Africa Charity Project WP

> I arrived in the US three (3) years ago.  I was born and brought up in Kenya, Eastern Africa, where the national language is Kiswahili.  My first language is Kikuyu. The medium of instruction in Kenya school curriculum is English and emphasis is put on Kiswahili in all grades.

> I exceled very well in my Kiswahili High School final exam.  Between 1989 and 1996, I was hired by Kenya’s Teachers Commission to teach Kiswahili in High School.  Alongside that, I’ve kept my abreast by reading Kiswahili publications by renowned Authors and I am confident that I can be an asset to you Organization if given a chance to work with you.

> My Cellphone Number is 424….

——————————–

> Well, I can try to see what I can do. But before I start looking for
> contacts, please try to provide me with the following information,
> detailed as possible:

Hello Olga,

thanks for the good questions. I will answer some of them below. But before we start I’d like to mention that I’ve already done a lot of work in this area and need you to continue. So my plan would be, once you confirm that you are interested, is to send you the entire package so that you can resume where I left off before this big translation project began and why I am too busy now to continue it. Lots of people to communicate with.

Also, you will need to get the Web Expressions working. My work is all through the internet and my operations are web based, so the website will need to be developed. So I hope you will succeed with its installation.

> 1. Give me estimated number of items you need to get – i.e. 5 solar
> pannels, 5 laptops etc.

I am not so concerned about getting donations as setting things up to start. The donations will come later. I want everything to be as set up as possible by the time I go down there in May next year. If this project continues I am perfectly prepared to fund the first village myself. It will serve as a template for others.

2. I need to know precise geographic locations. Names of countries, villages and, actually, all reasons why you think these particular places are suitable for the project. The reason is that it’s usually easier to ask for money with known quantity of needed items and with clear names of people/places one is asked to benefit.

Based on my correspondence so far, right now I am leaning towards Mombasa area in Kenya, and already have contacts in neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania. Can spread out from there.

3. Also I want to know if to present you as individual Karel Kosman (I think in this case it makes sense), or Kenax Translation Services etc. May-be for this purpose it will be good if you opened a mailing account on your kenax server, i.e. something like charity@kenax.cz. It seems more reliable than getting an e-mail form some gmail or yahoo server.

Don’t need another email address and I can present myself as a combination of the two above. One of the ways I can send them work is through translations. And if not concerning their own language, then perhaps between French and English. And any goodwill or advertising to my agency will certain not hurt.

4. Do you have any record of participating in any charity or voluntary work elsewhere? Especially if could be checked and particularly if recommendations could be provided. This is important type of information one could ask for to verify your reliability.

I can verify this myself if I actually do find some donors.

> 5. Do you have experience teaching (others than yourself)? Again,
> particularly one that can be verified.

I don’t see why I need to prove this. Personally I think that all this can be done through the internet and I won’t necessarily need to go down there – but I want to go down there. I can upload somewhere the entire package while others can download to their computer, install it all, and follow my instructions. Just like I am training all the PMs and translators etc. on these various projects. I type very quickly and it has worked all these years, so no reason why the entire African continent or even the entire world could download my instructions and start working.

6. How do you accept donations? Is it items by mail, or monetary donations to PayPal, or bank account? This information, I think, should also be placed on the website clearly and separately form the rest, under “How can you help” link.

It IS placed on the internet, and should be very clear. Please check again.

7. Can you provide any proof to where money goes? For example, you could make another section of your website, where there will be a list of necessary items and what is already received/bought, so that people could have a feeling of “control” over where does their money go.

This has also been clearly explained on the website. If you want to take on this project I suggest you read the entire website thoroughly.

> 8. Had you already contacted anyone (organizations) about this?

I will send all this once you are prepared to begin. I also want your heart to be in this and not just some job. So please convince me of this.

Okay, over to you.

Karel

The more precise information you give me – better. And the more checkable the information is – even better than that. I would also propose you to place a short but clear resume and autobiography. On the website links can be found quite lot, but I think that in this case a clear, short and reliable presentation of information is important. If you give me details, I could also write this type of content (might need to be reviewed by native English speaker). People want to know satisfactory quantity of information about the person to whom they give their money or even old computer. Well, something like that. I might need more information as we go. Regards, Olga

> — On Mon, 3/22/10, KENAX – Karel
> Subject: Re: Belize – additional info
> Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 9:59 PM

Hello Olga, well, my plan so far is that I would go there myself next Mayish and teach them myself. But I have taught everything I know on the computer myself, so I cannot believe that others cannot do the same. I would provide every computer with all the skills to learn, and I would set up the computers so only certain wise people have the administrator account, without which no one could install games on it. I’ve thought about it extensively. And certainly since I can find work through the internet then I can teach others to do the same. Now I just need someone who is interested in helping me move this forward… Thank you, Karel

Hello Karel, Whow!!! That I was not expecting. The project is indeed interesting. And yes, electricity is the key for progress, I agree. It increases productivity by allowing work or studies being conducted after darkness. It also makes streets safer. But I think that computer can be of any use only accompanied with a qualified person in the village, who would take over the keepingmaintaining and teaching process. I don’t believe that vilagers can aquire commercial computer skills. For two reasons. First – studying is a skill, which is usually absent from undeveloped societies, not because they can’t, but because the chance to develop it is not being provided to them. Second – unless there is a school, where the teacher had seen computers before there will be no one to teach them for a long term. And independent learning is even a more rare skill than just learning. But I do believe, that being exposed to language training programs may-be some particularly intelligent kids could acquire basic English skills. And it could rise their chances to get jobs in local centers. But not via internet. By the way, in most countries in South America there is already internet in almost every village. And what do you think, any of the kids, who spend all their day in the internet shops use it for studying? No! For playing “Doom” style games, and internet – not for information but for chats. And they speak no English at all. Other example – here, in Nepal, my friends and I had been teaching one Tibetan monk, very learned young man, how to use computer for several month. Half year later he learned how to open files, use Word and Internet, but still can’t go anywhere beyond that. So with African kids it will be even harder. To summarize – I find it an interesting project, but the computer in every village part I think is not very realistic. For schools in local centers it could be a big help, though. Regards, Olga

