Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 10:07:42 +0200 From: Chris Anderson Subject: What do we expect from Y2KAFRIK members? X-ListMember: slug@fast.co.za [survive@fdd.net] This message is sent to the Temporary Y2kAFRIKlist. Please join the SURVIVE list at http://www.cinderella.co.za/y2kafrik.htm as these temporary addresses will only be used for another week. At 21:29 1998-07-10 -0500, Santiago Hileret wrote: >I'm afraid I'm not a very techie type myself, and -as a Mac user- further >insulated from Y2K-proper. (As you probably know the Mac clock kicks the >problem forward to 2038... by which time the PC crowd will hopefully have >shown us the way :-) ) I'm a Mac fan myself although I no longer have any Apples. Just for good measure set your system date to YWD, century on, leading zero month and day, separator "-". And voila, the Mac runs in ISO8601 mode. Some of the older versions of things such as Claris have Y2k problems. But in general Mac users are in good shape. You should run a "sanity check" on your critical applications (after setting to YMD) just to be sure. >What I did was merely to pass along your "call to arms" on the Malinet >list, a general purpose list for Malians and friends of Mali around the >world (and in Mali itself). From there it must have spilled to Senegal >(you're correct; Senegal is "sn"). Great. That is exactly what Y2AFRIK needs from its correspondents. We do not only need technicians we also need communicators and facilitators. The informal "friendship networks" of contacts are a vital resource. I shall start a section called "Friends of Africa". For those like you who are interested in our "Dark Continent" but are not specifically involved with a particular African country. >My concern -regarding those countries- is mostly the legacy equipment they >probably have controlling basic infrastructural functions, and the relative >lack of info and support in French (not to speak of general shortness of >funds, even more so than in ZA). >That's why I took the liberty to -in a sense- spam a general purpose list >with a rather specialized message. And shortness of money is our common problem. That is why Cinderella and more specifically Y2KAFRIK are Zero Base budget projects. We operate on the assumption that a great deal can be achieved on Y2k (and has been achieved) without any funding. The only tools an individual needs are access to the Internet, Email, an interest in the subject and a positive attitude. >From what you write, I guess a few people have contacted you as a result. >If so, I'm glad. That means they can handle at least some English. I >purposely didn't translate your whole message because I think unless one >can find a French-speaking support group (possibly in France or Canada), >the way to go is to release all hands-on info in English. Techie folks >involved with computers generally know enough English to figure stuff out, >regardless of what language they speak at home. >You probably know about the >major French initiatives in support of computing in Africa and the rest of >their formal colonial empire: outfits like RIO (Reseau Intertropical >d'Ordinateurs), http://www.rio.net/rio/ who are behind the Diderot >Initiative (Internet for Development in Africa) >http://antares.rio.net/diderot/ , >and the Sytéme Francophone d'Information (SYFED), which creates the >."Contact" pages for various countries and also sets up small computer >training centers in the countries themselves. > >>( Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cambodge, Cameroun, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypte, >>France, Gabon, Guinée, Haïti, Hongrie, Liban, >>Madagascar, Maroc, Maurice, Mauritanie, Niger, Canada-Québec, >>Roumanie, Sénégal, Togo, Tunisie, Vietnam ) >The page for Benin, for example, is at http://www.refer.fr/benin_ct/syf/syf.htm > >SYFED is a project of REFER, Le réseau électronique francophone >http://www.refer.fr/. > >These might be central points through which more people could be reached, >but I don't know of any mailing lists or other fora that they manage. Rio >does have a good page listing access points/ISPs in (mostly Francophone) >Africa: http://www.rio.net/rio/fai/ispliste.htm I was not aware of these organisations. But you have provided a potential key to cracking our linkage to the Francophone countries. I will contact them at once and see if they will participate. This is precisely the type of activity and information that we need for Y2kAFRIK. >My "organization" is just me. I'm a pennyless >journalist/translator/small-time businessman with an interest in Africa >(particularly the French-speaking countries in the West and Centre), so I >pitch-in in little ways when I can. Snap. Don't underestimate the power of the Individual. The Pen is mightier than the Sword and all that. Cinderella and the CSSA Y2k SIG started with nothing two years ago and have now provided hundreds of people with information and Y2k seminars on a zero base budget. Our "sister" organisation, the Year 2000 Forum, operated on a slightly higher budget by working with large corporations on a subscription basis. They are probably the sole reason that the Western