With regards to the business done in Sierra Leone, in the final analysis, we know what worked and what we could get done quickly. What we could do in two and a half days per site exceeded our expectations. This we know you can do:
If there is no gear in place on site, it will cost 1000USD to get the gear. Of course, 2000USD will buy spares of everything.
I'm working on documenting the networks we set up, and putting together a standard one-day curriculum for it. That's a work in progress that is initially aimed at helping ARD and SMT, but could help others. I put some effort into making the particular gear set we used the simplest and most reliable at a reasonable price, and I think it could be generally useful in combination with some docs. I'm going to throw together a quick wiki for that. I'll throw a link here when I make progress on the network training wiki.
For the moment, here are some things we know need work:
Finally, there are two very important considerations to take into account:
There is no solution to the bandwidth problem for most rural businesses in Africa proper at this point in time, but it's a matter of time.
I hope I don't discourage people from visiting Sierra Leone. The people of Sierra Leone are welcoming and wonderful. The countryside itself is beautiful as well.
The only real warnings are: First, you have to defend against mosquitos. Second, you definitely need to watch yourself and your valuables at the airport. Third, you shouldn't travel at night due to bad traffic/drivers/other hazards. However, all those are solvable and it's a very safe country otherwise. I had zero problems in Sierra Leone and got healthier due to the awesome climate. However, as soon as I got back from Sierra Leone to San Francisco, a reckless driver talking on his cell phone rammed into my bicycle and shattered my elbow (I'm getting better). You have to be just as careful over here as over there.
The country, as you can see, is an amazing place and it's quite an experience. When I go back, I want to use tribe wanted as my base of operations if they will let me.
Check out the woodcutters cute doggie outside his shop at lakka: (all the pics we took are on http://richbodo.smugmug.com )