I know I just posted a few minutes ago, but this is one of those days when interesting things happen repeatedly. On my way home, I decided to stop in at DIT to see my old friend the Associate Director. I’d helped him last year on the IT Showcase for the National Assembly and he found me the teaching position at RIM. Today he was excited about their biggest project to put a VSAT connection into Lhuntse, a small area out east.
Bhutan Telecom had plans to give them ten phone lines, but with 300-400 residences, that wasn’t going to help much. So DIT put in the satellite connection and a small phone system. The result is that phones are scattered throughout the sprawling village and local calls can be made at a cost of 1 Nu with no restriction on duration.
The story that really brought a smile to his face was of the two engineers he’d sent up installing a phone in the house of an elderly man. While they were working, the man came down sick with something that appeared lethal. They asked where his family were and he said that they were all away visiting others. It turned out that his wife was visiting a house they’d just been to, only a couple of hours walk away. They had the number and gave her a call. She brought help and together with the engineers, they carried the man to the BHU (basic health unit) where he was treated and lives to tell the tale.
Putting internet access in the school will be a small victory after that story.