do much due to resources.
Andrius: Sudanese?
Joy: yes
... sorry -
Andrius: in Kenya?
Joy: no in Sudan,
Andrius: in Kisumu?
... oh
... would Kennedy like to work with our network?
... do you think?
... we can engage him
Joy: Kenya relief effort for the refugee issues that are also in their life
Andrius: and invite him to any of our groups
... I can write to him if you give me his email address
... and how might you like us to work togetehr?
Joy: that would be great. I can only imagine the scale of work that
needs to be done,
Andrius: ok
... so I will write him
Joy: i was going to send the routers to Kennedy if his volunteering
effort could be helped by it,
Andrius: ok
Joy: I am trying to get the routers through the network,
... and thought about your effort and want to know if this would be
helpful also, that is the purpose of the contact for today
... http://blog.onevillage.tv/wp/?p=555
Andrius: I am sad to hear of your loss in your office
Joy: see the bottom of it,
... me too - ...
... REMEDIES

... # 3
... i really think you are engaging in a very powerful way
Andrius: thank you, Joy
Joy: i don't have a specific idea on the network itself,
Andrius: ok well we'll try to work with Kennedy and just see what
happens naturally
... maybe he can meet with Tom Ochuka in Kisumu
... What is Kennedy's email?
Joy: I think that would be a first start -
... infokenya@...
Andrius: May I share our chat? [...]
Joy: Rusinga Islan - where is that in relation to Kisumu?
[...]
Andrius: Rusinga Island is in Lake Victoria
Joy: ok.
... so what's going on there?
Andrius: Samwel lives there
... and the island is next to Mbita Point
Joy: ok
Andrius: they are connected by something like a sand bar
Joy: sand bar
... ok
Andrius: and Samwel now leads a center in Mbita
... with about 15+ computers
... and training 3,000 women in ICT and entrepreneurship
... in 3 years
... and Ricardo is funding his work
... to create an Internet access network
... so perhaps the wireless routers would be much needed, I don't know
... also that might fit with our work to make good use of the Includer
http:///www.includer.org for offline work to read and write letters
Joy: i am thinking of the relief work for the Kenyan communities,
Andrius: on a USB flash drive
... different projects have different time scales
... so of immediate value would be something like the corporate
sponsorship which I mentioned
... but over the next several months the routers might be useful
Joy: i want to address the Kisumu relief response center if there is
such thing
Andrius: Tom Ochuka is active there
... especially with the deaf
Joy: good - let's focus on that for now.
Andrius: but also with interethnic relationsh
Joy: as this is a trial rotuers that i am helping producing,
Andrius: he needs a digital camera
... what is the total value of the routers do you think?
Joy: digital camera - we should include that to the urgent response ICT
communication kit of somesore
... some sort
Andrius: really what we need now
... is to start building the Includers http://www.includer.org
Joy: total value - depends on how the meshed network would be llike,
Andrius: because we have people in the field
... who need to be able to write reports
... and send them
... here's an example
... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistichelping/message/1920
... Emmanuel Were writes about a peace meeting
... but at the end complains that the Internet access is very slow
... and difficult
Joy: l
... k
Andrius: so he would benefit from a device
... that would let him read and write offline
Joy: i think it is up to the uplink speed,
Andrius: and then just send his stuff out and download the new stuff
Joy: the device is another issue
Andrius: Our device lets people work offline.
Joy: o
... ok
Andrius: And that's much needed now.
... Then the Internet speed doesn't matter much.
... Also, you could set up a network between several such devices.
... So they could be sending emails to each other locally.
Joy: the flash drive discussion you had - yes - i acknowledge it.
Andrius: That would be very valuable in the troubled areas.
... We could link such devices to local wireless
... connecting the countryside with the city for example
... or a refugee camp with the city
... and then somebody in the city
Joy: so the open source router addresses the need of the local wireless,
Andrius: could transfer the information to the acutal Internet
... yes!
... for local emails
... that can then be transferred further.
... A network of local stations for email.
... The market opportunity is huge.
... Because a billion people are in this situation.
... and within a month we could have something useful on the ground
... perhaps sooner
... certainly for reading emails
... we are starting to look at digital picture frames.
... that already exist.
... So what would be truly useful would be: A) corporate sponsorship for
myself and other leaders in the Pyramid for say 3 months B)
collaboration to focus on getting such devices out and C) collaboration
to get local wireless to work.
... For $30,000 we could do a lot.
... in 3 months.
... that would have on the ground impact and open a business opportunity
and build enormous good will
Joy: they are all great points.
... on C) collaboration to get local wireless to work - for Kisumu
relief work - let's put Tom and Kennedy together first.
... I am getting the confirmation on the router allocation -
... so I want to check in w/ you about this - to see if sending the
rotuers would do any good for the releif situation,
... or the buying airtime would make more sense...
... the routers are also from grassroot effort - not from corporations,
Andrius: It's all who you are
... my rule of thumb is...
... donations from total strangers
... are best given to me and then we send them out through the pyramid
... as far as we can to strangers
... who need to be engaged.
... donations from people we know (like you)
... go to supporting relationhips
... that will have long term meaning (like in Kisumu)
... donations from corporations would be best for
... key people like me and our leaders
... because we're not taking anything from
... the other donations.
... So best would I think in your case here
... to do a project like you say in Kisumu
... and so a mix would be useful
... some routers plus some airtime
... donations from people who want to work on their own projects or have
their own relationships
... can of course go directly to those people and project
... we try to encourage and facilitate taht
... by having people publicly post their phone number and participate openly
Joy: ok. that is clear.
Andrius: do you get any of our mails now?
Joy: from MS? yes.
Andrius: which group is best for you?
... or Back To The Root?
Joy: that would be fine.
Andrius: ok and I will CC Mendenyo to
... ok good night!
... anything else?
Joy: I am contacting you to idenfity if you would need the routers for
the Kenya relief situation as I am in the process of finding the
possibilities to help set up a communication center in Kisumu to support
Kennedy Odhiambo.
... and what he volunteers to do in the community...
... It would be great if Tom and Kennedy could connect.
... I will update you further once I have more news about the routers.
Andrius: I will write and learn from Ricardo.
... Good night.