Working with the Lungujja Women's Association

Chloe Puett, KITE Communication Director

In the "over-developed world" (which is what we here at KITE prefer to the terms "developed" and "first world"), there is a tendency for new technologies to become obsolete almost before they hit the market. It never ceases to amaze me that so many businesses throw out computers that still have the capacity to do good work. Taking what may be of little value to local markets and turning it into a machine that can make a significant difference in people's lives is KITE's mission. We outfit our computer packages with non-proprietary software, that can be copied or changed by anybody who wants to use it, and is available free of charge throughout the world.

Our technical volunteers were excited by the creative opportunity afforded by the non-standardized configuration and developed the LWA's system with special attention and care. "I can proudly say that two evenings I spent working on this volunteer project can hopefully bring a ray of sunshine to someone remotely in Africa," said Ray Zheng, a tech volunteer and member of our Tech Advisory Board. Through this and other KITE projects Ray and his tech volunteer colleagues are able to put their specific skills in a context of global social change. Customizing the configuration to the needs of a group who didn't have extensive computer experience brought Ray to think about computer accessibility in a more fundamental way. "This wouldn't turn out to be the first time I set up a Linux server with a GUI (Graphic User Interface), but it did become one of those cases where I actually cared how it looked. The big idea here is that members of the LWA will be using the Linux box for the first time. Having them staring at an unintuitive screen is a recipe for uneasiness, rejection, and disaster." Our status as a new nonprofit, with not much restrictive red tape, meant that we could maintain flexibility with the LWA project. We searched around to find the most efficient and user-friendly system, taking their specific needs into account. The result is a computer comparable to what some of KITE's staff use!

As KITE's first International Partner, the LWA Chair Florence Mulumba Kaddu are an inspiration. Their work towards women's financial empowerment at a grassroots level fits with KITE's criteria to provide computer aid to social change groups in developing countries. A computer will help them to enhance their existing community development work. Communicating with Florence has been a pleasure; she is willing and able to maneuver around the different obstacles that can come up in attempting a transcontinental custom computer configuration.

KITE looks forward to a continuing dialogue with Florence from the LWA and Dorothy from WOUGNET via our Community Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB is designed to ensure that KITE remains accountable to the organizations it serves. As members of our CAB, they will provide crucial feedback on our current and future International Partner selections, as well as continually educate us on topics that are important in their homelands but may not be widely known in the United States. We will share this information with our constituencies both in the USA and abroad. Since the goal of KITE is to support the work of international groups such as the Lungujja Women's Association, their input is invaluable as we proceed to work with other groups.

For more information on KITE's work with the LWA: http://www.kiteinc.org/Projects

Contact person:

Chloe Puett
KITE Communication Director
Email: kite_inc@yahoo.com
Web: http://www.kiteinc.org

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Last update: April-25, 2002