Chris Ward 05-26-04

‘Opening’ a World of Possibilities

Billions of people around the world have never seen a computer in their entire lives, and might not ever see one. Nonetheless, computers are likely to have major effects on everyone’s lives directly or indirectly. As the world turns day by day, humans become increasingly more dependent on the interconnected global network of computers and the software the drives them. In turn, we become dependent on the creators who provide us with the computer technology, and those creators have the power to control those who cannot afford the resources required for investing in technological research and development.

Developing nations such as Ghana in West Africa are struggling to maintain government order, to achieve greater economic development, and, most vitally, to develop functional, literate, and self-reliant citizens. The Ghanaian government lacks the financial capital; a proper organizational framework; and the human capital it takes to meet basic sustenance needs, in addition to not having the resources available to invest in research and development to maintain balance in global economic power. Until these needs are meet, Ghanaians will be forced to yield to the proprietors’ ‘invisible hand’ unless, however, they recognize the benefits of using Free Software/Open Source Software/and Open Standards (FOSS) as a complementary tool in their pursuit of progress.

In this research paper, I present my findings on the potential of FOSS to alleviate many hardships in establishing a modern government structure, stimulating the local economy, and developing literacy in developing countries such as Ghana. I do not suppose FOSS will be the developing world’s ‘savior’ by any means, but if the environment is right, it can provide more benefits than any proprietary technology such as Microsoft could ever hope to offer.

Free Software/Open Source Software/Open Standards (FOSS): What it means to be FOSS.
The Open Source Definition says that all software programs distributed under an FOSS license must meet at least the following criteria:

* Free Distribution: The license may not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software…The license may not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
* Source Code: The program must include source code [instructions that tell the computer how to operate]…without charge via the Internet [at least].
* Derived Works: The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
…
* No Discrimination Against Persons Or Groups:
* No Discrimination Against Fields Of Endeavor: The license must not restrict from making use in…for example, …in business, or from being used for genetic research.
* Distributing Of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
* License Must Not Contaminate other Software: The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium [EG. CD, zip file, et cetera] must be open source software.
* Examples Licenses: The GNU GPL [http://www.gnu.org], BSD [http://www.bsd.org], X Consortium [http://www.x.org] [and others]. (Open Sources, Appendix B)

Free Software, Open Source Software and Open Standards (FOSS): Recipe Analogy

FOSS can best be understood with an analogy of a cooking recipe and computer source code (adptd. from ‘The Code’).

When you cook something, you follow a recipe of some sort; you always follow a logical set of steps. Similarly, when a computer runs a program, it follows instructions provided by a human. Those instructions are also known as computer ‘source code.’ A software program’s source code can be thought of as being an elegant and logical mix of poetry and algebra that gives instructions to the computer to create what ultimately results in the output of an interactive computer program.

While cooking, if at some point you ever want to make a certain recipe differently than what the original calls for, no one can stop you from adjusting any aspect of the recipe. Modifying recipes is even encouraged. Say for example, you cook a recipe for friends, and they really enjoy it. If they ask you for a copy of the recipe instructions, no one can stop you from making an exact duplicate of the original recipe, or of the modified recipe if it has been changed, and no one can stop you from then distributing it freely to your friend or anyone else. Once you have distributed it, the receiver can also modify, duplicate and distribute the recipe however they choose.

This exchange process is very widely accepted and is why we have so many amazing recipes to choose from in the world. We have been developing an archive of recipes that do not expire and do not become obsolete when the original developer passes on or decides they no longer like to cook by the original recipe and so throws it out. Recipes are, in a sense, released into the public domain indefinitely, similarly to FOSS programs’ source codes.

Imagine for a minute, if you will, what the world would be like if everyone who develops a recipe made the instructions unreadable and placed the recipe under strict copyright protection laws. The proprietor could charge everyone for every copy of the recipe that is used. They could also require you to purchase an additional set of special tools that are needed to read the unreadable, copy-written recipe so that you are able to cook from the recipe. If you ever want to make any changes to the recipe, you would have to pay the developer again for them to implement any changes to the instructions because they own the original readable recipe copies and are the only ones who have access to them, and thus are also the only ones who can modify them. Again, let suppose your friend comes for dinner and wants to know the recipe for the meal. You must say no this time, or otherwise risk getting sued for copying and redistributing it illegally. If handling recipes happened like this in all cases, our lives would be subject to many risks and frustrating constraints.

For example, we would likely become dependent on food monopolies. We could be sued for developing any recipes that looks, smells or tastes like the proprietors. We would never be able to know exactly what ingredients and processes were used in the recipe. The proprietors could harass all ‘hackers’ who broke the copyright laws to distribute illegal copies of the recipes. Those who could not afford to pay for the recipe and could not develop their own original, unique recipe from scratch would unfortunately and needlessly starve. And our selection of recipes would diminish and food culture would disappear.

I now welcome you to the analogous world of proprietary software, closed source software, and intellectual property rights.

Many millions of people believe that the freedom to share recipes is a fundamental human right. Many millions of software developers, community and institution leaders, activists, software consumers and technology advocates in general think that software should preserve the same freedoms that recipes have indefinitely. This, in essence, is exactly what FOSS has provided for us.

FOSS: The benefits for Use in Developing Countries (e.g. Ghana)

Here are a few of the major benefits that result when a developing country such as Ghana chooses to use FOSS.
Using FOSS can save money because the total cost to use can be much less than that of proprietary software. Most often, FOSS software is provided for free and the others expenses that arise come from maintaining the software, which is necessary for both OSS and proprietary.

The Open Society Institute (OSI) say that FOSS “relies on common standards, a belief in the value of transparency, and the idea that creating software is based on continuous progress and change, rather than centrally-administered control.” (Tuszynski) Universal “encouragement of open standards and protocols, and software freedom [,]” (ibid.) and anti-discrimination, as well the promotion of diffusion of knowledge, trust, and creativity are side-effects that occur when FOSS gathers a ‘critical mass’ of local consumers and developers.

OSI goes on to give an example of how FOSS enables infinite localization of software in areas such as language and accessibility. For example, Mozilla, Netscape’s open source Web browser “has now been translated into more than 180 languages [,]” (ibid.) and that number is increasing steadily. This enables non-native English speakers to now consume and develop software in their own native languages, which was before hindered by the overwhelming dependency on the English language.

Finally, national security can be greatly improved by using FOSS, because the government and other agencies have access to the original source code that they use to run programs where using proprietary software could otherwise pose as a great risk to national security it could potentially contain critical bugs or ‘spy-ware’ (software that unknowingly to the user, is monitoring their activities) without the agency ever having the change to
reliably correct the problems or even for them to know that the problem even exists until it is too late.

Ghana: The major problems, generalized

In the US Governments most recent edition of Ghana: A Country Study, it is said that since 1972 alone, three democracies and three military-run governments in Ghana have failed. Each democratic government diminished for its own particular, and rather complex reasons, but nonetheless, they can be generalized by addressing only a few major issues. What will follow is a very brief history of the problems facing the Ghanaian government over the past thirty years or so and the problems the current democratic government still faces today.

The first issue that needs to be addressed is that the ruling parties of the previous governments had way too much power. For example, the dominating parties repeatedly abused their powers and contradicted the fundamental democratic principles by using force, terror, and imprisonment to eradicate all their political opponents. They also used their position to modify the constitution to fit their agendas. The democratic process was thus undermined, and the people’s security, freedom, and voice were repeatedly taken from them.

The next major issue is that of government overspending, which has wrought horrendous debt upon the Ghanaian people and to this day they are still struggling to pay it off. While the ruling parties managed to overspend millions and millions of dollars, they spent little on developing the vital functions of the nation like internal government efficiency and accountability, education, and small business and agricultural sustainability.

Finally, the government simply needs to be more efficient. For example, simple court cases, such as when one gets caught stealing–but could not bribe the officer into oversight–take upward of a year or more to proceed through the court legal systems because everything is done by hand, many redundancies exist, and information is not easily accessible. The major cause of this is that the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) systems are less the adequate. (LaVerle)

Ghana and FOSS: Bridging the ‘digital divide’

Now, the question is: How can Ghana’s present democratic government use FOSS to bring relief of its ills? By itself, it cannot. In doing research on how FOSS could be used in developing countries like Ghana to bring economic freedom to the impoverished people of the world, I realized that the problem does not lie in the widening gap of technological development and consumption. It lies more so in the hands of the government itself and in the strength and good will of its citizens. Unfortunately, such as has repeatedly happened in Ghana, without effective checks and balances in place, the government has had the power to silence the voice of the people. If the government does not begin to hold itself accountable to the people, the likelihood of history repeating itself seems very high, no matter what technologies are being used. However, as is evidenced by the enormous amount of empirical data from success in other developing countries like Brazil, Peru, South Africa and China, when FOSS is implemented into the constructs of government institutions along side progressive reform, an enormous number of positive effects flow out to the people with improved government accountability, efficiency, security, capital savings, new jobs, and all sorts of iterative potentials begin to take shape such as the ability to make amazing low cost, high quality improvements to education and health systems. All of these are essential issues developing countries must address if they want to counter disruptive over-centralization and ultimately tackle serious problems like poverty, illness, and starvation.

