On loan to PACTEC
Posted by marshall Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:00:00 GMT
Most of the people who actually check this blog from time to time already know that I'm spending a month in Indonesia doing tsunami relief work with PACTEC. But for those who don't, here's the brief intro. PACTEC, the humanitarian arm of MAF, has set up two Internet cafes in heavily damaged areas of Sumatra: one in Meulaboh, and one in Banda Aceh. The Internet cafes exist to provide e-mail and web access for other NGOs working in these two disaster areas. Each has a dedicated broadband connection via VSAT. The project is sponsored by Air Serv, and has been very well received by relief workers, who have repeatedly said they've never had anything like it.
I'm assisting in the Banda Aceh cafe for about a month. I have a 30-day visa-on-arrival, which includes the day I arrive and the day I leave. I've been trying to keep notes about the trip, but haven't had the time to formulate coherent blog postings from them until today (April 3rd), so I'm posting a bunch of stuff all at once now. I've dated the posts roughly when I originally wrote the notes.
For some really good reading of another person's experience in the Internet cafes (albeit the one in Meulaboh, which is quite different from the Banda Aceh one), check out the archives of David Hoffman's blog for the months of January and February.