> > — On Mon, 3/22/10, KENAX – Karel

> > Subject: Re: Belize – additional info

> > Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 8:13 PM

Hello Olga, okay, concerning PM hunt, do as you think is best. Thank you for the translator synopsis. Just curious, would you be interested in managing the following project for me? http://africa-charity-project.org/

Hi Edgar,

if a translator charges 0.05$/word I would charge that plus your 0.0025 plus my markup. Your commission remains the same no matter what the translator charges or my markup. You always get the same commission, for each word translated by any of your African language translators, forever.

Karel

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Turuka

Karel,

let me get it clear.

is the commission price per word for translators or for me to bring the translators? Or both?

Just wanted to get the matter clear so that when i come across the website for ad I don’t mix up the two.

——————————–

Hi Theresa,

glad you got healthy again and thanks for your email.

To be frank, I’ve never done this before and I’m just a guy following his own idea. I’ve been getting into contact with some people in Africa who are helping me get registered with governments there etc. Some are already translating pages so Africans can teach themselves the skills to find work on the internet, and I’m working to get work for translators, so some progress even before I get there. If I have to I’ll just drive there myself and get some villages set up using my own money. Otherwise I’m talking with some people about getting a charity registered in Europe and the US, in order to attract sponsors, hopefully. Perhaps you could send me a template or sample so that I know how to prepare the proposal properly? Otherwise my site explains in detail all my plans so far, and I calculate it should cost about a thousand Euro per village, as explained on the website.

Looking forward to your feedback so that I can prepare something proper!  :0)

Thank you,

Karel

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 2:29 PM, Therese

Hei Karel,

Sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to you, but I got a hefty throat infection last week which I am still struggling with. That said, the reason I was interested in your project is that I have a background from the UN and contacts in the Norwegian donor agency – NORAD. Now, I am not sure if they are interested in your project, but if you could be a bit more specific in terms of setting up a framework with a background, goals, timeframes, resources needed and budget, I’d be happy to forward it to NORAD for a review.

Looking forward to hearing from you if this is of interest )

——————————–

Hello Ken,

thanks for the links and I will have a look at them.

What concerns the converters, this is simply not true. I have been living in my truck off of solar panels for three years. I could have a friend visiting and, on a reasonably sunny day, my two panels at 110W each would run both our laptops, charge anything else I need, plus the electric fridge plus charge up the 2 massive caravan batteries within about an hour. Once the sun came down then I’d only allow only one laptop to run, which could run until morning. I was told that the converter and inverter each would lose about 15% energy, so 30% combined. But I have a converter which can convert directly from 12V to whatever the laptop needs, in which case I could turn the inverter off. I would notice a power savings, but it wouldn’t be overly significant.

Karel

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> Thank you very kindly for your email.  I found your project quite unique, and very worthwhile.  I did visit your website and navigated cursorily through a few of the links.

> You are a Canadian.  Are you currently in Canada or in Africa?  If in Africa which country and city or village are you resident in?  I should not ask how you found us, in this day and age.  I would like to have some discussions with you as I find some of your causes akin to ours.  I think it would be a good idea to work cooperatively with you, albeit, on some projects in Africa that mirror our vision and cause.

> Please let me hear from you again so that we can explore the process for cooperation and association.

Hi, presently I’m in Bulgaria saving up the gas money etc. to make it down to Africa. Hope to achieve this by this fall, and make all the necessary preparations.

Due to proximity I’m thinking of starting in Kenya and already have contacts in neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania.

Looking forward to any sort of cooperation.

Take care,

Karel

Okay Edgar, good luck with your work.

Concerning the commission, keep in mind that it is forever, even if you stop placing ads. So it would pay off more over time, and it may take a while before the first orders come in. Hence I think it is good when you find some good sites or places and just place ads once in a while, so that the number of translators keeps trickling in. We then must test them over time etc. Karel

Edgar wrote:

I think to start with it is fine and we will see the response. I will look for the free ad websites and let you know if i come across some so that we can see how we can setup the advert.

I am going offline for a while to go fix some computers and will be back online after sometime.

Edgar

— On Mon, 1/11/10, KENAX – Karel
Subject: Re: feedback from Tanzania
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 8:53 PM

I am proposing 0.0025 $ or Euro per word. This would work out to 6 $ per day at 10 pages, which is the average that one experienced translator can translate in a day. So if there is a lot of work for many translators it can be interesting. If I markup too much then the translator starts to become too expensive for the agency/customer and there is less chance of them being assigned work, and hence less chance for us to get anything. Does this price seem okay? I think the best is if you knew some free job websites where you could post an ad once in a while. I am posting on Craigslist in three African countries and getting moderate responses. Do you know of any other useful sites, or where you could post free ads?

I am interested in all African languages (but not Arab – got tons of those translators). For example, recently I have already been asked for Xhosa, Gio and Creole English. It will vary.

Karel

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 6:44 AM, Turuka

Karel,

thanks. got ya.

so what will be the commission like? how frequent are jobs there for translation? In one of my emails yesterday I asked if there are any languages of preference you would like me to look for translators already?

Thanks.

Edgar

— On Mon, 1/11/10, KENAX – Karel
Subject: Re: feedback from Tanzania
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 8:37 PM

Hello Edgar,

and you can see the results any time you ask me. For example, I can log into the email address and show you a screen shot of the responses to it. Or about once a month I download the database to my computer, after which I can send you info of all the translators with your ref, including their language combinations, price and other pertinent data.

