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On My Way To Africa

I left Boise a couple hours ago, heading to Lesotho for two weeks. If you're like a lot of folks, you probably haven't heard of The Kingdom of Lesotho, a small, mountainous country completely surrounded by South Africa. I've been planning this trip for a couple months, but now that I'm on my way, I'll start posting to this blog.

I'm toting along quite a bit of baggage, but when you consider what I've got, it's amazing. A C-band VSAT system with a 20-watt transmitter that can be used for broadband Internet connectivity just about anywhere in the world.

There are several goals for this trip, all of them revolving around VSAT communications. You might remember that in late November I was planning a trip to Bangladesh with the GATR deployable satcom system, and that in the end I didn't go. This trip to Lesotho is to do some real-world testing with the GATR on C-band, a frequency that is not commonly used in North America for VSAT, but is the ticket for using VSAT in the tropics. The C-band frequency is not affected by heavy rainfall, so is very suitable for many of the locations MAF would use this technology for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response. I'm proud to be working with GATR Technologies and their unique deployable satellite communications system.

Second, I'm going to assist with a VSAT installer course that is being put on by DRASTIC, and will be held at the MAF hanger in the capitol city, Maseru. The MAF Lesotho program will be installing ten VSAT systems for Internet communications at Partners In Health clinics in the mountains. PIH provides much needed health care for the needy people of Lesotho, a country with a very high rate of HIV infection and drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Next, I'm going to assist Traig, the MAF IT guy in Lesotho, as he installs the first VSAT system at a clinic in Nohana. That will be the second week, as the installer class will take place the first week. I'm really looking forward to working with Traig, and am excited to be able to help with the install.

Last, I'm looking forward to getting to know the MAF staff who work in Lesotho. Having worked in Ecuador, and now the HQ in Nampa, I've never met most of them. As the Field Communication Services guy at HQ, I'm the person who the field IT staff contact when they need support from HQ.

Posted by David at February 21, 2008 04:02 PM