Interestingly enough, the current democratic government established in Ghana has already begun the process of evaluating the pros and cons of using FOSS. In studying their research results, it is easy to see that they have a great interest in the benefits that FOSS can bring to Ghana if implemented properly. They see it as having great effects on needed government efficiency and accountability, economic development, and education reform and improvements. They also realize, and emphasize throughout their studies, that these three components are interlinked and are all equally important issues that need to be addressed concurrently in their pursuit of sustainable development. Ghana recognizes the importance of looking at the big picture, and realizes the importance that integrating ICT’s into society has on making progress sustainable. I take the following quote from the words of Ghana’s Ministry of Communications at the World Summit on Information Society. “As part of developing its information society and economy Ghana is committed to the process of development, deployment and exploitation of ICTs within its society and economy to achieve the nation’s broad based development goals and within this context will be exploiting the developmental potential of ICTs as a Social-Enabler in the areas of Education, Health, Poverty-Reduction, Income-Distribution [.]” (qtd. In GMC)

If a nation chooses to implement FOSS, a demand for Information Communication Technology (ICT) development will be created, and valuable entrepreneurial opportunities will arise from this that could be exploited by locals. Thus more jobs and capital will be made available within Ghana, of which a large portion will stay within the local economy. If FOSS is used effectively in any institution, (government, education, business, etc.) it will maximize collaboration as well as open exchange of information. Open Standards makes universal information exchange possible and broadens accessibility to the important information made available. The growing amount of interest in ICT will spark investors’ interest in education reform and in upgrading and expanding existing facilities to meet the growing demand for specialized ICT experts. Without a local source of experts who can train and support FOSS, its’ benefits will otherwise quickly wither away. A change of focus in education curricula to cover science and technology in-depth is being adopted in Ghana, but only as a supplement to an emphasis that will be made to meet all the fundamental needs of education such as basic literacy and math skills. Once the education and FOSS seed’s has been planted, and the government is more efficient, local ICT research and development efforts in Ghana will eventually mature the country’s ICT capabilities to a state where they can export homegrown ICT innovations more than they require importing it. Effectively, FOSS holds potential for Ghana that will bridge the expanding ‘digital divide’ of the developed and developing countries without sacrificing their independence, freedom and self-sustainability.

FOSS and Ghana: Government, Education, and Economic Development

To clarify how FOSS can be used in Ghana, I will explore some of the existing and future planned projects that help out in increasing government efficiency and its accountability to the people, and the advantages of using FOSS in education and business environments over other proprietary software alternatives.

Government: Gains in efficiency and accountability
Everyone knows that when computer technologies are properly implemented into any large institutions such as government agencies, they inherently bring huge speed and efficiency gains. This is proven by their huge success and expansion all over the world. On the same hand, everyone knows that in order to implement existing proprietary computer technology into an institution, a lot of money will be spent in purchasing the hardware, software, training, and in the provision of support and maintenance over the computer systems lifetime. In Ghana, the amount of money that is required for modern proprietary computer technology and support simply does not exist. This capital insufficiency is one of the most common reasons for there being so much hype in Ghana over FOSS. Using FOSS allows for exponential amounts of cost savings over using proprietary software.

First off, FOSS enables consumers to effectively make use of the very inexpensive and widely available hardware that is considered ‘obsolete’ to the developed world’s consumers. FOSS, unlike modern versions of Microsoft and other proprietary products, run more than adequately on much older computer systems. Many old refurbished systems available today can be purchased as complete packages, with all necessary computer hardware and a monitor for less than one hundred dollars from organizations like Computer Aid International. More information can be found at www.computer-aid.org.

Secondly, FOSS has no licensing fees. This means that when Ghana decides to purchase computer systems and use FOSS, they can use as many copies of all FOSS programs on as many computers as the need for free. Where as if they choose to use a proprietary alternative, they would generally be required to purchase individual licenses, or acquire bulk licenses for every computer they plan to use the software on. When we start talking about numbers of computers that are used in large organizations, we generally see numbers in the ranges of ten to fifty thousand desktop computers. As we do the math and add in the licensing fee for ever proprietary software program that is required to be purchased for every individual computer the software is to be used on, we begin to see to a great extent just exactly what impact FOSS has on cost-savings. For example, although I have not found an estimated saving for using
FOSS in Ghana specifically, I have found that its’ close neighbors in South Africa have estimated that they are saving over three hundred million US dollars annually now that they have switched to using FOSS. (Reijswoud) This gives the organization much more flexibility with its’ budget, and allows them to focus their resources into other important areas that would otherwise need to have spending cutbacks.

Another issue using FOSS addresses in government organizations is that of maintaining accountability and increasing participation in government activities. In Ghana, the government has begun to address these two issues by using FOSS to give free and universal access to government documents, research studies and their findings, policy information, election dates, and more. The major portal for this information is found on the Internet at www.ghana.gov.gh. The Ghanaian government boasts their successful E-government pilot project and is very excited that it is run using FOSS components only.

Finally, any organization that uses computer applications, which depend on the security and stability of the software such as a government institution, can benefit greatly from using FOSS because the code is widely accessible. The fact that FOSS is ‘open source’ so that everyone can see exactly how the application was made might seem contradictory to the idea of security, but this is not true in the least. Some proprietary software vendors actually add components into applications call spy-ware that hide in the background and monitor the activities of the user. This is a huge threat to national security that exists on with closed source software.

With FOSS, even if someone tries to hide something in the code, such as a piece of spy-ware, someone, somewhere, will find it and quickly announce the problem to the entire world. Also, insecure code and critical bugs in FOSS applications have a significantly greater chance to be fixed over closed source applications because the source code is open to the view of millions. Unlike proprietary vendors, who, when they find a bug, just cross their fingers and hope that no one else notices it and they keep quite as possible about it so that no one exploits it. Sometimes, some proprietary software vendors do not ever attempt to fix certain bugs because they have newer products that have their attention. For example, Microsoft Windows 98 bugs will never be fixed because all the focus is on their latest operating system Windows XP.

The security of FOSS development model has proven to be strong so far by the fact that there are an extremely small number of viruses’ that exist to exploit serious bugs in FOSS applications. Again, this is because when a bug is posted on the one of thousands of FOSS bug-crushing Internet forums, a patch, or fix is usually posted by someone and is freely available for download within only a few days.

Ghana: Economic Development
A couple of major things that using FOSS does to encourage economic development are that it increases the efficiency and security of existing organization at a minimal cost, and that it provides many new entrepreneurial opportunities.
We just saw how much money one large organization—namely the government—can save, as well the gains in efficiency and security that come from using FOSS. Now just image if FOSS was applied across all the areas of business; the benefits that come from patience and commitment to FOSS would quickly outweigh the efforts it takes to train and implement the transition to becoming a modern technological society.

The concrete examples of FOSS applications that businesses are using today are widely varied. One very good example of a FOSS application used in small and large businesses is called WebErp. WebErp’s homepage, www.web-erp.sourceforge.net says its accounting software “comes fully equipped with all the attachments required to process multi-currency accounts receivable, multi-location inventory, multi-currency accounts payable, as well as bank accounts and general accounting.” WebErp appears to be scalable, simple, well documented, secure, remotely accessible, and free of charge, and all you need to run it is a FOSS Linux compatible operating system and a web browser.

So I do not bore the reader with the practically inexhaustible list of available FOSS applications that are used regularly in business environments, consult www.linuxgazette.com/node/view/386 for a very extensive and up-to-date listing of hundreds of FOSS applications and their proprietary alternatives.

The other thing that using FOSS does in terms of economic development is that it opens up a new market niche for Ghanaians. If the government, businesses and education facilities begin to use FOSS, there will be a huge demand for custom, local software development and also for support and training. At first, all of these demands will be meet through importing the needed services. This is how the majority of demand is being meet today, and is how the proprietary vendors want to keep it. But, in time, if the environment is right, as proprietary software is replaced with FOSS to meet the local economy’s needs, the consumers will become knowledgeable enough to develop the software locally to meet the demand; then the dependency on importing will inevitably become profits from exporting.

