Wednesday's weekly online meeting linking the Dadamac UK office with its sister organisation Fantsuam Foundation took place as usual - but with an unexpected (and welcome) twist!
In addition to the regular connection between the UK and rural Nigeria, we also established a link with the Streaming, Sharing and Learning workshop in Vienna.
How did this come about? Well, the meeting followed its tried and tested path of discussing the agenda - covering topics as varied as the provision of footballs with bells to aid blind players to a major issue of permaculture.
However, when we reached any other business, were were joined by Pam and some her fellow participants who are attending a workshop in Vienna.
Kelechi had just informed us that the Academy at Fantsuam has setup an MIS for recording student enrolment. He said he would welcome 'lots of' technical support', and explained that the MIS is based on opensource and developed using php and myslp. As luck would have it, this was also an area of interest for one of the participants in Vienna and email addresses were exchanged.
In fact, while based in Vienna, I understand that the person who expressed this interest actually comes from Poland. Which once again illustrates how easily the internet can overcome the problem of distance!
In another interesting development, Kelechi and the Fantsuam team were able to greet Steve Thompson, a former collaborator who had involved some of the children at Fantsuam in his People and Place project. Emails have since been exchanged between us all and we are all looking at further/additional ways in which we can work together. This has now be added to next week's agenda - so watch this space!
Our connection with the workshop in Vienna also demonstrates the potential of the internet in supporting pioneers like Kelechi, who are at the edge of connectivity, and are using ICT for health, development and education.