Project: InterConnection Uganda

It’s already Monday, and no computers have reached InterConnection Uganda. The CFU team is getting nervous. How can they install 10 labs now? Time is running out.

We spent the day making minor preparations.

Or rather, watching with our fingers crossed as the carpenter put up the foam-covered boards to block the very intense sound coming from the metal shop next door.

Yeah…um, kids, don’t try this at home.

In the late afternoon Johnorable finally arrives with two customs agents. The container is finally on it’s way to ICU. It should be here by five.

5:00pm rolls around and the container is still not here. Johnorable nervously makes another phone call.

But everything is okay, the container is just stuck in traffic.

And then, we see the most beautiful sight coming just around the corner…

It’s here! It’s here!

But there is just one problem. How do you get a massive container on a massively old and decrepit truck to drop a container in front of a warehouse door?

Answer: very carefully.

You saw that coming, didn’t you?

Obstacle number one:

Old broken down matatu in the corner. Get ready for a tight turn.

Obstacle number two:

A tent.

And our worst nightmare:

Are those wheels airborne?!

John: “Those wheels are not very stable.”

Fredrik: “I don’t think a forklift will help here.”

Well, yes, not only is the container completely tilted, but everything inside is not quite…

…in order.

I guess it was quite a bumpy ride from Mombasa…

We spent the next three hours unloading the computers, monitors, and accessories piece by piece off of the container. As we moved farther back, things were a little more in tact. But there was most definitely a clear problem in the method used to pack these pallets.

But after all of what these computers had been through, only a handful out of the 400+ were damaged beyond repair. And in the end, there was definitely a lesson learned in all of this. Really…don’t pack lightly.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 10:47 pm and is filed under Challenges, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.