Ghana: Education

Recently, in a presentation at a forum in Ghana about the opportunities “to critically analyze the options for adoption of FOSS in Ghana,” (qtd. in SchoolNetAfrica) Gudio Sohne, a FOSS programmer and organizer of the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSA) “captured it all when he remarked ‘successful economic development is linked to the national capacity to absorb, disseminate and apply technology.’” (ibid.) The way for this capacity to be met and maintained is through universal education of the nations’ citizens by having literacy and problem solving skills, mathematical understanding and more. Without proper education, progress is just not possible.

This vital issue is being addressed in Ghana right now and has been for over five years. In 1999, a “paper on the education sector for the national network of coordinating group, as input to the comprehensive development framework” (CDF) for education reform, introduces us to the efforts being made in Ghana’s education sector by saying the following. ”Education plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of societies. It is the gateway to knowledge and understanding and consequently, the key to social and economic empowerment.” (ibid.) The paper then goes on to say that The Ministry of Education’s adopted vision for reform is “intended to make Ghana a middle income country by the year 2020” (ibid.) by being ”committed to the production of a functionally literate and productive population. This commitment seeks to make the educational system and its products responsive to changing industrial demands and socio-cultural conditions. The Ministry therefore envisages the production of a vibrant and active citizenry able to cope with modern trends in science and technology so as to enhance productivity and consequently the earning power of the labor force. It is also envisaged that the production of a literate population would generate a tolerant political culture conducive to the sustenance of peace and democracy.” (ibid.) Their mission is stated in short as being “determined to provide relevant education to all Ghanaians irrespective of gender, ethnic, religious and political affiliations.” (ibid.)

One of the biggest challenges that the Ghanaian government faces in achieving their mission is lack of capital. What a coincidence it is that FOSS can bring so much relief when investment capital is low. Because I have already made it clear how FOSS can be used in any situation where capital is scarce, it is unnecessary to explain how FOSS can meet the improvement needs of Ghana’s education institutions at a low cost. Instead, I will give some information on specific projects being administered in schools all over in Ghana and in South Africa, and the needs they meet besides being able to bring technology into the schools cheaply.

One amazing project is called the Open Source School Management System (OSSMS). It was developed by an organization from South Africa that develops education projects in FOSS called The Shuttleworth Foundation (TSF). More information can be found at http://tsf.org.za. TSF says that OSSMS is a “sophisticated OSS software designed to help sustainably manage learners, staff, assessment and report-cards, timetabling, textbooks and other resources, learner attendance, extra-curricular activities, statistical reporting, auditing and more.” (TSF) This makes operating schools much more efficient, gives the staff and faculty more flexibility to focus on developing meaningful curricula, and because it is practically free to use, the capital saved can be invested into other areas such as purchasing new text books, raising staff and faculty pay, and maintaining and upgrading the education facility.

Another project is an African initiative to bring local translation packages to major open source applications. The organization is called Translate.org.za, and can be found at that web address respectively. This gives all students, no matter what their native language is a chance at being able to learn from using the computers; whether they know English or not.

Learn.co.za is another very interesting education project in Africa. Their website,
www.learn.co.za says they are an “open source provider of free online education resources, localized to African needs.” They develop curriculum for basic math and science courses and provide it all for free to local schools.
Finally, Direqlearn.net offers a compote package of localized FOSS software for African schools. Their site claims “over 200 schools have it in use. They also offer consulting services, low-cost PCs, as well as alternative (off-grid) ways to be connected to the Internet.”

This is only a short list of all the projects in Africa that are using FOSS to improve education. A lot of time, and dedicated work and energy went into creating these very amazing projects, and gives me hope that FOSS can truly help the Ministry of Education in Ghana achieve its mission to provide “basic education to all” and “to ensure that all citizens are functionally literate and self-reliant.” (CDF)

Conclusion

For progress to occur, Ghana must continue to stress the importance of basic education for all, better spending policies, decentralization, and the importance of small local businesses in developing a sustainable economy.

Even though FOSS is not a ‘savior’ and could never lead any country, especially a country with such a spotted history like Ghana’s to finding democratic freedom, economic sustainability, or universal education, by itself, it has the potential to bring more benefits that than any proprietary software vendor could ever hope to provide. FOSS empowers local citizenry to be active in the democratic process, it provides many new job opportunities, and most importantly, it allows the education system (as well as many others) to have access to valuable computer technology without having to sacrifice scarce resources which could be better spent in other areas of improvement.

Bibliography — Works Cited

“Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF)” Ministry Of Education.
November 1999. 15 May 2004.

Ghanaian Ministry of Communications (GMC). “Draft Committee at the World Summit
on Information Society.” 15 May 2004.

“Ghanaian Stakeholders meet to discuss OSS” SchoolNetAfrica. 15 May 2004.

LaVerle, Berry. Ghana: A Country Study. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-
Publication Data. Washington DC. 1995.

Marshall, Wayne. “Algorithms in Africa.” LinuxJournal.com. 1 June 2004. 15 May 2004.

Open Source Software Group. “Using Open Source Software in the South African
Government.” South Africa: Government IT Officers Council. 2002.
15 May 2004.

“Open Source School Management System (OSSMS)” The Shuttle Foundation.
15 May 2004.

Parens, Bruce. “The Open Source Definition, Version 1.0” OPEN SOURCES.
O’reilly and Associates, Inc. 1999.

Szyliowicz, Joseph S, ed. Technology and International Affairs.
New York: Praeger Publishers. 1981.

The Code. Dir. Hannu Puttonen. Perf. Linux Torvalds, Richard Stallman, et al.
Movie File, 2001, Peer-To-Peer File Share.

Tuszynski, Marek. “Open Source” Information Program. 15 May 2004.

Reijswoud, Victor van, Corrado Topi. “Alternative Routes in the Digital World”
15 May 2004.

Posted by drpooville_Admin as Linux / Open Source, College Of The Atlantic at 9:41 AM PDT

1 Comment »

Free Software, Open Source Software and Open Standards (FOSS): Recipe Analogy

Free Software, Open Source Software and Open Standards (FOSS) can all best be understood in the context of an analogy of a cooking recipe computer source code.
When you cook something, you follow a recipe of some sort; whether implicitly or explicitly from a written source is not the point here. When a computer runs a program, it follows instructions provided as source code. A computers source code can be though as being an elegant and logical mix of poetry and algebra.
If you want to make a certain dish differently than the original recipe calls for, no one can stop you from adjusting any aspect of the recipe you so desire. It is even encouraged. Say you cook the recipe for a friend and they really enjoy it, so they ask you for a copy of the recipe instructions. Again, no one can stop you from making an exact duplicate of the original recipe source (or of the modified recipe if it has been changed at all) and distributing it freely to anyone. Once you have distributed it, the receiver has all the same rights to modify, duplicate and distribute the recipe however they choose.
This exchanges process is very widely accepted and is probably why we have so many amazing recipes to choose from in the world. We have been building a collective knowledge bank (better wording…) of recipes that do not expire and do not become obsolete when the original developer passes on or decides they no longer like to cook by the original recipe and throw it out. Recipes are in a sense released into the public domain, similarly to FOSS.
Imagine for a minute, if you will, what the world would be like if everyone who develops a recipe made the instructions unreadable, and placed the recipe under strict copyright protection laws. The proprietor could charge everyone for every copy of the recipe. Using the recipe required an additional purchase of some special tools to read the encrypted recipe and make the meal for you. If you ever want to make any changes to it, you will have to pay the developer again for them to implement any changes to the instructions because they own them and are the only ones who have access to them, and thus are the only ones who can modify it. Then, your friend comes for dinner again and wants to know the recipe for the meal. This time you must say no, or otherwise risk getting sued for copying and redistributing it illegally. If handling recipes happened like this in all cases, our lives would be subject to many risks and frustrating constraints.
For example, we would likely become dependent on food monopolies. We could be sued for developing any recipes that look, smell or taste like the proprietors. We would never be able to know exactly what ingredients and processes were used in the recipe. Our selection of recipes would diminish. Food culture would disappear. The proprietors would harass anyone who was a possible ‘hacker’ who broke the copyright laws and distributed illegal copies of the recipes. Those who could not afford to pay for the recipe and can not develop their own original, unique recipe from scratch would unfortunately, needlessly starve. I welcome you to the world of proprietary software, closed source software, and intellectual property rights.
Back to reality, although recipes that are not created for commercial products like M&M, Coca Cola, McDonalds, et cetera, are in fact under the same or similar restrictions I noted above, most recipes, fortunately, are not. For as long as we have been writing recipe instructions down on paper, they have been freely modifiable, copyable and redistributable. As well, fortunately, the copyright laws for recipes are not so strict that anyone has ever had to worry about being sued for making a recipe that turns out to be an exact replica of a proprietary, so long as the product is marketed to the public as being completely different.
Many millions of people believe this to be a fundamental right and feel their freedoms would be compromised otherwise. Equally, and where FOSS fits in to all of this, many millions of software developers, community leaders, activists, software consumers and technology advocates in general think that software should be provided in such a manner that the same freedoms the recipes have are preserved indefinitely.

