Bundles

The Internet is an amazing thing. In our rural backwater in Kenya it is an unbelievably amazing thing. The pace of progress in mobile communications in Kenya (and, I believe a good chunk of the rest of Africa) is quite incredible.  Last year I had to opt for the slow connection option on my Googlemail account to get any messages to display within an acceptable amount of time. This visit there is not that much difference in performance from home on fairly basic applications like email. As an internationally joined up organisation it is, obviously, vital that we have up to the minute communications systems.

This is a fairly roundabout way of saying that you very quickly get used to Internet access and come to rely on it for a number of things – communication, news, light relief and the feeling that you aren’t actually in a fairly off the beaten track location. It is, therefore, very frustrating when there is an interruption to the usually good service.

I have had a really good evening doing some more work with our young leaders team. The three of them are becoming increasingly open to sharing about their dreams, strengths and weaknesses and I really think we are getting somewhere. Once we had finished (about 9.15 p.m.) I thought “time to do the blog and email Judi” only to discover that THERE WAS NO INTERNET. At least not on my usual network.

This led to opting for Plan B – the other network which, at least last year, was very patchy. The majority of Internet users like me in Kenya plug a modem device with a phone SIM in it to access the service. It’s cheaper to buy a pre-paid bundle of a fixed number of Megabytes than to use the gadget like a phone. The only problem is this network seems to be very difficult to top up online. This may be a by-product of the way I installed the little modem on my computer but it’s getting a bit late to mess about with starting the installation all over again. Solution to the problem (plan C). Put the SIM card in a phone. Top up by text messages (chosen from a not very intuitive menu system) then put SIM card back in modem and plug back into computer. Somewhat long winded but it worked. I now have a backup Internet connection and have learnt a little bit more about the idiosyncrasies of the Internet in Kenya.

You can’t beat a good wrestle with technology to test your patience. I really admire the ability of people in Kenya to get the most out of mobile communications. The various Internet cafes and mobile phone services that are available look like they are held together with the electronic equivalent of string but they frequently stay up and meet an increasing demand for connectivity. As a Westerner I guess I am as addicted to the Internet as the next person. It’s a far cry from the first missionaries experience and sometimes feels like a bit of a cop out. I wonder how Stanley and Livingstone’s relationship would have worked out if they’d both been on Facebook.