I went back to Lefaga today to work on the SPA grant that former volunteer Kelliann had setup to bring computers to the school.

In case you don't recall, there is no phone at the school, so there is no way to get in touch with the principal (pule) to set up a meeting. You just have to go and hope for the best. I went the first time right before Easter and found the school completely deserted.

THE COMPUTER ROOM AT LEFAGA

Today there were people at the school, a definite improvement, but the pule was unavailable. He was in a meeting with the pules of Samoa College, Lefifi College & Vaipouli College, three of the best secondary schools in the country. There was no chance to even drag him out of the meeting for 5 minutes.

Instead I talked to Pulu, a teacher at the school. Fortunately, he's the teacher that knows the most about the computers. He's even taken a few classes at NUS, National University of Samoa.

Here's what he told me. There were 4 computers at the school originally, but one of them was fried when Kelliann tried to plug the CPU straight into the wall without a transformer. Of the three remaining, only one is really usable because the monitors are on the blink.

I don't know what state the PCs were in when they arrived, donated by some juice company in Florida, but they looked in bad shape now. I couldn't even turn them on to check because the transformer that the school uses belongs to one of the teachers and she likes to take it home from time, rendering the computers useless. Also, the computers are in an un-airconditioned room, with the windows always open, right near the sea. A recipe for disaster.

A SPA grant (Small Project Assistance) calls for the receiving party to put up 10% of the amount of the grant. This can be cash or in-kind, like providing services. According to the grant documentation left to me by Kelliann before she left Samoa, Lefaga Junior Secondary school was supposed to put chicken wire on the windows and provide a new hinge lock for security. They were supposed to have the room cleaned by the students. And they were supposed to make covers for the computers. As far as I can tell, only the room cleaning had taken place. There was something around that looked like it might be a cover, but the computers were not covered.

I made an arrangement with the pule, the messenger services of Pulu, to return next Tuesday at the same time. This will give me some time to pick up the equipment outlined in the SPA grant, a printer, fans, floppy disks, bookshelves, extension cords, etc. It should also give the pule some time to figure out how is going to use my services, if at all.