‘A workshop like this requires maximum effort’: Altran at work in Zambia and Tanzania

Having to work in an environment that was completely alien to them and meet the high expectations of both the local partners and IICD, their mission was extremely challenging but, looking back, definitely worth undertaking.

IICD collaborates with private sector companies in order to make use of their knowledge in applying specific technology that will help local partner organisations implement projects. Consultants from IT companies see it as an excellent opportunity to widen their horizons and make a direct, personal contribution to the day-to-day lives of people in developing countries. It adds value to the regular work they do for the company.

In July, two consultants embarked on two separate missions: John Honings worked together with IICD and local partners on development aspects of patient and blood donor information systems in Zambia, while Maarten Schroeders continued his work for the Tanzania Telecentre Network (TTN), gathering input and expanding the website that he helped them develop on his previous visit.

Supporting health care reforms in Zambia

For John Honings too, this was his second visit to Zambia; in October 2007 he had been sent to OPPAZ, an umbrella organisation for 48 groups representing organic farmers, processors and wild harvesters across Zambia. In order to get better market opportunities, OPPAZ is in the process of obtaining an eco certificate for the whole group of farmers and its activities. The eco certification enables them to sell their products as eco-products, a growing market nowadays. John Honings helped them to set up a mobile network to improve the exchange of information with potential international buyers. For his second visit, he was asked to help another group of local partners who are in the process of developing an information system for their organisation: the Zambia National Blood Transfusion Services (ZNBTS) and the Diocese of Mongu.

John Honings: “Both organisations asked for assistance with setting up a computer system to help them store information on their patients or blood donors which can be accessed by their medical staff. As the information system will contain rather sensitive data, security is an important issue: not everyone needs to know who has HIV, hepatitis or other sicknesses. The system needs to help them to collect and register data more efficiently and faster, and to compile reports for financial donors.”

The Zambian health sector is weak and faces a number of challenges, including:

• a large number of complex diseases, which is further compounded by the high prevalence and impact of HIV/AIDS and malaria;
• critical shortages of health workers at all levels of the health service delivery system;
• the erratic availability of drugs and medical supplies;
• shortages of essential medical equipment and accessories and the poor condition of those that are available;
• an underdeveloped infrastructure in the rural areas, especially the transport, communication and health service infrastructure.

All these constraints pose significant challenges to health service delivery, especially in the rural areas. Since 1991, Zambia has been implementing health sector reforms with the vision of “ensuring equity of access to quality healthcare services, as close to the family as possible”. Both the ZNBTS project and the Diocese of Mongu project are helping to transform this vision into a reality.

For the Diocese of Mongu, the patient information system will considerably improve the flow of information to and from its various sites. The Diocese of Mongu has several programs to support the communities in the Western province of Zambia: Home Based Care, Orphans and Vulnerable Children OVC, Justice and Peace, Development Education Program (Training for Transformation), Agriculture and a Supplementary feeding program for the Home Based Care and OVCs. The patient information system will be used at 15 sites in 5 districts in an area covering 67,293 square kilometers with a population of 622,450 people.

For the Zambia National Blood Transfusion Services (ZNBTS), the information system will help them to:

• set up a reliable computer-based blood donor management system to enhance data accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness,
• reduce the risks of incorrect identification of donors and blood units, and
• ensure blood safety.

Although John Honings has a long track-record in developing information systems he encountered a number of challenges when working together with the local technical experts from the Zambian Open Source Initiative Zambia and the ‘customers’: the Zambia National Blood Transfusion Services (ZNBTS) and the Diocese of Mongu.

John Honings: “For me, it was a real challenge to transfer knowledge on the functional analysis and specifications for setting up models for date storage, as well as the organisation of the project itself; everyone needs to be aware of his or her own role and know exactly what to do. Time is limited during an intervention like this and there is only so much that you can do. In addition to this, ZNBTS and the Open Source Initiative were not used to working in a project environment where the customer, ZNBTS, takes up project management and the developers from the Open Source Initiative Zambia are the [executor/ sub-contractors]. The programmers of the Open Source Initiative Zambia were always used to delivering ‘something’ to the customer at the end of the trajectory. The project leader from ZNBTS needed some coaching to gain more self-confidence in managing the whole process and making sure that the end-product would meet their needs. For me, it was good to see that so many people enthusiastically participated in the project and took it all very seriously. It gives me hope that within time both projects will succeed in delivering a donor information system that can be used by ZNBTS and a patient information system for the Diocese of Mongu.”

Major power cuts and limited internet connectivity in Tanzania

Consultant Maarten Schroeders who, like John Honings, had worked with local partners before, set off for his second mission to Tanzania where he once again worked on the same assignment as his last trip. The Tanzania Telecentre Network (TTN) needed assistance with gathering input and expanding the website that he had helped them develop during his previous visit. Included in this three-day workshop was training on basic website administration for future website administrators.

The Tanzania Telecentre Network (TTN) was founded in October 2007 during a workshop where telecentre leaders discussed how they could respond more effectively to their communities’ information needs and improve the way in which telecentres functioned. Eventually, the telecentre managers decided to set up the Tanzania Telecentre Network (TTN) representing all the telecentres in the country, charging it with the responsibility of spearheading the movement of establishing and strengthening telecentres throughout Tanzania. Through its member telecentres and other stakeholders, TTN aims to develop activities that promote the use of ICTs to exchange information and improve service delivery, with the ultimate goal of alleviating poverty.

During his first visit, Maarten Schroeders facilitated a participatory mapping exercise in which the telecentres were mapped in Google maps, and information was collected on issues such as the type of services offered, clients, technical support and connectivity. A start was also made with the TTN website, which was further developed during a second workshop. The website will increase the visibility of TTN as a whole, especially its members and their activities, on the web.

The second workshop was held at the telecentre offices in Sengerema, a city with a population of 50,000 people in the Northwest region of Tanzania. Thirty people took part, including representatives from telecentres, government bodies, ICT service providers, wireless network experts and civil society organisations. Looking back, Maarten Schroeders is quite satisfied with what he achieved during the 3-day workshop, but first he had a number of challenges to overcome.

Maarten Schroeders: “In Sengerema we suffered from a major power cut and limited internet connectivity which made it quite difficult to hold this workshop. Most people in Tanzania have to face these challenges every day but for me, being used to a reliable power supply and good connectivity, it was different. Fortunately, we managed to find a solution. What also made it challenging for me was that I had to work with participants with various levels of expertise. Still, it all worked out well. The participants responded enthusiastically to the website content session, and came up with several suggestions for improving the website and exposing the Tanzania Telecentre Network in general. As a result of the administrator training session, the telecentre website administrators are now able to change web pages and layouts themselves. They have promised to update and improve the website in the future. However, during the first few months I will be available for technical maintenance of the website until the administrators are experienced enough to take over that task themselves.”

Looking back on his mission to Tanzania, he can only say that is was a challenge, but one which was very satisfying: “A workshop like this requires maximum effort from a consultant: not only do you have to be able to cope with cultural and environmental differences, local traditions and food, but the local partners (and IICD) also expect you to do your utmost, especially during the days in Tanzania. This results in short nights and long days of hard work. However, if you are up for such a challenge, you will get the chance to be part of a big adventure which you will never forget!”.