Technology in Zambia

When Andrea and I first thought about working with orphans we were super excited. Since Andrea is professionally trained to handle a roomful of children, I was pretty sure her professional skills would be fully utilized. My skills as an electrical engineer who works with computers... not so much. But, God works in mysterious ways and when I told EOH that I could help out with computers, they were super excited and got me Super excited. I could actually use my 30 years of nerdiness for the Kingdom of God ;-).

I first had a short chat with Paul before we left to see what the situation was like in Zambia. He mentioned the computers were old and just needed to be replaced and that the electricity wasn't good. So I went on a mission to collect computers. Through a ton of people who donated their old computer equipment I was able to assemble and test

4 desktops
3 LCDs
1 UPS
2 Routers
an external harddrive
an all in one photo printer
Some extra harddrives
A variety of different cables

Now getting all this stuff to zambia was going to be a trouble. After a TON of packing and repacking and more repacking at the airport, we were able to fit mostly everything (we had to throw away a keyboard at the airport) by actually fitting a desktop in our carryon luggage. In fact, we had so much stuff, i had to stuff clothes in the pockets of our jackets just so we could fit everything. It was pretty funny and i think the airline personnel felt sorry for us.

When we finally arrived in Zambia, we told the Zambian staff of all their new computer equipment and this was their reaction.


The Zambian staff was so excited about the computer equipment that they wanted me to start installing it right away which I was all too willing to do. I quickly found out that technology in Zambia is inaccessible, expensive, and temperamental. For example, internet access at the office is probably using EDGE technology (think internet on an old cell phone) for $80 a month. So it is roughly 2-3 times the cost of what internet is in the US for 1/10 the speed and not always available.

Also, the power in Zambia ain't so great either. Brown outs and black outs are not uncommon and causes desktops to just shut off. I don't know if you guys can tell but I took a video of a light bulb. If you can see, it is dimming in and out which shows power instability. Any computer connected to the power would just shut off - Not so great for office productivity.



Viruses are prevalent in Zambia as well, but because internet is not really available, most virus are from USB sticks and so most common anti-virus software which are made for developed countries which focus on internet/email based viruses are not as effective.

Thankfully, God provides just we need. To solve the lack of power, God had provided a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) which I had brought over. It is basically like a big battery that stores up charge when the power is good and provides power if the electricity ever faulters. It doesn't supply power for hours, but at least gives 10-15 minutes of extra power and enough time for a computer user to save their work and print it out if necessary.

For the viruses, God provided a helpful neighbor. We are currently staying at a bible college where our neighbor, Jon, is a long term missionary who used to work at microsoft as a salesmen. Though he didn't come over to do computer work, because he had a lot of knowledge of computers, all the Zambians go to him for their IT needs. So we chatted and he provided all the antivirus software we needed and some useful advise. Ironically, the best anti-virus software is from Microsoft.... go figure ;-)

And for the slow internet, God provides me with patience ;-) Actually, the lack of internet is really such a game changer. Not only does it prevent the distribution of useful software, but it prevents the transfer of knowledge and an easy way for people to learn. In fact, most website are so full of flash ads, its hard to load a single page sometimes. Its something i probably take for granted a lot since fast, reliable interent is so ubiquitous in the states
Do you want to know the symptoms of malaria, go online.
Do you want to know how to fix a computer bug, go online.

That is one of the reasons there are a limited number of people who actually know how to maintain and debug computers and partly why the EOH office was not in the best of state. But one of the Zambian Staff, Humphrey, has been really eager to learn everything I'm doing and has been shadowing me as I install the new computers and fix some of the old computers. Hopefully, in between serving the orphans, I'll be able to train Humphrey to handle most of the computer needs for the office.


Its funny, during my first week in Zambia I have spent more time with computers than with the kids and I'm greatful God gave me a professional skill and passion that ended up being useful to the EOH ministry. Just like a lot of things in my life, skills I never thought would be used for ministry purposes are fully utilized for His Kingdom.