Summary Of FOSS: What it means to be FOSS and the benefits of using FOSS.

To quickly iterate what the major principles of FOSS, all software programs distributed under an FOSS license must meet at least the following criteria:
“* Free Distribution: The license may not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software…The license may not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
* Source Code: The program must include source code…without charge via the Internet [at least].
* Derived Works: The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
…
* No Discrimination Against Persons Or Groups: [self explanatory]
* No Discrimination Against Fields Of Endeavor: The license must not restrict from making use in…for example, …in business, or from being used from genetic research.
* Distributing Of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
* License Must Not Contaminate other Software: The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium [EG. CD, zip files, et cetera] must be open source software.
* Examples Licenses: The GNU GPL [http://www.gnu.org], BSD [http://find website….], X Consortium [http://find website…..] [and more…]. “ (Open Sources, Appendix B)

Now I will name just a few of the benefits that can be found when one chooses to use FOSS; some of which I will go into much more detail a little later. Using FOSS saves money because the total use cost is much less than that of proprietary software. (Cite data to prove this) Thus encouraging a power structure breakdown of wealth hierarchal structures that keeps all the power at the top by making technical progress equally affordable to everyone. By providing technical support services, maintenance services, and, or custom software development FOSS can actually return profits when used strategically. Because FOSS “relies on common standards, a belief in the value of transparency, and the idea that creating software is based on continuous progress and change, rather than centrally-administered control,” (find source…Benefits of Open Source) a side-effect that occurs is a universal “encouragement of open standards and protocols, and software freedom [,]” (ibid.) as well the promotion of diffusion of knowledge. Local communities can use FOSS developer and consumer communities online as great examples of how they should collaborate together to getting things accomplished with minimal friction. FOSS enables indefinite localization of software in areas such as language and accessibility. For example, Mozilla, Netscape’s open source Web browser “has now been translated into more than 180 languages [,]” and counting. This is a huge step in bridging the ‘digital divide’ forming between the developed and developing countries. Now, people who could not previously work with the dominating English language a chance to develop in their own native languages. Or to give another example, customized version of FOSS programs can have integrated screen reading built in to give blind people access to the program. Finally, national security can be greatly improved by using FOSS because the government and other agencies have access to the original source code that they use to run programs that pose great security risk if unauthorized access is permitted. This is an example of the alternative choice one could make to use proprietary software provided to the agencies that could potentially contain critical bugs or spy-ware without the consumer ever knowing they were there and without the ability to ever reliably correct the mistakes.

Using FOSS in Ghana: The major problems and how FOSS can help.

Now, the question is: How can Ghana’s present democratic government use FOSS to bring relief of past ills? I will start by saying, by itself, it cannot. In doing research on how FOSS could be used in developing countries like Ghana to bring economic freedom to the impoverished people of the world, I realized that the problem does not lie in the widening gap of technological development and consummation. It lies more so in the hands of the government itself and in the strength and good will of its’ citizens. Unfortunately, such as has repeatedly happened in Ghana, without effective checks and balances in place, the government has the power to silence the people’s will temporarily. Though, as has also occurred time and time again in Ghana, the silence cannot be maintained forever. If the government does not begin to hold itself accountable to the people, the likelihood of history repeating itself again seems very high, no matter what technology they are using. However, as is evidenced by the enormous amount of empirical data from success in other developing countries like Brazil, Peru, South Africa, China, and many others, when FOSS is implemented into the constructs of government institutions, an enormous number of positive effects
flow from within that improve their accountability, efficiency, security, capital savings, new jobs, and all sorts of iterative potentials such as amazing low cost, high quality improvements to education and health systems. All of which are essential issues developing countries must address seriously if they want to ultimately tackle the serious problems of poverty, illness, and hunger.

Since 1972, there have been three failed democracies and three failed military run governments in place. Every time the military governments overtook the democracy, it was for good reason. No matter what though, the people again and again insisted to try to succeed in democracy. Each democratic government diminished for their particular, and rather complex reasons, but nonetheless, I feel they can be generalized by addressing only a few major issues. What will follow is a very brief history of the problems facing the Ghanaian government over the past thirty years and still face today. The first issue that needs to be addressed is that the ruling parties of the previous governments had way too much power. So much so, that the democratic institutions could easily be confused with the military ones. For example, the dominating parties repeatedly abused their powers and contradicted the fundamental democratic principles by using force, terror and imprisonment to eradicate all their political opponents. As well, they used their position to modify the constitution to fit their agendas. The democratic process was thus undermined, and the people’s security, freedom, and voice were taken from them all at once, but they never gave up. The next major issue was that of government overspending, which Ghanaians to this day are struggling to pay off. The ruling parties managed to overspend millions and millions of dollars, but hardly any went to the vital functions of the nation like education, health, or agricultural sustainability. Finally, the government simply needs to be more efficient. In the past, the government has been very set in its’ ways, to say the least. For example, simple court cases, such as when one gets caught stealing–but could not bribe the officer to let you go–the whole case procedure could take upward of a year or more. A cause of this is that the communication systems have been less the adequate. This is because the geographical location of Ghana makes it very difficult to stretch power lines across the county, but also because they lacked the investment capital due to the irresponsible spending of the past government’s, as noted above. (Ghana, A Country Study)

Posted by drpooville_Admin as Linux / Open Source, College Of The Atlantic at 11:50 PM PDT

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So, where have i been, eh? Why has it been weeks since i have really blogged anything off my mind?

Well, let me first start off by saying, i am a busy man. :-) And end by saying, damn….i already said it.

Week 7 (of 10) just ended on Friday for me, and we have only 3 weeks left. 2 really, counting that the last week is really the ‘everything’s due’ week and i won’t exactly have that week to work on stuff….but maybe a day or two to buff out my final project’s last little (hopefully little) kinks for perfection…or how ever close i can get to it anyway.

In my Writing seminar class i have am working on a research paper that has to be atleast (give a page or less) 10 pages long on a topic of my choice. I first choose to research using Open Source technology in third world nations as a tool for promoting freedome and prosperity. With a focus on women’s importance and stablization of the fumbling economy of Ghana, and how open source technology could reprive them of their depressed place in society and through entrepreneurial efforts, give them a chance to be leaders closing the technological gap that is widening everyday between the North (N. America, Europe, Asia) and the South (S. America, Africa) as our world becomes more and more interconnected and woven with the thick web of computer networks and the internet.

A week after it was assigned, i have yet to complete a full outline of the paper, but the first 3rd was supposed to already be due. (Which…i do not feel at all like i am behind…because only 7 of 17 students turned in the first 3rd so far…) In fact, it was only yesterday that i was actually able to widdle my topic down so i could stay focused and write something that would turn out to be a books worth of information. It has not been easy for me to jump into a subject that i know nothing about and do a reasearch paper on it. The more research i did, the more research i did! It just kept building and building and building. One source turned me on to 3 more, then each of those three turned me onto 3 more, and so on! I have been reading like a fiend, trying to just get my head around the huge scale of my topic. I have been researching now for a long time. Let me count.

