The Bosco Uganda Relief Project

Breaking the Silence: The BOSCO Uganda Relief Projectwww.bosco-uganda.org

The report - by the Civil Society Organizations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU) - reports 146 violent deaths per week in northern Uganda - 0.17 violent deaths per 10,000 people per day.

"Rates of violent death are three times higher that those reported in Iraq following the Allied Invasion in 2003," said the report, entitled "Counting the Cost: Twenty Years of War in Northern Uganda".

The rate of violent deaths in war-ravaged northern Uganda is three times higher than in Iraq, according to a report by 50 international and local agencies released recently.

THE UGANDAN TRAGEDY

Compare Uganda to another - more well known - crisis: Islamist Darfur - 600km to the north.

“Crude mortality rates are more than three times higher than those recorded in Darfur in October'' - the new report added.

The report puts the cost of the war in northern Uganda at $1.7b over the past two decades. It said this is equivalent to the United States' total aid to Uganda between 1994 and 2002.

THE ARMY AND THE LRA

UPDF's Operation Iron Fist inside southern Sudan - instead of crushing the rebels - has stirred up a hornet’s nest, driving most of the LRA back into northern Uganda where it began a brutal campaign.

In Uganda between 1994 and 2002, 25,000 children have been abducted in the region and 95 per cent of the people in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader are living in absolute poverty.

Were people to witness the events of these years, with their own eyes, they would surely be outraged. The tragedy of Uganda is unthinkable in modern times. Seeing, hearing, feeling. These emotions are powerful forces we can bring to bear on this situation. Help will come when people see it. When they hear it. When they feel it.

Several documentary films have dramatized the silent tragedy that is northern Uganda in a fashion we wish to address through BOSCO - Here are two examples:Invisible ChildrenChildren of Uganda

BOSCO was born in response to the destitution of over two million people, currently living in these IDP camps in the Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader provinces of Northern Uganda. They exist in utter squalor - deprivation of food, of health care, of education - all those things we take for granted.

One of the worst, and most dangerous, features of camp life is the radical isolation. Isolation from each other and the outside world.

Isolation leads quickly to despair. Atrocity exists in the shadows of world opinion, where the world looks not, where there are none who say “no more”.

Our solution, then, necessarily became communication: via Internet, via Phone, via Images & Film.

Communication out of Africa, to bear witness, and into Africa, to provide help. To the Ugandans, to warn of danger, to educate, to organize, to advocate for themselves for assistance and public acknowledgement.

UN High Commissioner Jan Egland recently deemed the situation in Northern Uganda to be “The world’s most forgotten humanitarian disaster”. Providing a communications network to the forgotten of Uganda will end their isolation from the rest of the world, and help them to rebuild their society. Allowing this situation to continue, and worsen, is unthinkable.

Technology has proved available: Broadband internet access with VoIP phone service to the camps will provide both short & long term relief, over distances up to 20km per Wi-Fi location.

VoIP can be deployed at local rates between Uganda, the USA, and Europe.

High-speed Internet will provide video upload capacity: The world -and the media - will see the events in Uganda as they unfold.

Solar technology will power Wi-Fi routers, digital camcorders, computers, lighting, and phone service to Schools, Hospitals, Churches and News organizations – all using extremely low power consumption 12V DC.

SOLUTIONS

BOSCO provides answers for 5 goals:Provide Internal emergency communications - between IDP sites & the rest of Uganda

Provide External emergency communications - between Western & Ugandan church officials & US technical personnel.

Provide educational opportunities via schools & web access.

Enable the people in the camps to do their own advocacy-to let them speak for themselves  via the Internet.

The power of Image, Video, and Voice, to focus the attention of the Western & International broadcast media on the plight of what, until now, has been an "invisible" tragedy.

Will this project be self sustaining - eventually paying for itself?

When war ends - perhaps soon - BOSCO will enrich the lives and economic fortunes of both the Ugandan Acholi people and attract investment – as other regional projects have already done.

Please view this testimonial from our deployment partner, Inveneo: Inveneo on CNN- Global Challenges

Let’s take a look at Uganda’s geography, IDP camp locations & density, and the BOSCO Uganda Relief Project’s proposal to “put a face” to this heretofore invisible tragedy, and to it’s solution: Provide communication, coordination, and safety to the northern Ugandan millions.

