Koiibri: Reflections and Frustrations (7/15 bonus blog)

With my time running short, there are a couple of sentiments I have towards what will make this project actually work: having the right resources and someone passionate about Kolibri (beyond the crucial flaws of Kolibri in itself).

When it comes to resources there are three main things that we don’t have at the office that makes Kolibri impossible to continue after me: USB keyboards, USB mice, and external monitors (or at least adapters). Without keyboards or mice, there’s no way to actually interact with the Raspberry Pi. Without external monitors, or adapters to make laptops external monitors, there’s no way to see what’s even happening on the Raspberry Pi to set it up in the first place. Beyond the fact that we don’t have enough power plugs for the routers or microSD cards for the Raspberry Pis, these crucial peripherals for the Raspberry Pis, it’s impossible to ever set up anything. 

Had I know ahead of time that those resources weren’t going to be here, I would’ve stopped at the local thrift store and picked up a bunch of cheap peripherals. Perhaps it was my lack of insight and realization of the difference of resources between American and Tanzania, but I thought if the education department has WiFi, it’s going to obviously have keyboards and mice. Little did I know that all we use here is laptops and nothing else! Hindsight is always 20/20!

I’m not blaming anyone as I know that with my first month here in Tanzania I didn’t take full advantage of my time nor did I pester the Vinton’s to bring me back stuff I discovered I needed when it came to progressing Kolibri. I pushed it aside and focused on Math Club instead. However, we were technically unsuccessful in achieving that goal as we didn’t meet the deadline nor produce content that was 100% good enough to push to all 19,000 students of VST.

When it comes to a person behind Kolibri, there doesn’t seem to be anyone that sees the potential or applicability of Kolibri. In other words, no one here seems to be passionate about this project like Jonathan or I. From the very beginning, we’ve been told to make sure our projects are sustainable, and at least for me, my project is as unsustainable as it gets. Perhaps I did a bad job explaining Kolibri at the beginning or the computer knowledge is so out of reach it doesn’t seem possible without me here, but there’s no one to hand off the project to in order to keep developing it. 

As I began to actually apply Kolibri out here I discovered the fatal flaws of the program and how it doesn’t work entirely well out here. The big downfall comes from how content is uploaded. Everything that needs to be put on a Kolibri server must be uploaded to and designed through Kolibri Studio. This requires the internet. Once the content has been created, it must be downloaded onto the Raspberry Pi server via the internet (annoying and is a ton of work) or through another extremely cumbersome way (again annoying and a ton of work). This is all to say that the idea of Kolibri sounds wonderful in one’s mind: offline computer learning anywhere in the world (as long as there’s power). But when put into application in Tanzania where the internet is horribly slow and the ability to use computers fluently is low, Kolibri simply doesn’t work effectively. To put this program into perspective, figuring out problems, fixing them, and developing this project has pushed my technological abilities and I’ve been using computers my entire life!

Not to seem like a defeatist, but it seems like Kolibri is ahead of its applicability in Tanzania. The general computer knowledge or vision to see success in this program is not there yet. The general resources needed to make this project work simply don’t exist well enough here yet. I mean the WiFi at the education department for the entirety of VST is mind-boggling slow. I am unsure why VST doesn’t invest the resources to make this incredibly imperative tool better,

Taking on this project solo with so many unknowns that I frustratingly didn’t find out until I arrived in Tanzania made this entire project overwhelming and seem fruitless. Maybe I’m planting seeds in fertile ground I don’t see, but it feels like I came out here and did not accomplish much. I spent time before coming to Tanzania on this project and have worked so hard while I am here for this project. I’ll try my best to not make this project crash when I leave, but I feel like the moment I get on that bus to Dar Es Salaam, the countless hours I spent making guides and teaching are all going to waste. 

To add, the Kolibri Project is not my only responsibility too. I’m also responsible for developing and leading VST’s Google Classroom Upskilling Project that focuses on making sure teachers understand what their teaching is and are aligned with VST’s teaching goals. I’ve hardly been able to even dig into that project as that’s an entire beast in itself. 

At the end of the day, I was given two goals to accomplish when I came out here (and a third when I got here with Math Club, but that’s a beast of the past); deploy Kolibri and Google Classroom successfully. As of now, I do not see myself completing either to the extent that I want to. Maybe if I had the full time, I could’ve finished both of my projects, but then I wouldn’t have had all of the fun I did during the first month.

It’s hard not to see the purpose of my trip out here to be my project, but that’s what it was for months. I told everyone, “I’m going to Tanzania this summer to make offline LAN servers to give kids the opportunity to learn without the internet!”, not “I’m going to Tanzania to make friends”. I am not sure if I’ve bettered a single student’s education, but I’ve made a lot of great friendships. Of course when I went through training, my purpose was realigned to prioritize relationships, but the feeling of my project being my purpose still lingers. 

By VST’s standards, I’ve succeeded by making friends and giving Kolibri/Google Classroom a foundation to start off, but it feels bad to not fully succeed. On a positive note, God has shown me so much about myself and how to lead and develop a project. I thank Him for the experience that he’s given me and everything I’ve learned. I pray that in the coming days, how I’m feeling right now can be shifted to something more positive and that at the very least, inspire someone to want to continue this project if it’s worthwhile for the organization. Yet, as I sit here on July 15th, with less than 13 days left of my adventure in Tanzania left, I feel defeated.