[Imc-finance] Request $2500 For Shipping Computers to Ecuador IMC

[evan@protest.net]

I'm not sure exactly what form a full request should be in  but this is a
pre notice that it'll be coming down the pike in the next week or two.
This is a project that a number of individuals from imc-tech, indymedia
portland, san francisco, ecuador and the whole Latin Ameircan imc network
have been working on. At their meeting on the 1st of September the latin
american imc's came to agreement to back this project and request that
some money from the imc global fund be used for this project. After
shipping computers to ecuador both the Brasil and Argentina imc's are very
interested in working on making this an ongoing project. This project has
already attracted supportive foundation interest and we hope that it'll be
funded in the future without drawing on existing indymedia global funds.

Summary: Project to ship a container of approx. 250 to 400 refurbished
         computers to Ecuador to extend the technical capacity of
         civil society and the anti-globalization movement
         leading up to the anti-FTAA protests in early November.
         If successful this will be the first stage in an ongoing
         project to send large numbers of computers to social
         movements in the global south through indymedia.

Date/Timeline:
         1 Month. We will be using the initial $2000 to $2500 we have
	 raised from friends of the portland imc for shipping costs. This
	 $2500 will be needed for fees, shipping, and storrage within
	 ecuador, training materials, and other unexpected expenses.
	 We expect to ship the container mid to late September with the
	 hope that we will be able to begin distributing by early
	 November.


Proposal Description:

The single most consistent request from indymedia activists in the global
south is for computers and media making equipment. Even though the
internet and computers are reshaping the world they are only doing it for
those who have access to the equipment. For the past two and a half years
indymedia has prided itself as a network which takes the tools of media
and communications and puts them in the hands of people working for social
change. For this mission to become a reality we need equipment. Computers
play a central role in all media making and communication today. At the
same time thousands good working computers are thrown out because they are
a year or two out of date. This project thinks big and is attempting to
not only solve the needs of a single organization but to build capacity
across the breadth of the movement for a just society.

By working with the Alameda County Computer Recycling Center (accrc.org)
in Oakland and Free Geek in Portland we have found a free source of
recycled computers. ACCRC and Free Geek take used computers from US
companies and refurbishes them for non-profits, the poor, and educational
institutions around the world. We are organizing our own labor to test the
incoming boxes and put together the parts into useable systems with a
Spanish language version of Linux installed. From there the ACCRC will
load them up on to pallets and in to the container for shipping. Once the
container arrives our Ecuadorian partner organizations will work with a
customs import agent to get the boxes through customs and hauled up to
Quito. In Quito we will be able to supply computers to all the groups
coming in to town for the convergence against the FTAA at the beginning of
November. To avoid the mistakes of past projects shipping computers we are
working on putting together short workshops introducing the people and
organizations receiving computers on basic use.

We currently are doing outreach to groups in Ecuador and arranging
logistics. At the moment we working with Indymedia Ecuador, CONFEUNASSC
(The National Ecuadorian Campesino Organization), and Action Ecologica.
These and other groups have been involved in coordinating the Ecuadorian
Social Forum and have been central in the struggle to save the rainforest,
against dolarization, and recently the privatization of electricity. While
most groups in Ecuador have a couple computers there is a compelling need
for more.

Provisional Budget:

Computers, monitors, printers, etc...         $0 (paper value $100,000)
Shipping Container from Oakland to Guayaquil  $2500 for 20 foot container
                                              $3200 for 40 foot container
Shipping in Ecuador and Customs               $2000 (guess)
Trainings and training material               $500

                             Raised Already:  $2500
                             Total cost:      $5000 to $5700

                             Needed:          $2500

For more information and to talk to us about this project please email
evan@indymedia.org or call 707-822-1860.