The Geography of Uganda. At the Source of the Nile, with Lake Victoria & Lake Albert, Uganda is blessed with great beauty, fertile farm land, and natural resources.Uganda is nevertheless surrounded by troubled neighbors Sudan to the north (re-Darfur), Kenya, The Congo, Rwanda, and TanzaniaUganda therefore sits directly between Africa’s Geopolitical hotspots of the last 25 years Uganda, The Nile, & Central Africa

Uganda’s Geography & Topography

The political divisions in Uganda today: Cities, Provinces & Geography

Gulu, Kitgum, & Pader provinces, in the far north, contain most of the IDP campsNorthern Provinces of Uganda

A Operational Navigation Chart was last surveyed by the British Colonial Authority’s Defense Mapping Agency in 1973, on a scale of 1:500,000

Please note the rolling hills and steady descent in elevation from Gulu: Perfect for a Wi-Fi Network Topography

This chart remains the last general mapping of Uganda to this very day - 34 years later.Defense Mapping Agency - 1973

BOSCO has since obtained a rare collection of detailed topographic survey maps prepared in 1968 by the British Department of Overseas Surveys (DOS) on a scale of 1:50,000

These maps were obtained courtesy of Intra-Library Loan from UCLA via Indiana University

These maps had never before been released by UCLA - one of only three institutions in the world to own them – and have not since.

Once obtained, we were able to determine the terrain suitable for BOSCO. We at this point moved forward with an onsite survey.Uganda Survey-D.O.S. 1968

All 53 IDP camps in Gulu by name and population

Please note the index at page’s bottom

We have selected the most populous of these to receive immediate help, as they are historic villages which will remain after the war’s endGulu IDP Camp-Village Location & Population

Next, a schematic diagram showing how the BOSCO network will be designed.

This array will service the 20 camps we have designated, considering size, population, location and geographic area coverage.

Please note VoIP phone & Digital movie camera locations.

BOSCO Technical Design

The BOSCO DesignFrom a satellite to a central Server, Wi-Fi Routers, at 20km range, carry high speed internet & VoIP service to each location, powered by Solar Batteries which service Thin Client computers (all data remains on the server in Gulu), phones, lighting, and camcordersBOSCO Network Design

Licensing: BOSCO has procured a license via the Ugandan government - security will be provided in part by Ugandan forces, already deploying, by securing the roads which connect our sites during daytime hours.

Publicity: Local and international media attention, documentaries widely available on the internet, and our project, have calmed the situation already. A general truce is holding as of now.

Government Backing: The Ugandan government has inquired as to the possibility of our deploying the system throughout the northern provinces.

BOSCO Security

Mobility: All of our infrastructure is mobile. Computers, phones, and Wi-Fi routers can be easily moved and stored in secure vaults.

Warrantee: All of our hardware is covered by extended 5 yr. warrantee.

Service: Any defect or network failure is monitored, 24/7, by 1st local, then remote IT professionals.

Redundancy: Spare units have been procured for all necessary components.

Phase I to consist of Gulu hub site – Central Server - 7 IDP camps with several hospitals , schools, and churches serviced

Phase II deployment - full 20 Gulu area sites

Phase III to cover 60 IDP camps. Gulu, Kitgum & Pader each to receive VSAT hub + 20 site deployments

BOSCO Deployment

BOSCO Phase I

1: IDP equipment=$15,409 2: Power equipment=$20,5703: Expenses for deployment=$32,040 4: Project management=$8,000 5: Misc. expenses=$7,4006: VSAT equipment= $12,030.007: VSAT power equip.= $11,446 8: VSAT ISP service=$6,388,80 annually9: Travel & lodging=$7,000.00 10: IT consult & admin.=$22,400.00 11: Ongoing Support = $8000 annually

BOSCO Phase I TOTAL=$150,683.40

Phase II

Phase II to include all remaining 13 sites, and cost will reflect the following:

Approx. $60,000 in new equipment

New deployment expenses, yet to be calculated regarding travel, consulting etc.

Phase III

Phase III will duplicate the completed Phase II

The neighboring Provinces of Pader and Kitgum will each host 20 installation sites and a hub site for it’s central server and satellite signal receptor package

PROJECT TOTAL COST - Phase III – target date December 2008 estimated to be: $563, 445Annual ISP costs, maintenance, & administration=$23,888 x 3 installations. Cost to be sourced locally

Want to know more about us? Please visit our Site! http://www.bosco-uganda.org