I was assigned the final project Thursday, the 6th, and on Saturday and sunday of that weekend, i spent nearly 6 hours a day in the library researching my very broad topic idea. I reasearched everything from Technology in Internatial Affairs and found a number of things out like the importance of ‘technology transfer’ from the developed nations to the developing, the fact that inovation is not a ‘back yard science’ made by one solitary genius, but is really a collective of insights had that in time reach a certain connectivety between the separated ideas and form one big idea that makes everyone say, ‘damn, why didn’t i think of that!?’, the power that is held by the North in their ability to drop billions of dollars into R & D and control the technology market gates to which the knowledge and innovations trickle into the developing nations hands, how government support and policy, and cultural/social/civic society’s response and ability to adapt to change will play a significant role in how well the country will adjust to the modernization of their world over and how it will effect them negatively if they do try to jump on the technology bandwagon but are not prepared for the move to modernization (which i am not sure this move is wholly necessary like everyone claims it is…). I researched women’s position and place in the economy and social structure of Ghana and found that they are given no authority at all (atleast in the past…this seems to be changing as i speak) and are in effect, property of their husbands and fathers. For example, the only way a women can get a piece of land is if her husband, brother, father, or some male relative gives her some. When she is married, all the land that the man owns, and all the land she owns (that he has given her) is her responsibility to farm, almost entirely. All profits she makes from selling produce and any domestic goods (baskets, blankets, etc), MUST come back home and pay for food and other essentials. While, the husband spends his earnings (usually mining, working in the city, working as a laborer, etc) however he wishes; and very often has obligations to keep the money within the confounds of his equal gendered peers and relatives. I also studied inequality of women and the gender bias’s in research, science and technology fields. This is based on the notion that their is traits of ‘genetic’ masculility and feminity woven into our beings; our genes dictate that woman’s place is at home, being nuturing and receptive and is supposed to stay home and support everyone and everything, while men are born to create, and be active learners and do’ers. Which, obviously is bullshit, but even today this is widely held as ’scientific’ and even before technology of genetics (and shit…craniology) was around, this ideaology was widely held and ‘proved’ over and over to be true on the basis of religion and mythologies throughout our history. Finally, i researched the history and a number of business models and case study’s of entrepreneurial success stories of Linux and Free Software/Open Source Software.

I am sure i learned more than that even, but that’s a start for the details of one weekend. So, then through the week, i started working on my Green Technology project and kinda put the research for writing seminar aside for a bit. I will detail my green tech project later…but it’s also a long one; estimated as 30 hours of work. On wednesday, because thursday i was supposed to have a third of my paper ready for peer review the following monday (meaning, totally in draft form…but still, have something to be copied and handed out to the peer review groups over the weekend so we could read over them and remark on them etc…) i started back on the research. This time, i moved away from the hard source books, and went online for a number of hours.

I started with a simple search on google for “Open Source” Developing Countries. Bam! I found an unexpectedly large number of resources and research information on the subject. I learned, as i suspected and some what already knew, there was a huge movement toward Free Software and Open Source Software (FOSS) being made in the world, and a lot of the noise was being made by developing nations such as those in Africa, specifically, i found a number of efforts being made in Ghana specifically. First though, the world. Huge success stories have been had in coutries like Brazil (which previously was microsofts largest south american buyer with about 6% of the 318 billion annual sales a few years back), China, Sweden, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, and more. The major reason for FOSS success is the fact that it is free and many of these nations just can not offord the high cost of Microsoft’s proprietary liscenced products which are eventually discontinued and not supported anylonger, and thus frequently need to be updated and repurchased. Also, the change to FOSS is to get away from the high support cost’s microsoft charges, the overall instablility and insecurity of their products, and the fact that once your buy in to them, you are hooked in for life; they give you little choice for alternative and require you to be depedent on them for all of your service and support needs from then on. I found many many FOSS projects that are being developed with closing the technological gap up once and for all. One project is especially noteworthy, and that is the largest bank of language packs that can be installed to localize your linux machine and numerous open source applications to your specific language/dialect. The community driven initiative is quickly expanding, and scalable to an infinite degree. Any one, who know’s english, or any of the other previously translated languges can make a new translantion data source to be used and contributed to the project. This has huge potential that microsoft could never reasonably provide. Not everyone (even though many many many people do..) know english, and technology does not and should not be english centered. This ability for FOSS to be localized to any language on the planet (and beyound…mua ha ha ha…:-) automatcailly makes all non-native english speaking countries more competetive in the technology sectors and allows a greater indepence than ever before thought possible. I found projects that where directed at making the wide range of FOSS more accessible. The fact that FOSS is so decentralized by nature, makes it very difficult to locate an official source for projects, documentaion, downloads, product information, etc. Many people do not make the switch from M$ to FOSS because of this reason. They simpley don’t think it is possible to sort through the daunting number of projects out there and to know which is better, which suits their needs, if they are reliable, where will they learn how to use them/be trained/get documentation and support for when there are problems, etc. Specifically, the projects i found that sought to make this a non-issue were different than well known (well…known to me and many thousands of FOSSers anyways :-) download sites such as SourceForge.com or Freshmeant.net, in that the sites i found in my reasearch focused on collecting and oranizing information on more locally oriented and job/need oriented projects. For example, there were sites that focused on bringing together all the packages that could be used in small businesses, or in education facilities, etc. in Ghana, or in Africa in general. In finding these sites, i found a number of
really cool projects being worked on that really have some potential for being used in the contexts to which they are being created for. I found also that there is quite a large number of FOSS supporters in Ghana specifically right now. Many are oragnizations from the US, such a group called GeekCorps. They send volunteers (yea…i’m think I see another internship my future!) to Ghana and other places in Africa to work directly with businesses (small and large) to familiarlize them with FOSS technology and it’s potentials. Many success stories have been made with their efforts, but as i found out today, there are also concerns with the way they are approaching the problem. (I will explaine more when i get to todays reasearch findings…)Basically, there are many things to consider when thinking about the big picture of expecting technology of any kind to act as a Savior, hands down. FOSS alone (nor…with even a lot of help) can not end poverty, hunger, corruption, economic failure, gender inequality, illiteracy, and the other host of problems that lie at the heart of third world nations, developing or not. But, it surely can boast the efficiency and effectiveness that which these problems can be tackled and overcome! FOSS and the practice of Open Standards within the government, commercial and non-profit organization, and within civic society has the potential to overcome cost barriers and gender discrimination which perpetuate poverty and hunger even further, it can enforce diffusion of knowledge practice of freedom and democracy into the public, for the benefit of the public, and can in turn hold societies political, business and social leaders accountable for their actions through the inherent emphasis of freedom of speech and of choice.

Then, Thursday, I came to the conclusion….that i had way to much on my plate….just like i had yesterday (Friday) when i went and ate Chinese food with some friends in town. I had no direction, and thus could not come up with an outline (even though i sat and tried for over 2 hours before class….) and definitely could not come up with a 3rd of the whole paper. So, i said ‘whatever’ and went to class and told my story. I told Colin that i did not appreciate the fact that we only had such a short amount of time to research our topics and to have a significant portion of the paper drafted and ready to be reviewed. I feel the only way it would reasonably be possible for this type of work to be done would be if you already knew a lot about the subject you choose to research, and thus….would not really be researching to learn anything new…really. Which, i think a little differently now….but not so much. I think now that I could have perhaps completed the request of having a 3rd done if i had more expedience writing research papers…(i have only done one in my life….and that was 3 years ago and it was only 3-4 pages long) and if i knew exactly what question i was trying to answer or argument i was trying to prove, or conclusion i was trying to make in doing my research. Instead, because i did not know any of this, i just kept going and going and going and going…..here and there….read read read….this that this that….all cool and interesting stuff which i am very glad i learned, but overkill for the needs of this paper.

So, after explaining to Colin my feelings, in addition to telling him that i think he should, for future classes, give the research paper as the first major assignment because you learn most from this type of project than the others and you can use the skills learned in this much more in written later than vice versa. Basically, if that did not make any sense….i don’t feel that writing those other papers really prepared me for writing this research paper because none of them had anything to do with researching or writing long ass, logical papers. As well, it would be nice not to have all these major major major projects bunched up all together at the end of the term. But, whatever….it was just a suggestion.

Then, later that day, we had a meeting and he helped me focus my thinking and ideas to finding a few specific things that FOSS can do for developing countries like Ghana. I thought about it…and realized, damn, i hadn’t even thought about that….damn. So simple, yet, not so simple. I still was not getting anywhere when i sat down on Friday to try and narrow things down. But I did manage to at least determine that i would focus on how FOSS could benefit developing nations in the areas of job creation by creating entrepreneurial niche markets, Government/Administration, and Education. So, i was glad i had that at least and i knew that was not good enough, but I had a meeting with Colins Teacher Assistant Ben later on friday, so i just continued to just digest all the information that i already had so i could break it all down to Ben and see if he could help me out even more. I went through a number of the books which i had written the page numbers down for to retrieve quotes i found as being useful and started transferring them to a central location to fill the time before our meeting. Ben and I’s meeting was great! He helped me focus even more and gave me a starting point to which i feel very comfortable with. With everything i told him i had researched, he helped me come up with a thesis and we worked out a ruff ruff ruff outline.