Karel

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 6:34 AM, Turuka

Hello Karel,

thanks for the explanations. You understood it, i was asking about the notification/auto response.

I will test it and see how it works. thanks.

Edgar

— On Mon, 1/11/10, KENAX – Karel
Subject: Re: feedback from Tanzania
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 8:32 PM

Hello Edgar,

not sure I understand your first paragraph question.

If anyone writes to the email I made for you, they will get an autoresponse where to apply. You can test it yourself. The autoresponse weblink has ?ref=turuka on the end, which means that “turuka” will show up in the “ref” field in their application form. If I ever assign work to them I can see from the ref field that you should get a commission.

Karel

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 6:20 AM, Turuka

Dear Karel,

thanks so much.

How do I put the out response? Is it the same like when someone is on safari and leaves a message for anyone who is writing to that person?

Today is a public holiday here, so no government offices are open till tomorrow. But good thing to me is that I get more time to go through so many things online and also finish my assignments, I am doing a certificate course in Entrepreneurship with the University of Dar es Salaam.

Keep you posted.

Edgar

— On Mon, 1/11/10, KENAX – Karel
Subject: Re: feedback from Tanzania
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 4:20 AM

Hello Edgar,

okay, just set up the email address turuka@ so direct everyone to apply there. There is a link which will put your reference in the application, as you will see in the address (check the auto response to this email). All work that I ever give to that person will mean a commission per word for you.

Thank you,

Karel

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 2:02 PM, Turuka

Karel,

the other possibility would be for you to send me the languages of interest (african languages) then i can start from there, fishing out for people who are good at those languages and interested in doing the translation job.

Regards,

Edgar

— On Mon, 1/11/10, KENAX – Karel
Subject: Re: feedback from Tanzania
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 3:42 AM

Hello Edgar,

if you would like to earn commission on translators you find for me you have to let me set that up for you. Would you like to proceed with that? I would create a special email address to help me keep track of your translators. I have several clients interested in African languages. Once a few people will fill in the application form, I will download it so that I know which African languages I can now offer, and then forward that information to the clients. Then we just have to see if they have any work in those languages.

Karel

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 1:36 PM, Turuka

Hello Karel, I am ready for that job, I will visit the website and fill in the forms. I have also started looking for other friends/colleagues who can do the translation job too. I will keep you posted. I suppose after filling in the form then the trans job may start. Thanks. Regards, Edgar

> — On Mon, 1/11/10, KENAX – Karel
> Subject: Re: feedback from Tanzania
> Date: Monday, January 11, 2010, 3:31 AM

Hello Edgar, looking forward to hearing your progress with the government. If you or anyone you know would like to get translation work, please fill in the application form below. If you would like to help me find African translators I can pay you commission for that and send you the information. Otherwise, perhaps you or someone you know might be interested in volunteering to translate some of my pages which explain to Africans how they can find work through the internet, and teach themselves the necessary skills?

Dear Karel, Thank you for your email. Your project certainly sounds very interesting and I think it is a novel way to assist people to further their careers. I run a very small agency and use only professional, qualified and experienced translators to ensure a high level of accuracy, given our client base. As a result, I am unable to consider any applicants who are not in possession of at least a degree, a translation qualification and several years’ experience. I receive a minimum of 5 applications per month and currently have a sufficient number of translators to cover our workload. Your project can definitely be successful provided to have good quality controls in place (external proofreaders etc.). I wish you all of the best, Lindy

——————————–

Hello Angela,

would you be able to get me registered in Uganda? It would be nice to get everything set up properly so that I can just drive through the border without problems and start my work immediately once I get down to Africa. Will need the same for Kenya and am presently working on that.

Below I have copied the information package if you would like to help me find African translators.

If you are not able to help me register in the US, I have many friends there and will try through them. Is important if I will start to find sponsors from the continent.

If you would like to start translating something I would suggest this page:

http://001yourtranslationservice.com/online-database-programming/introduction-to-PHP.html

It is one of the ways people can earn money through the internet. I am slowly compiling a page which will explain all my computer knowledge and how Africans can learn all the skills they need to support themselves through the internet like I do. This page above will be one of them. If you or someone will start translating this it will motivate me to compile the complete package. There is much to write but I have already put much up on the internet. My plan is to supply each of the laptops with all this information, with its translation into many languages, so Africans can learn all of it without requiring the internet. Once they have taught themselves and are confident they can begin, then I can help them find work. But the instructions I will write down will also include tips and sources how to find work. I am really excited that we are moving forward with this.

I will link to your site the next time I update my pages.

Thank you,

Karel

Hi Karel, It seems like you are trying to do a great job or project. In order for you to bring solar panels in Uganda, you will need to be a registered organization in Uganda or you have to affiliate your organization with a registered organization on the ground. Also such an organization should be tax exempt by the Uganda government. That way you won’t pay any taxes for any items you bring in the country. I think laptops are free to be brought in the country as of now. I think the best way for you is if you could register your organization in Uganda, that will help you alot since the project you want to start there is really big. It can be abit complicated since its a foreign organization but it can be done. Registering as Non Profit for the US is a great idea but my question is how would you wanna go about it? I am interested, if you can. I am going to link your website to ours and it’s OK to go ahead do the same with ours. With translations to Luganda , i can help or get you someone. Go ahead and write all your thoughts that you want to be translated i will do do it for you if not i will get someone to do it. Well have to go grab some lunch, have a good one. Angela

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Hi Angela,

that is absolutely lovely of you. Okay, I will focus on these PHP pages and use it as a sort of starting point, adding information to it such as where to find programming work through the internet, where one can download free software and everything associated with this type of job. I will then put your translation onto the web so that Ugandan’s can easily find it. I will create a package that can be downloadable so that they can study everything offline. I am excited to be doing this and that I can help even before getting to Africa. Depending on your translation capacity we can then proceed to the other types of jobs through the internet.

