Hey I met Idi Amin or his twin brother acting as the principal of the Obombo Secondary school

Yeah it was so weird because I've been working on setting up a Computer Resource Center for the students, staff and whoever in Kanyawegi. Well we're going to set it up in the Obombo Secondary school as it has electricity. Apparently the computers that were given to community were taken there before but later returned to John's house (but since John lives in Vancouver his sister and her kids live in it). It seems that there was a bit of a problem and the principal (Idi Amin) was not happy with the way things were handled and he was given no respect (his words not mine). So one of the KASOW executvie committee members (Loyce who's a teacher at another school and very helpful lady) went to talk to Idi first. She seemed to iron things out as he said we could use a room in the sohool but not one of the offices as before. So I went on my own to intoduce myself and talk to him. He's a bigger guy with a shaved head and wore a brown short sleeve shirt and matching pants. I had recently saw the movie "Last King of Scotland" and thought this guy looks like Idi. He has this secretary or recptionist man who seems to jump when Idi barks out an order. But basically once we started talking he's a nice guy. He showed me the room that will be used as the Computer Resource Center. It's been built to be acomputer lab and he wants to have a whiteboard to project pictures on it. It also has a number or plug ins around on the 4 walls so some planning went into it. Unfortuantly he said it has no chairs (a necessity to us but maybe a luxury for the school) but it does have a table. So using the desktops may be a challenge to stand and train others. The one laptop that we have can be used on the floor or table. There is also another laptop that was left behind in the school after the computer evacuation. It appears possession is 9 /10 of ownership or whatever that saying is. Because one of the bright young student or staff member has been using it. So rather than causing another uprising and with my best diplomatic front I told him well maybe they could continue using it, but we'll see later on! The computer classroom has the trademark cast iron door and cast iron bars on the glass less windows. The door has a real funky locking mechanism that you have to reach in and up to stick in the key. It's a mechanism that could be sold to Fort Knox. He wants the computer room safe so no one can borrow the computers without permission. I've worked with the computers to get them working and trust me if it was back home with no door I don't think anyone would take them. Let's say the computers (except maybe the laptop) were picked up in a garage sale. There are 7 CPU's and 2 monitors left which I had to check out and get working. The CPU's have switches on the back to change the power from 110 to 250 voltage. Well it seemed that 3 of them were plugged in without changing the switch. So the Power supply got fried. Then another one has no switch to change the voltage. What it has is a male and female plug to plug the power cord. The 100 voltage connector is a female plug that has to be used. The 250 plug connector needs a male plug. All the cords that are in the bag are from home and have a male plug for the wall and a female plug for the connection to the CPU. So I have to shop around for a Male and male plug to try out the computer. Another computer has the csing that seems broken and falls off. The power supply and switch seem to work. So I was thinking if I use my greatest computer technican ability I can maybe take the power supply from that computer and swap it into one that was fried. Another computer seems to power on OK but the Windows Xp has to be acitivated to work. We don't have internet in the village to connect to and I'm not taking it to town to do. In fact I don't plan to try it at all. I may re-intall windows later. However as luck would have it I have one computer and monitor that work and the keyboard and mouse all work as one. Yippy! There was another computer it which seemed the OS mouse or keyboard weren't recognized. So I used the serial mouse that was there and it worked. But I needed a keyboard with an USB connection. I went to town and a OS to USB adapter cost 1500 shillings ($25) so I was going to pass on it. But when I visited Idi Amin I found out there was also a keyboard left in the evacuation. I checked it out and it was a USB keyboard. So I got the second computer to work and saved 1500 shillings. So we have 2 desktops, 1 laptop (another that the school is using) plus they have another desktop locked away that I haven't checked out. So the Computer Resource Center may open next week. First Loyce and mywelf have to meet with Idi Amin to get everything finalized. What I'd like to get is someone from his staff to be the administrator of the computer rersouce center (too belittling for Idi to do). Maybe I can get the bright young guy who's using the 2nd laptop to do it. There's a security guy at the front gate 24/7 to check in all outsiders. So I will go into help start the training starting with Idi or his nose will be out of joint. Then I want to train some of the teachers. Then start with the students and outsiders. I would like to have the people I train to train others so I won't have to be there constantly. When I say train it will be pretty basic stuff like loggoing on, how the folder/file structure works in My Computer, basic use of word. how to do edit, copying, moving, deleting,renaming etc of folders and file. Then the same with how to create and change a word document. I've bought them a 512 Kb Flash Disk for their use so they can transport documents to town to print or move from computer to computer. They don't have a printer and some would like to have hardcopies. I may take some of the advanced students to town to show them how to use the interet. The internet computers have a menu which only allows internet and office so they don't view Windows but there's a way wwhich most don't use. But at least hey will have the basic use of a computer. I've spent the last couple dsys working on a Computer Guide to explain how to use a computer in the basic sense.
I've worked in the computer field for longer than most people have lived so I've written a few documents as User guides etc. However sitting in this small house with cows and chickens mooing and crowing outside I sat to write a user manual. Where do I begin? I decided to write 2 documents. I created a Dictionary of computer terms ie what's a keyboard and what the keys do, mouse and how its used, cursor, mouse arrow/pointer, desktop, laptop, etc. Then I wrote up an user guide starting from what to switch on and wait for the hourglass to disappear to start using the computer. There's a lot of basic stuff that we take for granted but is new to them.When I was writing it yesterday it was a holiday (Moi day after the second president of Kenya who absconded with billions and he's reported to be the richest guy in Africa according to the world renoun book on history Lonely Planet). So I had a few school kids hanging over my shoulder trying to read and asking me questions, but mostly getting in thw way. They are good kids but I didn't have time to explain to them on how to use the computer. They'll have to attend Basic Computer 101 by Professor Tom! So I did screen prints of the screens showing before clicking on say File and what is shown after like New, Old, Save, Save As etc and what each does. I then had to explain how the Folder structure works. I didn't have time to proof read it but after reading some of their text books and stuff, maybe my messy language maybe more understanding to them then someone with the correct gammar. But I'll explain that this guide is a work in progress. So anyway I'm here today to print out the UserManual and next week it'll be at the publisher to be sent Kenya wide, well would you believe in the school So stay tuned on how my training goes.