Children's Aid Direct identified a place that needed a new computer and language school -- Mingechevier -- and worked with the local government to find a building we could work with. Mingechevier is on the far western border of Azerbaijan, on the opposite side of the country to Baku, making for some long drives. It borders Armenia, with whom Azerbaijan did not at the time enjoy the best of relations. In fact, the two countries were at war over a strip of land that Armenia occupies, splitting Azerbaijan into two parts. The refugees were people who have been displaced from that land, numbering hundreds of thousands. The school was needed to provide the younger of these refugees with a place to gain basic computer and language skills to give them a chance at finding work in Baku.
The building was in the local university, which through lack of funds had fallen into substantial disrepair. The local government agreed to repair the roof and we paid for the interior to be refurbished using local labour. We then arrived, decorated, laid carpets, installed the computers and set out the furniture we had brought with us.
We used office furniture and computer equipment (donated by HSBC, augmented by hardware from Kingston Technology and software from Microsoft), all air-freighted from the UK (sponsored by British Airways) to create a sixteen-station, NT server-based network and classroom. We even installed generators and a UPS -- there are frequent power cuts in Mingechevier, and the power supply has a tendency to 'spike' blowing up computers. There have been times in the winter when the power demand was sufficient to blow the main sub-station fuse, requiring someone to go around with a hat to raise enough cash to pay for a new fuse. That's tough. Sufficient funds were left remaining to support the centre for a further year as the charity prepared to hand it over to the local authority.
The centre was opened on completion by the local deputy mayor, filmed by local television MTV (Mingechevier TV). There was a big party and loads of speeches -- boy do they know how to make great speeches over there! Our interpreter and local guru Karim is pictured below with the Deputy Mayor -- what a top geezer! We loved Karim... the Greatest Interpreter In The Whole of Azerbaijan!
A similar centre was also created in Birmingham in a local city-centre school, attended primarily by under-privileged local children. We hoped that the two centres would communicate using internet technologies, with the children sharing experiences and engaging in joint projects.
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