I will answer your other points below.

I am gonna start the translations next week. I am off work for 3 days and that will give me time to concentrate and work on the translation. I am willing to help and work with you. I am going to contact my sister in Uganda, to find out the requirements for registering as Non-Governmental Organization. But according to my knowledge you are gonna need the following documentations

Okay, how about we wait until I have all the details, so that I can prepare everything necessary at once, instead of answering different emails and then information starts to get jumbled and more difficult to manage?

Thank you,

Karel

> 1.Organization Name :I has to be reserved and registered by the registrar of
> names/documents so no one else uses it.
> 2. Work Plan
> 3.Organizational Chart or Organization comittee offices that you intend to
> have.
> 4.By-laws/constitution
> 5.Recommendation letter from a local leader,where the organization is going
> to operate from.

Bright idea Kenax . Africa lags behind in ICT . We have been rebuilding the Villages through Village Life Safaris Charity[ Volunteer] wing . Visit their Caharity [volunteer page] at www.villagelifesafari.com or write directly to villagelifesafaris.com for direction .

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Hello Edgar,

thank you for your email and looking forward to accomplishing something with you. My website should explain everything and my intentions, but I can rewrite the same concept into a Word document for translation to local governments, but I need to understand what is required or how I should go about it, so that I do not end up rewriting the same document a hundred times. Perhaps you could help me understand what is required.

For example, I can begin to write the instructions I plan to write for the computers, which the Africans would read to teach themselves all the computer skills I taught myself, and for which I hope to find volunteers who could translate into various African languages. In this way I could start to help Africans even before I get down there or before I start giving away laptops and solar panels. Do you think I should move forward with that?

What concerns proving that I do not intend to sell the panels and that this all is not some fancy means to avoid paying taxes, I really do not know how I could prove something like that. Any suggestions?

Karel

On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM, Turuka wrote:

Dear Karel,

thanks so much for the reply and the direction you are showing me.

To do the below list of things, I would need to know from you the activities involved (kind of what is required to be done). This can be in terms of a document or proposal whereby I can read, understand and get to talk to the ministry concerned or any other people concerned. Things like tax exemption will need to know what we are going to do for whom and how. This document should show that whatever we are going to help the villages(villagers) it is not for profit-making.

So far I have only the document which i copied from kenax website which tells what can be done to make our people get fast knowledge on the technology no matter the problem of power/electricity we are facing and that the solar power can do miracles.

Thanks in advance. I will start immediately to followup and give you the reply to what is required and who are the concerned people when it comes to that mission to be accomplished.

——————————–

Sorry for the delay in getting back with you.  We don’t get too involved with trees and forest-based carbon projects.  Your best bet is to talk with a company that develops these types of projects.  I don’t have any specific suggestions other than a concerted web search should uncover the ones you are looking for.  Try including VCS, CCBA, CAR, or Plan Vivo as a search term, as these are some of the recognized standards a forestry project would follow.  Good luck.

——————————–

thank you for your feedback. Just curious, do you occasionally get work from Czech, Slovak or French to English? I myself have been translating for the past 15 years.

Thank you,

Karel

Okay, I’ll try to incorporate the below keywords as well. Anything that comes to your mind you can send my way. I can then put it through my special SEO program which tells me how many searches a month people make in them, and then focus on those that people search the most, including the other ones in the same page, to generate the maximum traffic. On that note I’ll create a webforum as well, for my Africa charity page, creating a category for Canadians, so I’d say within a month from doing that I should be at the top of google and see if people actually start using it. I’m trying to move more towards administering my site and less producing content. Too time consuming, although fun and educational once in a while.

But like I said, the most interesting for me will be the prospect of networking with like-minded charitable Canadians down there. Could lead to some interesting progress. k

2010/1/3 Keta

yes exactly, but start it well in advance of going because it will take a while to build. I have the name:

Canadian Connection : Africa

or

Canadians Connect : Africa

or something like that. then you leave room to add more regions because I KNOW that in the first week you will get an email, “I am in East Yemin, there’s no Canadians here, help me too!!”

the most important thing is to make it a nexus between Canadians here and those abroad, to really open it up and to really give people a reason to use it.

exciting.

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 21:25:18 +0200

Subject: Re: Canadians in Africa

perhaps the best thing that could come out of it is networking and contacts for what I want to accomplish. And just to support each other and hang out. Thanks for the cool tip.

2010/1/2 Keta

Yeah “Canadians in Africa” is good, just call it what it is. You can always put a funky subtitle later.

Re: searching, pretty sure you’re gonna have to go country by country, the continent is such a mess. Don’t forget certain parts are French speaking!

This is exciting, if you start on Facebook and, I strongly suggest Flickr, you could get a really good idea of the community.

Think “Canadians Starved for Other Canadians” you could include their friends & family here, let everyone interact. This could be huge.

-Keta

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 20:26:48 +0200

Subject: Re: Canadians in Africa

hm, interesting. I just did a search on google for “Canadians in Africa” and there’s not much there. I’m sure I could make a Facebook group and a single webpage on my Africa charity domain and I’d be near the top in no time. You think that would be good keywords? Can’t imagine “missing the north” would be search very often.

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 8:13 PM, Keta wrote:

I’m listening to the Vinyl Cafe (you remember, the radio show on CBC, you said he sounded like a Pastor), they’re doing “letters home” – Canadians working and living abroad. I am AMAZED how many are in Africa!

I thought they would be mostly in Europe or Asia, you know, where the money is, or in English speaking places like Australia or NZ. But they are all over Africa: teachers, technicians, professionals, etc. Young people, people with their families.