I called it a fucking day and went out to eat with some friends. Then upon my return, i went to a concert at the college and hung out with a dear friend of mine, Marketa for a few hours. We had a very nice time together and talked about lots of puzzling/interesting relationship questions.

Then, the next day today, i woke up early and hit the books. I feel that i made some serious progress today…but i think tomorrow will be even better because today i spent a few hours doing more research on the specific topics which i had chosen to inquire in my paper (where before i was researching general theory and information that covered my subjects of interest in very broad and diverse ways). While researching on-line, i found a lot more interesting information and many more quotes that are highly relevant to my topics and arguments. I spent a few hours in addition to the research developing a more complete outline and in writing ideas out that i plan to use in my paper.

I found that Ghana is putting a lot of support behind FOSS. The government proudly boasts that it has recently launched it’s new E-government site, created and hosted wholly with FOSS tools. There is also a lot of evidence that supports their initiatives to make FOSS competitive against its proprietary alternatives so that the choice for use of one or the other is based on merit, functionality, and suitability, and no longer weighted in favor of big money, marketing capabilities, and status quo. I found that even though cost is supposedly not a primary factor in choice for implantation, the cost benefits for African governments using FOSS is substantial, upwards of 300 million annually or something. (I feel like that could be mistaken….i don’t have any of my notes or anything for that matter in front of me right now….all this is just out of my head…) A major concern that governments have with relying on proprietary, closed source applications is the potential for spy-ware, back doors, and other breaches of national security being hidden in the software with out ever being able to easily(if at all) know about it and do anything about it. This is overcome with FOSS because the source code is guaranteed to be available for all products developed under the GPL/GNU or other similar licenses. One of the greatest challenges implementing FOSS is the lack of field experts and training facilities. A major project the government has taken on is that of upgrading the education facilities and making them more widely accessible to all genders and income levels which is completely necessary as mentioned before for any reasonable amount of success to be had in any developing country. They are restructuring the school system’s curriculum to focus more on science and technology, investing in computer facilities, and attempting to make access to education universal. Much easier said then done, because the shortage of capital available for endeavors, but with FOSS, the resources that are able to be provided are of high quality, reliable, and can be run using outdated/obsolete/refurbished 2nd hand technologies of 5 years or more back. This ability of FOSS to acceptably operate on old/generic hardware (where a computer can be purchased in complete for under $100, as opposed to nearly $1500 to run the latest windows os and software) makes bringing technology to school only a matter of time. Another challenge is that FOSS is relatively dependent on the Internet as the way to keep software up to date, get support, get product information, and so on, but Africa is geographically a very difficult location to hardwire to the global inter-networks. But, as with ever problem, humans seem to find a solution with technology. The solution is Wireless communication and VSat (satellite) links, both of which FOSS is fully compatible with. In fact, many of the wireless ISP’s in Ghana (and Africa in general) are using FOSS technology to bring Internet connectivity to the most impossible places for relatively cheap compared to what it would cost to develop the hardwire infrustructure that would otherwise be necessary.

Damn..guess what? When i moved this to my word processor to see just how long it is, doubled spaced and at 12 pt font as is required, it is EXACTLY 10 pages, almost starting at 11. That’s not even considering i have the paragraphs all munched together and i do not have a intro (well, sort of…) or a
conclusion, and i do not have any quotes….amazing. I wrote this in just a few hours (started at 9:30-10pm and finished at 1:30am). All that research is paying off….there is even much more to be talked about but…i am tired…..so i will write more later…or not…because I guess i am going to have to actually narrow things down a bit futher even. Oh well, atleast i know i have enough to fill the 10 pages…..which all the sudden does not seem like very much…….

Tommorrow (maybe tommorrow) i will detail my green technology project and tell about the awsome lecture Amy Goodman (the host of Democracy Now! [which i have the link to on my homepage…]) gave tonight at COA. It was very exciting!

Until then…Good night!

-Chris

Posted by drpooville_Admin as College Of The Atlantic at 1:30 AM PDT

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I have posted a few pictures of the Latin Dance I was in at the Culture Show we had at COA for the local community. There was quite a turn out–i’d suppose one nearly hundred people were there. It was a blast!

-Chris

Posted by drpooville_Admin as General at 1:17 PM PDT

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1.) I am interested in exploring the Yucatan this coming winter term of 2004-05 for quite a few reasons. Unless noted, none are particularly only of interest in studying in the Yucatan only; I have an interest in studying across many nations in general. And by no means is the following an exhaustive list of my interests for partaking in the Yucatan program, only the major things that currently come to mind.

A list of the communication skills I am interested in learning or expanding on:
Spanish language, speech and oral dexterity, developing interpersonal relationships and building networks between them, and developing a better understanding of myself through being outside of my known ‘comfort zones.’

A list of the business skills that I am interested in learning or expanding on:
Collaborative work and leadership; sustainability and green technology hopes, dreams, concerns, and future development plans; project planning, organizing, executing and presenting, and the current state of affairs in the implementation and the area’s understanding and use of computer technology in an international context. I want to develop business relationships worldwide and I also want to learn to build solid, communicative networks between them, with an emphasis on positive feedback loops.

Miscellaneous skills:
History and its’ impact on culture development, psychology of the cultures and individuals that make them up, field work research and data collection, and photography.

I have encountered many non-English speaking people and have thought “Man, I hate not being to to speak to them. I must break the language barrier.” (I have thought perhaps in becoming a translator.) I have taken two tantalizing years of Spanish in high school and want more. I specifically want to learn Spanish because there is a growing number of Spanish speakers in the United States and speaking Spanish is becoming a very commonly requested skill in the business world. In addition, I want to learn Spanish so it will give me a root in further independent studies of languages the world over.

I am very interested in Susan Morse’s course, “Comida y communidad en Yucatan y Oaxaca,” where we explore the premise that “all human cultures need and create a coherent story that emerges from their relationships within particular landscapes.” I am interested because I understand, simply, that in all societies, agriculture (and trade of the produce) has been the key function for developing characteristics of the culture. I know too that one step before this even, land acts as the key function which defines what agriculture development is possible for any given area. However, I do not know what this means in an ecological context, but would very much like to know.

I am interested in Gray Cox’s “Doing Human Ecology in Cross-culture settings” to enhance my skills in observation, research and field studies, problem solving, communication, negotiation, and project planning and implementation. I am also very excited to begin to speak in another language and apply it in the real world.

2.) I left a serious three-year relationship and came all the way from Houston Texas to Bar Harbor Maine to study at COA and to escape the pain of leaving one I love very much. The environment changes from the move have been huge, both in regards to the differences in the weather and differences in the social dynamics. In addition, I was struck by the differences of COA to the expectations that I had of school, which developed while I was in high school and while at Houston Community College. And to top it all off, I quit smoking pot by week four of the term, after over four years of daily use. All combined, by week five of my first term at COA, winter of 2003-2004, I was very stressed emotionally and physically. It was time for some soul searching. Long overdue and extremely challenging, I began to look inwards to study myself to try and find causes and effects to my stresses and how to manage them as they occur; or how to just be one with them and live with myself as who I am.

Coming from the extremely hot and humid weather of Houston Texas to the cold dry weather of Bar Harbor Maine has bound to have had its’ effect on my coping mechanisms; though, truthfully, I don’t know to what extent. Same thing goes for moving from a big bustling city and highly developed suburban area to a small, slow paced, scarcely developed suburban area. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know this flip-flop of social dynamics has challenged my ability to adapt. Nonetheless, I have done so with great success. For example, I have already developed many close relationships with the locals of Southwest Harbor as well as I have made quite a few business contacts in the islands’ Non Profit sector and other areas of interest to me (e.g. Music and Arts).

I was astounded by the amount of work three classes at COA could be. In addition to the challenge of each the classes themselves, I had issues with my writing skills in particular. For this, as well as all the many academic challenges faced last term, I took it upon myself to study as much as I could outside of the class expectation, to bring myself up to what I thought was an acceptable level. I had never expected to have so much emphasis placed on independent studying, but went into every project with my head up and eyes open. As well, I have never been under such much pressure to perform in my life, but found a path to letting the anxiety flow unconstrained and succeeded above my wildest dreams.

