Nerds Without Borders

Hello everyone,

This trip is the inaugural mission trip of Nerds Without Borders (why should the Doctors have all the fun?) and it has been going extremely well. We have had several great, but full days with the computer lab. Other than the fact that I killed one of our surge protectors by plugging it into the 220V wall outlet (DOH!) and we had one mouse stop working, everything is going smoothly.

Yesterday we had a great (and humbling) presentation by the Mwandi Basic School to thank us for bringing the lab. The presentation included drums, dancing and a great speech by the PTA chairman which Jon already posted. WOW! One year ago, if you would have told me that I would be sitting in a village in Zambia getting to experience a very heart-felt thanks from the teachers, students and PTA because we brough COMPUTERS there, I would have called you crazy. God's plans are HUGE and wonderful. Thank you to all who donated to and worked on the computer lab -- especially Dave Randall, Ed Carpenter and Cleon Kimberling. That thanks is for you as well. Fortunately Brian captured video and still photos of the event for you to see when we return.

The "nerds" (students/leaders) on our team are also surprising because they're not nerds by trade, but they're doing a great job teaching the Mwandi School teachers how to use their new laptops. Brian captured some great photos of Emily teaching a 60+ year-old teacher how to use a computer (I think he's working on posting it tonight). Every single student on our team has mentioned how much fun it has been and how receptive the teachers are to their instruction. The students are doing a great job -- the teachers are learning and having fun.

I've been working one-on-one with Oliver, who will be the computer lab administrator when we leave Mwandi. We've spent 8 hours together now, with another 8 to go before next Tuesday. He has been catching on fast. Oliver has learned all of the building blocks required to set up the lab except for connecting the printer. We've taken detailed notes for him to use. Next time we meet he is going to start with everything disconnected/de-configured and get the entire lab running on his own.

it's funny that there are piles of junky computers all over the computer room. I doubt they have even been turned on. I also found a book that came with them containing "Easy" step-by-step instructions on how to use them. This trip is so exciting because we have been teaching people here using practical "lab" assignments that Cindy and I have worked to create. I'm so glad Cindy is on this trip to help given the fact that she is an ex-nerd by trade and has been a HUGE help in creating the computer lab modules. We are doing this trip right -- by being here we have been good stewards of the money God has given us for this.

Here are the things the teachers have already learned or will learn in our 4 classes with them:
1. turning on the computers, using a mouse, typing
2. creating a simple word document
3. creating a simple power point presentation about themselves (with a photo). Our team is going to do the same and we're going to swap information so we can keep faces with names.
4. simple arithmetic in Excel and using Excel to track student grades.
5. In our next class the students will create a network folder for themselves, learn to use the printer/scanner and play around with the digital camera, play CD/DVD, etc.

I cannot describe how AWESOME this experience has been. It has been fun watching the whole team get behind the computer instruction. It has been fun to see how EXCITED the school is to have a modern computer lab. I wish I could describe this better, but all I can say is that God is definitely with us and this is definitely the Holy Spirit's "Power Trip" I thought it would be.

Thank you for your prayers. They are working.
Ben