Maybe you could organize some kind of social network in prep of going there? Some of them have been there for a while, but they’re all over the continent. They must have computers & at least some internet because they get CBC.

They are all starved for anything Canadian! Maybe you could set up a wee website for them to interact? Make a group on Facebook, link to yourself, make a group on Flickr so they could share photos, put a messge board so they can chat? Then over time you could learn more and you could gather names for when you actually go there.

Think “Canadians Missing the North” if you do it I will help you with content and gathering members. Remember, I have TONS of experience with internet communities of various kinds and play that game very well.

——————————–

Hello Angela,

at the moment I hope to make it to Africa by the end of this year. Depends on how much money I earn over the year and if I can save up the gas cash etc. Crossing my fingers.

My concept is explained in detail through

http://africa-charity-project.org/

Basically I taught myself everything I know on the computer and earn a living through it, through solar panels, so I thought this could work in African villages.

So, what concerns paperwork on the Uganda end, I guess concerning any regulation about importing solar panels and used or new laptops. I expect any country I do this for will not charge me any taxes at the border.

Getting registered in the US as a charity would be good to receive donations.

We can link to each other’s websites and I’ll do it to yours the next time I work on them.

Another thing which you might be able to help me with is translating my computer instructions. Or find someone for that. In which case I could begin to write down all my thoughts. Eventually I’d like all my ideas with translations to be as templates for the laptops I give out. There would be courses to teach oneself English, and my instructions in English and various African languages. I would be the administrator of the laptops so that no users could install games and waste all my efforts.

These are my preliminary ideas.

Enjoying your feedback,

Karel

On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 12:33 AM, Angela

Hi Karel,

Thank you for the response concerning my e-mail sent to you. It is OK to link our website to yours.I do have ideas about paper work required. If you need help with that i can help. I am originally from Uganda but my husband is from the United States, so i live here. I do have people on the ground running the Orphanage and also in case of your paper work i do have people in offices who can help.

Teaching is English and Computer Skills will be very beneficial to the children. Do you have an idea of when you intend to go to Africa? Also i have a friend whom i think you may be very interested in communicating with. Her Name is Meadie Burton and she lived in Uganda working at the orphanage for the last 4 years. She is also arranging to take people to Uganda on a mission trip. Her e-mail is

Our charity is registered in Uganda as Non Governmental Organization plus you can go ahead and send me your proposal see if i can translate for you. If not i will send it over to Uganda to someone else to do it on my behalf.

Hello Sue,

thank you for the response. I gather Mombasa is also in Kenya?

Can you help me with some the paperwork?

I also have clients who are interested in African translators, so perhaps I would be able to find people work before I get down there. If you can help me find translators I can give you a commission percentage of work assigned them. I’m sure there are other ways you can help me move my project forward and I would be interested in all your feedback.

Thank you,

Karel

On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 10:23 AM, Sue

Hi thanks for your reply thyat was very fast indeed.

My real names are Nelius Muiruri.Sue is just a nickmane.

Well,i was born in Nairobi and grew up there,but recently moved to mombasa.I would suggest you start up with the villages near  Mombasa coz the poverty level is very high.I have myself worked with a Non govermental organisations which was dealing with women groups and i can tell you they deserve the proect.

Also for the purposes of clearing,it will be aesier for you since the port is at  mombasa which you also be stationed.How many people do you want to cover?i mean the villages?Also if its for charity work,when you are shipping there are some documents needed foem the ministry of education,culture and social services to enable you clearly the goods with minimal cost.otherwise you will pay huge amounts of money.

Hope to hear from you soon and you can ask any question.

——————————–

Hello Nana,

hope you had a good Christmas.

I’m wondering if you got any feedback on my last French translation.

I have some African translators and can send you my list if you like, but not so many, although I’ve started advertising in Africa and am picking up more. I realise that the villagers will probably have to start with simple stuff like data processing and website design. I can help them teach themselves with that. Once they develop their English and other skills, then possibly they could translate. But I’m already picking up skilled people.

Have a good New Years.

Karel

On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 10:53 PM, Nana

Hi Karel,

I think it is a good idea in principle. The major challenges I see are:

a) skills – the people in the village need to be quite well trained in either IT or languages to be able to use the equipment to work remotely and

b) demand for their services. You can help with your translation and other services agency, so that could be a great boost. We also have demand for African translators at times, but they would need to have very good translation skills.

It’s along the principle of teleworking – a lot of work has been done on this and you may be interested in looking into it, if you haven’t already. I can’t add any links to our website, but would certainly be interested in hearing from good translators, either directly or through your agency. All the best and good luck with the project,

——————————–

Hello Sue,

I’m aiming to go to Kenya in about a year, if everything works out well. I already wrote a letter to many in the Kenyan government, so I hope to get some positive feedback and help from them. Other than that I don’t even know what will be required of me. Do you have an idea?

Right now I’m advertising on Craigslist and getting good responses. I don’t really have a great budget but perhaps I could try some newspapers if you have any good suggestions. Generally all African languages would be of interest.

Thank you,

Karel

On Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Sue

hi there,

thank you for your reply…yes Mombasa is in Kenya,the coastal part of it,and the good thing also is the weather which is sunny and humid,almost through out the year.making it better even for solar systems.And yes i can help you with the paperwork.

About the translation,what do you want exactly tro be done?i can also look for good people to do it for you at a fair cost.what languages do you want?let me know.

——————————–

Hello Karim,

I’m finding that I’m getting fairly good responses from Craigslist, so I will try putting ads throughout all of Africa and see how the responses are in other countries (I just started in Kenya). I don’t really have a big budget at the moment and I’d rather save up for some solar panels for my Africa charity project, so because of the above two reasons I decided I will now only go for option 2, and carefully consider about spending money on a newspaper. It all depends on how much work I myself get.

