Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!slxsys!ibmpcug!daven
From: daven@ibmpcug.UUCP (David Newman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Computer to Africa (LONG)
Keywords: IBM
Message-ID: <11199@ibmpcug.UUCP>
Date: 12 Aug 89 20:50:12 GMT
Organization: The IBM PC User Group, UK.
Lines: 101

David Drucker asked about taking an IBM PS/2 30 to Zimbabwe.

I have used various microcomputers in Mozambique for 2 years and Kenya for
4 years. Some friends were recently running a course in Zimbabwe in which
they used PCs. They are on holiday now, so here are some general comments
until they get back. I assume that your student will be working in a big city
like Harare - there are additional considerations in the field.

1. Do you really need a desktop machine? I found that I could use laptops on
more occasions in Kenya than I do in London - if only because you cannot
assume there will be a computer in the office you are visiting, so it pays to
take your own machine along if you want to demonstrate work or enter data.

2. In Kenya there were, several times a week, short power outages of a few
seconds or minutes -hardly annoying for most things, but enough to bring down
a computer without any batery backup. Such backup is built into many laptops -
for desktop machines, many people had either uninteruptible power supplies, or
simple inverters connected to a local secondhand car battery, with a trickle
charger connected from the mains to the battery. A servo-based voltage
stabiliser I used in Kenya did not protect against long outages, but had enough
inertia and inductance to protect against one or two second power failures. The
filter I tried against power spikes was not that useful - enough got through
to reset my Sinclair QL, but without damaging it. I understand that Zimbabwe
has a better electricity supply (at least in Harare) than Kenya - it should
be easy to find out from the people your student will be working with.

3. Zimbabwe uses a 230/240V 50 Hz electricity supply. If your system can
work at 220V, it will work at 240 - but if you need to buy a transformer, buy
a stepdown from 240V, not from 220V. The graphics cards in IBMs generate 60 Hz
signals independantly of the mains - so all monitors designed for IBM PCs
should work at any mains frequency, with the possible exception of modified
TV monitors. That's one thing you should be able to find out from IBM. If they
cannot tell you locally, give IBM UK a ring. Personally, I would use an LCD
screen on a laptop!

4. Given power (and other) problems, your student will have to keep thorough
backups. There are good hardware repair facilities in Zimbabwe, but you still
want to keep your data. That means taking along a lot of disks, since disk
prices will be higher there than in the US (although not to the same extent
as in Kenya, where any computer imports are subject to duty and sales tax of
160%).

5. Expect higher temperatures, more dust in the dry season, more humidity in
the wet season (unless your student is lucky enough to be working in a
building with air conditioning which doesn't break down. So take a floppy disk
cleaner, and make duplicate (archived) backups. I found floppies failed more
often in Kenya than in England. If your desktop PC doesn't have a fan, fit one
(unless it was designed to work at high temperature and humidity - many
European machines are designed more conservatively, using components well
below their maximum power ratings). Then remember to open up the machine and
clean out the dust every so often.

5. It is essential to get hold of Zimbabwe's temporary import regulations
(pity my friends are on holiday, they know). You will at least need to get
a form stamped on the way in (at least two copies, they keep one), to show
that you imported the machine on the way out. In some countries you will have
to leave a bond - usually a bank guarantee - to cover the duty in case you
sell the machine there. Of course, you may wish to sell the machine there,
to finance the student's expenses. Then you usually don't want to get a form
stamped, or at least make it so vague that you can go out with a broken down
old PET on the same form. A third alternative is to donate the machine to a
local institution. They can then arrange the import documentation, if there
are concessions for gifts and donations (there are none in Kenya).

6. You don't mention printers. If your student will be working somewhere with
several printers, then fine. But what if he has to write a report before
leaving, and the one printer has broken down? There are plenty of printers in
Zimbabwe, but taking along a small Diconix 150 printer (and an inkjet cartridge
for every week) would be good insurance. Make sure that any software he uses
can print on different paper sizes, like A4 - the USA and Canada are different
to the rest of the world on this.

7. Will other people be using his computer, or typing in data for your student?
If so, I would have comments on the suitability of different software. A lot of
software assumes someone is already familiar with computers, calculators,
electrical and mechanical devices from an early age. I am becoming more and
more convinced that computer software should become more intelligent so that
ordinary people in the Third World (and the First) can use it, rather than
requiring the people to have extensive training to think like a computer. You
should see the problems when people in an NGO try to use Microstat. And, of
course, don't use copy protected software - it's not easy to get new key disks
or dongles out there. If you have to, I found that software houses who use
copy protection will often supply unprotected versions to academics working in
countries where the companies have no hope of getting convertible currency for
any sales (most of Africa, that is).

8. There is a magazine called Computers in Africa (Africa File Ltd., 21 Mill
Lane, London NW6 1NT, Tel. 01-794 5308. Telex: 933524. Email: GEO2:AFRICA-FILE)
Vol. 3 No. 4 (July/August 1989 will have a country survey on Zimbabwe.

If anyone needs more information, Email me. If I can give a quick answer I
will, but if it would take a lot of work (like checking specific regulations
and climate) it would become a consultancy job.

Dr. D. R. Newman, Consultants in Appropriate Technology, 188 (2A) Bedford Hill,
LONDON SW12 9HL, England. Tel. 01-675 5933. JANET: D.R.Newman@kingston.ac.uk
Usenet: daven@ibmpcug.co.uk  Econet/Peacenet/WEB/Greennet: gn:davenewman
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