Cape has made significant Y2k progress to date. If these private sector initiatives had not made such a fuss about Y2k, the Government initiatives would never have been started. So Y2kAFRIK is operating on known success principles. We have already done this successfully in South Africa. We are now merely extending the operation to the rest of Africa (and hopefully the rest of the World). >The above is drawn from a fairly extensive list of Netscape Bookmarks >centered on the French-speaking Black world (Africa, the Caribbean, etc.) >that I've compiled over time. If it helps, >I could either send you the whole thing, or -if you prefer- I could compile >a list of just ISPs &/or computer-related Cos. I would ask all Y2KAFRIK correspondents to work on lists of potential Yk organisations in each region. We need email address and contact names for the following resources: - Radio, TV, and Print media. Newspapaers, magazines, Trade Journals. - Social Clubs. Lions, Rotary, anything of that nature. - Professional Associations. Bankers, Lawyers, Engineers, Doctors. - ISP's. These could primary helpers for spreading the message. - Government bodies - Utilities. Electricity, Water, Telecommunications. I leave it to Individuals how they wish to go on from there. Contact the organisations yourselves or pass the links on to me. Whatever works for you. The purpose of Web pages for individual countries is to store this collected information. As the contact lists start to trickle in, so the Country web pages will grow. >In Burkina Faso, for example, the main (only?) ISP is FasoNet, linked to >OnaTel, the national phone Co. Similar situations apply in Senegal and >Benin. These might be viable starting points for a second-round rallying >cry that might bring more folks into the fold, and some of them would >certainly be valid entries as reasonably knowledgeable resources in the >country pages that you plan to set up. Absolutely. Please contact them and start them rolling. >The key here, though, is that I shouldn't appear as a knowledgeable tech >resource for these folks, because I truly am not. The best I can do is help >you liaise and possibly jump in to help solve occasional sticking points or >difficult passages in the documents you put out. Y2KAFRIK is multidisciplinary. Cinderella can provide Technical resources. But our first problem, Awareness, is a people problem. As time goes on, you will discover that the Technical areas are relatively easy to fix, despite the volumes. The people problem is not. At the risk of teaching Grandmothers to suck eggs, let me restate the real Y2k problem simply. The Year 2000 problem and its solutions have been known about for some time. It is technically finite, but voluminous. However, the negative reaction by People was unexpected. People do not welcome this opportunity to fix their broken systems with open arms. They resist, and they resist strenuously. The psychological reaction to problems of this sort is well documented. Avoidance, Anger, Denial, Acceptance, Action. The primary reaction on hearing of Y2k is to avoid the subject completely. To utterly reject the possibility. Then comes Anger. This can be upsetting if you are not expecting it. Expect to be called names and accused of anything from stirring up trouble to deliberately overhyping the situation for personal gain. I always feel that a lot of hate mail in my in-tray means that I am getting the message across. But don't lose your cool. The Soft Answer Turneth Away Wrath. Denial. Oh it can't be as bad as that. Why not just . This type of denial indicates that the problem is now being considered as a possibility. A favourite is "there is no money so we can't do anything". Acceptance. The realisation that your own systems are affected and need to be fixed. This is sometimes followed by Depression. Positive suggestions on "How to" are useful here. Expect some negative reactions. Action. At last, the person is prepared to take action. Hopefully this does not generate Panic, but a reasonable logical approach towards a solution. All the "Doom and Gloom" scenarios about economic collapse are based on this unwillingness to take action. Yardeni says that there is a .7 probability of economic damage IF NO ACTION IS TAKEN. The Survivalists conveniently forget about that and head for the hills with crates of tinned beans. The socalled "Hype" or exaggeration of the problem in press is caused by this unwillingness to accept the Y2k problem. It is a form of "shouting" to try and wake the sleepers. People have resorted to scare tactics to try and get a response. My only suggestions for Y2k Activism 101 are: - Know the facts, educate yourself on the topic. - Understand why people will resist being told about the problem - Understand the solutions (the pros and cons) - Be positive and proactive - Persevere And only resort to physical violence when provoked beyond endurance. B>) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chris Anderson email: slug@fast.co.za Y2K Cinderella Project webmaster@cinderella.co.za http://www.cinderella.co.za Striving for Year 2000 Compliance ------------------------------------------------------------------------