BGAN helping NGOs in Africa
Non Governmental Organisations (NGO), by their very nature, often work in remote or inaccessible areas. The kind of work carried out by charities and volunteers on behalf of NGOs is aimed at improving the quality of life of some of the world’s poorer communities, so when out in the field, communication infrastructure can be very limited and very often, non-existent. This is why many NGO workers, such as Belgian Eric Vanbutsele rely so much on satellite communications.
Eric Vanbutsele is an NGO volunteer for PROTOS, an organisation based in Belgium whose goal is to improve life for underprivileged people in nine developing countries, through equitable, sustainable and participatory water management and by building water and sanitation infrastructure. Eric is currently working on a program of Integrated Water Resources Management for the water basin of Lake George, Uganda. His work takes him to Uganda and whilst in the field he uses a Nera WorldPro to make sure he is in constant communication with home, PROTOS and his colleagues and partners/stakeholders in Uganda.
The intervention zone is situated in the rural areas of the water basin of Lake George. This area extends over the 3 districts Bushenyi, Kamwenge and Kasese. The project works with two groups of people who don't currently benefit from the general development of this zone: the fishing communities in the official landing sites of Lake George, and the rural population of Kamwenge that live on subsistence agriculture.
In this area 28 % of the population lives below the absolute income limit, and 34.5 % in a situation of seasonal food insecurity. The target group of the project – those who will benefit most from the results – are the poorest part of the population.
The community faces many problems such as poor health due to water borne diseases, poor sanitation and access to drinking water, pollution and depletion of the natural resources. It may be said that poor management of the natural resources is one of the main causes of all of these problems. To overcome these projects and to start a sustainable legacy for improvement of conditions in the area is a big job, involving lots of communication and time spent on the ground in Uganda. And for this, Eric relies heavily on his WorldPro BGAN terminal.
“I use it mainly for sending and receiving emails. I also use it with MSN to prepare text for my blog to update colleagues, friends and family. Being able to communicate with the NGO's headquarters is important,” says Eric. “The WorldPro is also useful for setting up meetings with local authorities and businesses. Much of my work consists of that, it's a huge lobbying job to achieve anything. With the BGAN I am able to get information quickly, set-up and organise meetings and not the least, follow up on these meetings afterwards.”
Saving valuable time
At one time I met a very competent local development worker, who promised to send me a study he had done on the same area I was researching. One day later, while he was back in the capital, I could download his report in the field giving me very valuable information that would have taken months to collect, allowing me to refocus on other parts of the information I needed to find.
The Nera WorldPro is the smallest and lightest broadband mobile satellite phone available on the market, and as such has become a favourite for private and single person business use. It is easy to transport and set-up, and provides all the benefits of BGAN including global data and voice with applications such as email, internet and videoconferencing.
With communication such a key part of the work of NGOs like PROTOS and people like Eric, it is vital that the equipment be not only fast functional and reliable, but also easy to use.
“The Nera WorldPro was chosen first of all because of its size. It had to fit easily into a back pack, and cause no overweight charges at airports. Also, it had to have good battery time and it should be able to connect to a solar panel.
“Colleagues and other people I met from other NGOs were amazed about how quick it was to set up and use, and send and receive emails in the middle of nowhere. I usually set up the BGAN in the patio of the guest house or motel I stayed in, and often I was 25km from the nearest village, really in the middle of nowhere. I found the Nera WorldPro extremely easy to set up and simply plug into my PC and use. It was very reliable. I used calling cards, and I could continuously follow the bandwidth usage,” comments Eric.