The hardest thing I had to deal with on my own in the past term, and in the past many years (minus separating from my girlfriend) was quitting smoking pot. First, I had to admit to myself I was addicted and that was religiously rationalizing keeping the habit at the expense of my mental and physical health. Then I had to convince myself to see the truth in how I felt everyday under the influence and what negative impacts it had on my life. Especially regarding how much it was affecting my interpersonal growth, how much it was affecting my ability to cope in developing close relationships with other individuals and how much it was affecting my ability to concentrate in general. Afterwards, I had to build the confidence for commitment to what I knew would be an endeavor of great difficulty; I knew from previous experience that the withdrawal symptoms from breaking my addiction to marijuana would be very emotionally and physically taxing. Even more daunting was the fact that I had to do it all alone.

No matter, I went for it and now I am officially smoke free; and I found that when I open myself to those closest to me, I am truly not alone. I made excellent grades and received great evaluations from each of my teachers. As well, I got a lot of praise from my peers. I am regularly acquiring new knowledge of myself and in how to go about growing within. Ultimately, it all adds together to make me feel confident that my efforts are paying off.

3.) N/A

4.) At COA, I am studying courses that follow the Ecological Entrepreneurship program.

So far, in my relatively short life, I have already found great interest in entrepreneurial efforts in running small, local businesses. I worked side-by-side with the owner in a local startup Internet Service Provider (40-60 hours/week). Previous to that, I worked side-by-side with one owner at two of her bar/restaurants (40 hours/week). When I was only 15, I worked as an Assistant manager at a concession stand in a busy equestrian center (15 hours/week).

Each case has given me an essential view into the rewards of success and of the challenges that lie ahead. But none have given me the skills to take any one of my ideas and be able to turn them into reality. Nor have they introduced me into the world of our expanding trend of developing a global economy. Which means being able to do what one can for themselves in America, in a cross-culture setting and know how to effectively collaborate between nations.

5.) You can talk to my advisor Trisha Cantwell-Keene, or any of my previous term’s instructors, “Shelli Bischoff” , Ernie McMullen, or Oscar Chanis .

6.) YES_______ I hereby grant permission to Suzanne Morse and Gray Cox to review my transcript as part of the application for this program.
Signed:________________________________ Date:__________________

7.) I am 19 years old.

8.) I have completed 9.6 credits, making me a Sophomore. I will graduate in 2007.

9.) I speak very little Spanish; but when spoken, I can understand it fairly well.

10.) This will be a great addition to my summer internship in Ghana Africa as a volunteer with Women In Progress where I will be helping women entrepreneurs of Ghana migrate to using computer technology in their businesses, expand their markets and develop new, more sustainable business plans.

Basically, I have a great interest in thinking ‘outside of America.’

I get very nervous when I have one-on-one interviews. Be patient, but persistent. :-)~

Posted by drpooville_Admin as College Of The Atlantic, Personal Endeveavors at 11:03 AM PDT

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It was once said

“In most intelligent races, … there are a large number of women whose brains are closer in size to those of gorillas than to the most developed male brains. This inferiority is so obvious that no one can contest it for a moment; only its degree is worth discussion. All psychologists who have studied the intelligence of women, as well as poets and novelists, recognize today that they represent the most inferior forms of human evolution and that they are closer to children and savages than to an adult, civilized man. (Middlemarch by Paul Broca)”

As outrageous as this might seem, this is a common ideology throughout the world. For many centuries, women have been placed below males—sometimes below or equal to that of animals in our society hierarchy’s of importance and power. In Ghana, Africa, this fate is unfortunately no different.

“The majority of the 1.5 billion people living on 1 dollar a day or less are women, (web:www.un.org:Women Fact Sheet 1)” and the gap in poverty between men and women widens everyday. Women, who cannot afford their own well-being, cannot afford to be free. Women struggle not only to afford basic needs, but also to afford basic amenities like healthcare, housing, and education; as well they are widely banned from voicing themselves in their communities. All of this “inhibit[s] their ability to participate in making decisions that affect them, contribute to public life, and enjoy their full array of human and civil rights. (web:www.womeninprogress.org:Strategy)” They become caught up in a cycle of poverty and struggle merely to survive. I feel a way to help women change their fate is through volunteerism and grass roots activism. That is what I will be doing during my internship in Ghana over the summer break.

Women In Progress is dedicated to increasing the number and quality of jobs available to women through grassroots organizing. Their focus is on collaborating with local, women owned and operated small businesses. They are using education and hands on collaboration to expose the potentials of self-sustainability that are made available through independent entrepreneurial efforts. In the light of developing sustainable, efficient businesses, Women In Progress emphasizes the use of modern computer technology. This, in addition to my passion for securing women’s human rights, is exactly where I fit in.

Through volunteering my time, money, love and voice to the women of Ghana with Women In Progress, I hope to help all women come closer to achieving economic independence. I also hope to gain valuable experience in sustainable business development, using technology in business, and working with many small businesses in a diverse, international perspective that complements my interests in technology and in studying under COA’s Ecological Entrepreneurship Program.

As I have noted already, I am going to be volunteering as an intern in Ghana this summer under the guidance of Women In Progress. I will be working directly with many different small businesses owned and operated by local women entrepreneurs. A major project of mine will be to develop a “Computer 201” course to be taught to numerous individuals while I am there and after I have left. This course will focus on how to use Microsoft Word to write proposals, memos, business plans, etc., Excel, to develop efficient and accurate accounting tools, and Email, the Internet, and maybe a little web-design so they can expand their businesses worldwide. I will also be working hands-on with certain businesses to develop ideas to capture new local markets, and to expand existing ones. For example, one question we might pursue is how to expand and grab a larger share of the tourists’ capital available in the area. Finally, because Women In Progress is relatively young and the technology available in Ghana is even younger, one of my jobs will be to help them develop a more complete internal network and also to customize their computers used by the local Ghanaian women to be more user friendly.

In teaching my Computer 201 course, I will for the first time have to develop a curriculum. This will also be my first time to ever facilitate a workshop of any short. So, not only will this be excellent experience in developing my organization, time management, presentation, and collaborative leadership skills, it will also help build my confidence and skills in speech, lecturing and one-on-one tutoring. More over, this will be a great test of my patience and understanding, and will give me great insights into many of my own strengths and weaknesses as a student, as a teacher, as a volunteer, as an employee, and as a friend.

As a volunteer, I will not be paid for any of the 400 hours I am scheduled to work. The specific times I will work are not yet defined and will likely to vary day to day, but the general plan is for me to work Monday through Friday, 8 hours a day.

“English is the official language used in government, business, national media, and school beyond primary level. (Ghana:A country study:Pg. 10)” In addition to research I have done through books and online sources, I have interviewed a couple of individuals who have recently traveled to the same location in Ghana I will be working, and have found practically all adult Ghanaians speak English fluently. I have also learned that Ghanaians welcome Americans with open arms and are very appreciative of the help we bring. Women In Progress has planned a one-week orientation for me upon my arrival. In this time I will be introduced to the local culture and ways of life, to the local township and markets, to all of my business partners, and will be given time to adjust to my new surroundings.

You can reach Renae Adam, the Executive Director, Program Director and my supervisor, all in one, by email at renae@womeninprogress.org or by phone in Ghana at +233 (42) 36883 or (800) 338-3032.

My budget for this trip will be in the range of $4,000 to $6,000. The round-trip plane ticket alone is going to cost me upwards of $2,500. There is a program fee of $2,100. It covers pre-departure support, orientation, 11 weeks lodging in Ghana, in-country volunteer support, and project-related expenses. I estimate all my other expenses in totality will be around one thousand dollars. Due to the high cost of this trip, with much appreciation, I request the maximum award amount of $1,000.

Thank you for your time, effort, and support.

Chris Ward
drpoo@drpooville.org

Posted by drpooville_Admin as College Of The Atlantic, Personal Endeveavors at 11:02 AM PDT

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Letter Of Commitment

April 25, 2004

Name College Of The Atlantic
Address 105 Eden St.
City Bar Harbor ME 04609

To Whom It May Concern:

Women in Progress (WIP) is a young NGO based in Cape Coast, Ghana that works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in Ghana through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses. Over the last year, WIP has assisted many women in developing new international sales channels for export where they are able to command higher prices for their goods and in turn provide better lives for their families. WIP markets products hand-made by women in Ghana under the new brand name Global Mamas. All proceeds generated from product sales are provided directly to the women artisans or to nonprofit programs that further assist women in growing their businesses.

As any startup organization, WIP is facing many challenges in ensuring the proper IT tools and processes are in place to meet the needs of the organization. Additionally, WIP needs assistance with creating a process to help the various business women we assist to keep their accounts in a simple and practical computer program. We are delighted that Chris Ward possess skills in these areas and can help WIP accomplish many of its goals through a summer internship in Ghana.