Thank you,

Karel

On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Karim wrote:

Hi Karel,

I am interested in your offer, and I would rather go for the first option.

- I live in Mali (West Africa)

- I can post ads only in the capital city (Bamako), as this is the unique major business area of Mali, and this is also where I live

- We can generate French, English, and Bambara.

So, please let me know when is appropriate to start recruiting satellite translators.

——————————–

Hello Sue,

I am advertising for translators in Africa on Craigslist and getting fairly good responses, so I will keep trying that and in all African countries, since my clients are interested in all African languages.

I am also looking for funding in the west but don’t really have a clue how to go about that. Worst case scenario I’ll save up some money myself and fund a village to get the ball rolling.

Karel

On Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 10:32 AM, Sue wrote:

Hello again,what do you mean craiglist?you are looking for funds to do the project at the moment?

If you will start with Kenya,then you dont need the other african languages….only the languages used in Kenya only.

——————————–

Hello Angela,

your organisation sounds great and I’d love to help you, but at the moment I don’t really have any money and I’m saving up to make it down to Africa in about a year. What I can propose is to link to your website from mine and if anyone decides to send me money, I can propose that they send it directly to you, or figure out something. I hope to make it to Kenya first but after looking at a map I see that you are neighbours, so hopefully I’ll be able to start soon in your country as well. Do you have any idea about paperwork required to start something in your country?

Once I make it down there I’d love to teach your children English and computer skills.

Just curious, where is your charity registered? I’m trying to figure out how to register it in the US.

Another option is if you or someone would be interested in helping me find translators. Get the employment ball rolling even before I get down there. I can send you my renumeration proposal for that if you like.

Looking forward to your response,

Karel

On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 8:23 PM, Angela wrote:

Hi,

My name is Angela Namatovu McNally founder/Director Mercy Home of Children Uganda. We are a registered organization working with vulnerable children since 12/25/2001. I would like to introduce to you our children who are in need of help. We started a project called deborah 8 child project through which these children can acquire sponsorship. www.deborah8foundation.org

The purpose of this letter is to ask for partnership with your organization .We have 135 children from 3-17 years,boys and girls most of whom are orphans, former street children, abandoned, war displaced and children from very poor families.These children are in need of electricity at the moment. We had electri installed at the Orphanage but due to high bills we are forced to terminate our subscription with the Uganda Electricyt Board. We try to provide as much as we can but the need is too big,that’s is why we have decided to contact your organization to support in anyway possible.

I would be very grateful if my request is considered.

Thank you very much.

Hi Ken,

thanks for the response and I will answer below next to your points.

On Sat, Dec 26, 2009 at 8:24 PM, Kevin wrote:

Dear Karel,

Thank you for your email about your wonderful project.  After working in Kenya for six years on the Maywood Rotary Kenya Project, I do have some concerns about your goal:

1.  Solar panels are much cheaper in Kenya than most anywhere else.  But the solar companies are not willing to make contributions of their product.

< I have about a year to set this up, so if I calculate it will be cheaper to buy the panels there than to struggle with import duties and paperwork, absolutely no problem.

2.  I have had many solar panels stolen, you have to secure them, fence off the area, and have paid 24 hour security to deter thieves from stealing them and reselling them.

Do you think it is possible to find some village where they will be able to manage this themselves? For example, I’m not interested in being some naive Santa Clause throwing things left and right, but I want to believe villagers that they will put the equipment to good use, and I want to make sure there will be at least enough bright and responsible people there. I have taught myself everything on the computer, so I know it is possible and I can teach others. I have a feeling that the younger population will be better. Those who can soak up languages like a sponge soaks up water. Computers are like a language. But the people also need to be self motivated. I am not interested in helping lazy, ignorant people who will only want to play computer games or sell the panels for short term gain. I will want to meet these people and they will have to convince me. Perhaps I could put a free ad somewhere and I can already start communicating with candidates before I get there?

So they would have to convince me that at least one person there is motivated enough, intelligent enough, and that the rest of the village will protect the equipment. Once that person learns and starts making an income, they can teach the rest of the village.

3.  I think you have underestimated the amount of theft from the villages, you have no safeguards in place to insure that all your laptops and solar are not taken and sold by the villagers.

4.  I suggest you do NOT bring or ship laptops into Kenya as the import taxes are 50% of the value of each item, it would be cheaper to buy it there.  Or have a lot of money with you to cross the boarder and pay for it.

< I hope to resolve this with the government ahead of time. I am trying to round up a bunch of donated and used laptops from people. I think it would be silly to pay any import duty if I will be giving them away, and if the government does not want to help its own people, perhaps I might choose another country. We’ll see how that goes.

5.  Many Kenyans in rural are not literate enough to work a computer without a year or two of training, first Kiswahalli, then English.

Kiswahalli is a language I guess? One of my plans is to write down everything I have learned on the computer and by which I earn my own living. Then to find volunteers willing to translate it into a local language. Make some sort of template which can be installed onto the laptops. After that they just need the time, brains and motivation to learn it all. Just curious, do people have spare time in poor villages? Or do they have to help their parents with farming etc.? Is it possible that there could be a young bright kid with motivation and capacity to absorb a lot of this very quickly? Let’s say I managed to put together several project villages, I could drive between them regularly, camp out with them in my caravan, perhaps stay at each one for a week, teach English, motivate them, help them on the computer. I would prefer that the laptop is used all day long and as many hours as possible. Perhaps the children etc. can rotate, or the most promising one spends more time on it. As soon as one person starts making any income, then they can work towards buying a second laptop etc. and teaching others to do the same. If it is sunny down there I would think that a single panel could power at least three laptops. Then one or two big batteries could power at least one laptop until midnight.

