From this blog, you guys realize
that we finally reached Mozambique safe and sound after successfully getting
the in-transit visa for South Africa in one day while our stay in New
York. And by the way, the surprises did
not end there. We had to stay in a hotel in South Africa for one night because
of some issues with the ticket confirmation. Seems like we all stay in a
different world, people in South Africa said that they don’t trust the online
email confirmation for our reservation. But all is well that ends well, as we
said we finally made it to Mozambique safe and sound. We are ready for new
surprises because that’s what we get here every single day.
Now let’s talk about some real
work, after all that’s what we are here for isn’t it? We met Dr. Arlindo, Director of Public Health of Chicuque Rual Hospital, on the
second day and got started on work. He discussed a few different kind of
problems that they are facing currently. We mentioned how our software can
solve their numerous problems and got the opportunity to present our project
“Connect the Dots” the third day. This is definitely a good head start. Thanks
to Ycenter and Drexel CCI for hosting the whole show. After having these
meetings, we came to a conclusion that in addition to using Connect the Dots
for just Malaria, we are going to add the functionality in it to collect the
data on HIV. During the meeting Dr. Arlindo mentioned about a huge problem of
collecting data using questionnaires from different communities. We take
internet almost for granted. It is unbelievable that just because the internet
is limited or not at all available at most of the places here, they have to
travel to communities approximately 75 km (that is 46 miles) to get those completed questionnaires, then
input all the data manually in the software to make any analysis. We are now working on adding the
functionality in Connect the Dots that will allow collecting the answer to the
surveys or questionnaires related to HIV through text message and save them in
the database. Softwares can make lives easier. And to test this beta version ,
we are going from Maxixe to Mucamba fae. Awesome right!
The one major good news that you
all should know is that until yet we tested Connect the Dots software only
using United States numbers. Now we tested the software with the numbers in
Mozambique and it works. Cheers!!
Wait… we forgot, the beach view is
awesome here in Maxixe. We loved the batata frieta and the apples. Our friend
used to call Tarika “French Fry Queen”, I think she is still the same even.
Batata frieta is French fries!! And off course she loves them. We also watched
Source Code movie and travelled in chappa (local public transport in Maxixe). We
will keep the surprises coming. We are on it! See you guys later!!