As part of the 10-week internship (June 21 – August 30, 2004), Chris will be expected to work 40 hours per week and will be assigned tasks in areas outlined below.

Information Technology:
§ Create an internal network at the WIP office that will allow us to properly administer security among various clients (women entrepreneurs, that is). We are looking into securing some computers in the US in order to set up small computer training facility.
§ Lock down the public machines so that clients can only access certain programs on the computer (we have a problem with beginners “breaking” the computers) and possibly set up some sort of ghosting so that we can “roll back” to an original image if needed on machines that are used by the general public.
§ Possibly create some sort of program (probably a simple client/server app) that will track women’s “memberships” with WIP (track time spent online, fees, etc).
§ Set up a system to conduct regular back-ups of WIP’s data.
§ Help WIP set up DHCP so that we can share a dial-up connection among several computers.
§ Help WIP launch its new eCommerce site that will be used to sell the products made by WIP’s clients (www.globalmamas.org). Exporting is the bread/butter of WIP’s programs as it generates substantial revenue for the women in Ghana and also will be the key to sustaining WIP’s own programs in the long term.
§ Help market the new Global Mamas eCommerce site.

Computer Training:
§ Continue the basic computer training with new women entering WIP’s programs.
§ Assess and revise the existing curriculum to make it better.
§ Expand on the curriculum to begin computer basics 201 (maybe word processing, spreadsheets, internet research, etc.)

Business Development Consulting
§ Get the women excited about record keeping and make sure they get in the good habit of keeping records on a regular basis.
§ Refine the manual bookkeeping approach for each industry (batking, sewing, etc) so that it stays simple.
§ Improve the computerized accounting approach so that data entry is minimal yet provides valuable information for reporting.
§ Create a template for keeping records for businesses in various industries (i.e. seamstresses, batikers, restaurants, retail, wholesale, etc.)

Chris’ resulting work will have a tremendous impact on the long-term sustainability of WIP and will enable WIP to expand our programs to more women in Ghana. In return, WIP will provide Chris a rich experience that will strengthen his IT, training, and leadership skills and gain valuable insights through the opportunity to work and live in Africa.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance throughout the internship process. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Renae Adam
Executive Director
renae@womeninprogress.org
Ghana +233(42)36883
U.S.A. (800)338-3032

Women in Progress
Box CC890
Cape Coast
Ghana

Information about Women In Progress

· Mission: Empowerment of Women by way of economic independence through self-employment.
· Non Profit International Volunteer Organization
· “WIP is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation established in 2002. They are a non-endowed public charity that relies on the annual support of many generous individuals, foundations, corporations, and the U.S. government.“
· Women In Progress focuses on programs that support “the development of micro and small woman-owned enterprises through workforce training, new technology, and in-depth projects that focus on improving internal efficiencies, competing more effectively in existing markets, gaining access to new markets, and engaging in international trade.”
· Women in Progress: Objectives for Success
· Grassroots Solutions to Global Issues — “WIP is committed to implementing grassroots solutions to global challenges that advocate economic development and social change, both of which are required to achieve international peace. We [at WIP] believe the world will be closer to social and economic justice if businesses are self sustainable, women enjoy their full human rights, and people understand and respect diverse cultures.”
· This is done by building extensive networks between the women entrepreneurs and the volunteers at WIP. The volunteers work ‘hands on’ with the local women owned businesses and collaborate to achieve economic independence. Furthermore, they are dedicated to “establishing a mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures,” which is key to bringing mutual peace on earth.

· Self Sufficiency — “Sustainable development and economic growth in emerging nations is required to obtain globalization of markets. Self-sufficiency can only be achieved at the grassroots level by establishing capacity of individuals and businesses to solve their own problems that alleviate poverty.”
· This is done with extensive use of volunteer expertise to train the women entrepreneurs in thinking ’sustainable’, strategically, and in thinking technologically about the problems facing them as women entrepreneurs in an impoverished nation who are struggling to be heard over there loud, dominating male counterparts.

· Women’s Empowerment — “The inclusion and empowerment of women is essential in the pursuit of forming sustainable enterprises. Since women already drive a large part of the economy in Ghana through managing micro enterprises, they are critical to establishing economic independence on a national level and promoting economic justice on a global level. “
· Women are the creators of the economy in Ghana and many other areas of Africa. They make and sell textiles, grow and sell food, develop activities for the children, as well as for tourists, and manage their local towns and provinces responsibly like great community leaders do. However, giving women power is not a practice widely esteemed throughout the lands. Women’s rights are still something that women in Ghana are struggling for. Only after the women of Ghana gain their economic freedom and more opportunities for higher wage jobs become available to them will they be able to be seen as the true heroes they are. As well, it is the only chance the nation has to regain the momentum needed to pull them from their current economical crisis.

· Cross-Cultural Understanding — “Cross-cultural understanding and respect for diversity are fundamental to creating a more just and peaceful world. Cross-cultural cooperation at a grassroots level promotes global citizenship through establishing mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.”
· Everyday our world’s separate nations are becoming more dependent on each other. In order to maintain a stable, sustainable growth in the inevitable ‘global economy’, we must have the capacity to collaborate amongst each other on equal and understanding terms.

Objectives and Goals ( **In no particular order** )

1.) This job fits perfectly into my interests and as an addition to my previous work experience. For, I am currently studying along the Ecological Entrepreneurship Program and have worked closely with numerous small businesses. It uses all of my current technological expertise, and gives my opportunities to expand my knowledge and experience into many more areas. For example, I want learn about working in the Non-Profit Management field, as well as in the management of for-profit company’s, in education and training, in international relations, and in areas of technical interest such as server management, business to computer relations, web-site marketing, computerized bookkeeping, and much more.

2.) I want to gain the valuable business and volunteer experiences of working with international organizations.

3.) International study! I want to be able to see the world and expand my cultural understanding on a global level. I am very sure that being stuck in this one-sided nation (US) restricts my view of the ‘real world’. Going to a place such as Cape Coast, Ghana Africa would really give a good view of the real world conditions of which I am not made aware of as a US citizen.

4.) I want to experience
hands-on, grass roots organizing and activism. Furthermore, I want to learn how to be an effective leader and how to be work effectively in collaborative efforts.

5.) I want to come home with a better idea of who I am. I want to be able to know where my limits are in being comfortable and happy in the life I live. I want to experience being impoverished and struck down, as the women of Ghana (and equally all around the world) have been. I want to experience passion and commitment to survival.

Why this should be a part of my academic degree program?

1.) Relevance to the some of the areas in the Ecological Entrepreneurship Program
A.) Commitment to community sustainability and to future generations.
B.) Working within a Non-Profit Organization on a few levels such as marketing, eCommerce web-development, and communications/public relations.
C.) Working with numerous community organizations on many levels such as strategic planning, accounting, record-keeping, governance, web-site creation, using the Internet as a tool, and using the computer as a tool.

2.) An important cross-cultural study of Africa that COA cannot reasonably offer.

3.) Many technological subjects that COA does not currently offer.
A.) Using technology in business
B.) Internet marketing strategy’s
C.) Training in how to develop technological curriculum, to be taught through a workshop like course, in an international environment.
D.) Working with network services such as security, automated backup systems, and eCommerce web-development.

Relation to Human Ecology

1.) Interdisciplinary – I will be working and studying community development, social relations, business management, technology and it’s impact on people, the impact of politics and culture on society and it’s history, volunteerism and it’s impact on society, sustainability, and more, all with an international perspective.
2.) I will be working with and will be witnessing the impacts that gender inequality has on society.
3.) I will be able to more applicably see the truth in the saying, “Everyone makes a difference.”

Work Schedule

I will work Monday through Friday, 8 hours per day minimum for 10 weeks between my June 15th departure and my August 31st return. The exact times will vary.

Compensation

As a volunteer, I am required to pay a program fee and cover all miscellaneous expenses. The program fee covers all room and board, pre-departure support, the orientation packet, lodging in Ghana, in-country volunteer support, and all project-related expenses.

Internship Presentation Plans

I will share my accomplishments, short stories, photos, acquired items, cultural differences, journal entries (see http://www.drpooville.org/?nav=blog), advice, suggestions and warnings for those who plan to travel to the area, and anything else that I find other people would be interested to know.

Contact Information

Mail Address: Women in Progress
Box CC890
Cape Coast
Ghana
Phone: Ghana +233(42)36883
U.S.A. (800)338-3032

Email Address: drpoo@drpooville.org

Posted by dr