6.  Internet access from an IP are about $300.00 dollars a month plus time on line.

< They can learn everything offline, and if they get some work, they can transfer it through memory stick at an internet cafe. I’ve survived this way for years without a problem. Most of my jobs are offline. But to be able to run my business I definitely need internet. Possible through mobile phone? Are there cafes with wifi? I definitely need to sort this out for myself, but the villagers don’t need internet so much.

7.  I would not recommend traveling through the Sudan, it’s really not secure and you could lose all your equipment on the road by thieves and without paid guards your life will be in danger.

< Suspected that. I’m glad for your realistic picture. Many were painting it quite rosey, but I’m a realist and I’d like to spend the next year making solid preparations, before I go down there.

8.  I would suggest that you find the money to pay one person in each village to monitor, guard and supervise the use of your equipment.

< Can’t see that happening. The villagers have to care and want to learn. If they don’t I’m just throwing my efforts out the window. They have to convince me that it will be a good investment.

9.  For advice on which villages to assist, I suggest you contact local NGOs and perhaps enlist the help of their local workers.

< Do you know how I could find these? Not sure where to start.

10.  Portable solar lanterns might be less costly and more practical than LED lighting for studying.

< They sell those locally I guess? I wired my truck up with LED lights and its easy. I can help them with the wiring. I’m a jack of all trades.

11.  As a NGO in Kenya, I would NOT suggest you try this program in the Maasai Mara because legal protections there for your equipment and agreements do NOT apply; inconsistent tribal law applies only.

< I gather this is in Kenya? Yah, definitely want to pick safe enough areas, but preferably as rural as possible, and some reasonable bus distance from an internet cafe (not far away town etc.). If I can accomplish something like that it will create a good template and example for potential sponsors.

12.  If you want to increase your donations, it would be wise to set up a 5013c tax deductible foundation or a Euro foundation that will be recognized in the USA.

< I’ve sent out some emails regarding this but it’s all new territory for me. Do you have any suggestions? I have lots of friends in the US who could do leg work for me, but don’t really know where to start. I myself have Canadian and European citizenship, and have contacts all over. I’ve been thinking about this as well and trying to get the ball rolling in that direction. Any tips you might have would be appreciated.

I hope, Karel, that I am not being to pessimistic, but I just want you to avoid all the pitfalls that my and other organizations faced in trying to make change in Africa.  I can see that you are very determined and will do well reaching your goals if you can avoid these problems.  If you need any further information from me, please feel free to email me at any time.

< Nope, this is perfect. I definitely need sound information. Your tips have helped me greatly and looking forward to progressing with this.

Thanks a lot,

Karel

——————————–

Hello Holger,

what website could you link to mine from?

Concerning the attachments, I assume the villages where I want to try this will not have any networks etc., quite possibly not even electricity, so the only extra I want to start with is a usb memory stick so they can take work to a cafe and transfer stuff that way. The rest online. We’ll see, but thank you for your suggestions.

The rest I think I’ve got well covered. Maybe you know of some organisation who collects used, donated laptops? Just grasping at straws and for ideas at the moment.

Take care,

Karel

2009/12/28 Holger

Hello Karel,

thank you for your e-mail.

I thought about your idea and your question if it is feasible to help Africans to earn money through translations. To tell you the truth, I don’t know the African translation market or the market for African languages at all and, unfortunately, am not in need of translation services in an African language until now. But I also had a look at the website of your charity project and yes, basically, I’m interested in helping you there if I can. Exchanging links is quite easy and I would agree in doing this. As you are trying to distribute laptops to African villages you also might need attachments, such as modems, routers, PCMCIA cards for WLAN access, cables, printers and so on. If I can help you there in some way, let me know. Or perhaps I can give you some advice regarding the advertisement of translation services in online portals such as Proz.com. But as you are running a translation business yourself you probably have already the necessary know-how (and “know-where”). I look forward to hearing from you and wish you a happy and successful new year!

I Ingo,

thank you for the positive feedback and I would certainly enjoy discussing this with you further, whenever you find the time. I hope to leave to Africa in about a year so if by then you run into some organisation or whatever which can collect used laptops, I’m a whiz at them and can whip them into shape for the villages. Would be cool. Or any other ideas you might have.

Have a good one,

Karel

On Sat, Dec 26, 2009 at 7:47 PM, Ingo wrote:

Hi Karel,

I think it is a fantastic idea and I would like to support you in whichever way possible. Unfortunately we only translate novels from English into German so I don’t see an immediate need for translators into African languages. I would be delighted, however, to put your link onto our website (but even that will have to wait a couple of months). I also happen to be quite handy with Linux which I assume would be your operating system of choice for laptops. I tried to get businesses in Munich (where we are currently based) to donate old laptops for Africa but didn’t generate a lot of excitement. I may try again now that you have provided me with something to show. Feel free to contact me re any of the above! I am frantically busy until the end of January but things may just ease off a little after that. Keep up the good work, happy Boxing Day and don’t work up a sweat

——————————–

Hello Marinus,

I’d say one of the reasons why I am doing this is because I want to do good in God’s eyes, for all that he has done for me. But by extending God’s grace in this way, the definition of grace is often to extend it to those who seemingly do not deserve it, as was the case with me, in the hope that they will learn from it and react positively to it. On the laptops I want to put a bible with translation, and perhaps occasionally I will mention God in conversation, or if people ask me why I am doing this, but other than that, if you knew me or talked to people who know me well, everyone agrees that I do not push this issue. I myself can get rather turned off by ranting fundamental Christians who push their agenda. I call that “formula Christianity” and their motivations are driven by their own desire to get into heaven and their belief that the more they “save” (convert to their own formula Christianity) the more brownie points they will get in heaven. I believe this is a wrong and selfish motivation and that they’re potentially missing the entire point of what God’s grace is about. It is a lengthy topic to try and explain.

I also believe that God blessed me with a lot of compassion, which is another reason why I am doing this. I feel that with the global warming people in Africa will suffer horribly in the not so distant future and I’d like to help them avoid it. They will not be able to survive on traditional farming. I think it will get very desperate down there and this could be quenched to a certain degree if they have other means of earning income.

And my last motivation is that I simply want to do something with my life that I am proud of and feel a purpose. I sit behind this computer maybe 16 hours a day. I want more people interaction and to do something useful. Just making money for myself feels hollow and not very rewarding.

Just received a lengthy response from an NGO who has been working for decades in Kenya and he has painted a picture roughly correlating to my worst expectations. Realistic. Because I want to do something useful, one thing that burns and annoys me is when lots of my energy and efforts go to waste. For this reason I will be quite careful about giving away solar panels. I have to think about this carefully, but if I give anyone anything, they have to convince me that they will put it to good use and that they will be able to protect it. I also want to communicate with the government about some sort of protection, or safer areas, etc. I’m not interested in driving all the way down there to get robbed or worse. I’m sensible. Anyway, we have about a year, so hopefully I’ll be able to make some good preparations by that time.

Thank you for your feedback,

Karel

On Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 4:15 AM, Marinus wrote:

Hi Karel

I’m still thinking about your business proposal/development support. It could be viable, but I have two concerns: is the help provided in any way connected to a religious organization. I see that you quote the Bible on your website, so I suppose you are a Christian. If a poor African farmer is an atheist or an animist, would you help them, too? Is there a requirement to visit a church or any other religious or political institution? Secondly: should this endeavour take off, how could we ensure that no local maffia-like structure will take over? Who will manage things fairly over there when you are not available?

Hello Daniel,

I didn’t expect to receive actual interest right NOW, but it’s been from several people so I need a few days to look in my database and compile a concise list of all my African language translators at present. Once I’ve done that I will send you the list. If there is good interest, it will only motivate me to get down there sooner and round up more people. I think the internet revolution will hit Africa within the next 5 to 10 years, and then trade with it, and subsequent demand for translations.

Karel

On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 9:08 PM, Harcz & Partner Ltd. wrote:

Dear Karel:

I wonder if you received my answer to your message below.

You can provide the African people with my e-mail address. I look forward to receiving their applications.

Merry Christmas!

——————————–

Africa charity project and seeking African translators

In this email:

1) progress of the Africa charity project

2) subscribe to Africa charity project newsletter

3) seeking African translators

——–

(1)

Howdy dudes,

well, managed to make some progress and moving forward with my project. The discussions have been interesting and you may read them if you like through the standard http://africa-charity-project.org/.

My plan now is to stay in Bulgaria until the fall of 2010, when my one year contract for internet through mobile phone ends. By then I hope to be well prepared for my journey. Which, for the time being, seems like a drive to Alexandria Egypt, and from there ship out to Kenya. On the way perhaps I’ll try to set something up in Syria. Kenya has year round perfect temperature for me, so looking forward to the adventure.

By that time I hope to have found some sponsors for solar panels and laptops, but if not, I believe I will have enough saved up myself to supply at least one village. I can camp out there in my truck, make friends with them, and teach them English and all my computer skills.

I have also begun communicating with several translation agencies who are interested in African translators (point 3 below), so while shacked up in some village I hope to find them some work already.

(2)

If you would like to receive regular updates of the Africa charity project, you may subscribe to http://translationstop.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=6.

I won’t bombard you frequently but only when I feel it is interesting.

If you do not subscribe this will probably be the last letter you get from me on this subject.

——————————–

Hello Marinus,

thank you for the insightful response.

Yes, one of the jobs I would try to get them is dataprocessing and other simple jobs, which they could compete against since they could probably charge a lot less. I’m looking at all options.

What concerns translations, I think that Africa will experience the internet revolution over the next 5 to 10 years, and as it opens up to the world, and people start earning money in different ways, the market will also open up, in which case trade will increase and then the demand for translations will also increase. Kind of happens hand in hand. Anyway, just trying to help them join the global internet scene faster, because with global warming I think they will have a hard time surviving on traditional farming alone.

Take care,

Karel

On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 9:47 PM, Marinus H. wrote:

Hi Karel

Sounds like an exciting and very helpful project. I’d love to come on board, but we’re already quite involved in a bunch of other projects. Can’t do it all, I’m afraid, unless it is an idea that is commercially interesting at this end.

As to the translation idea: it’s hard to imagine who would ultimately want to pay for translation into an African language. I don’t know that market very well, but in the markets I do know the amount of work is determined by the companies that want to reach potential clients. We had a bit of a recession in Germany and not long after that the amount of work from German into English and Dutch collapsed, which caused a price drop of about 15% we’re still struggling with right now. I’m actually considering giving it up because the situation has deteriorated so much.

Which means that only if you can find or create a market in that particular language group, there will be outsourcing to freelancers as a result.

But how about English business services? There are other, less complicated services you could offer. Making editable Word files out of PDFs for example, creating termbases (dictionaries) from existing translation, or file conversion (from Excel to tmx for example). The tools are relatively cheap or even free. I’m pretty sure that if the price is competitive, certain services can be better done by people instead of machines. How much turnover in USD would a candidate have to make per day to make it worth their while?

I could see a business opportunity in a combination of development/outsourcing to African ‘home offices’, but reliability is an enormously important issue. Just as not everyone in Canada or Germany is fit for work that requires pedantic attention to detail and good punctuality, not everyone over there will be. If you are the kind of man who doesn’t mind mixing altruistic intentions with making some money for himself by being the manager of a business service centre, this could be an option. I personally would get on board a business like that, but only if it promises some income for me in the long run as well.

Whatever your reply may be: all the best and good luck with your ventures.