Ex-Campers   view as chat

This is the space for Ex Campers to share their thoughts. It is also the best place for people who have not been to a Camp to find out what Camps are all about. No fancy language or editing - this is what the community has to say.

If you are a "Source Camper" ....

If you are a Source Camper and you were with us in Croatia, Namibia, India, Tajikistan or Uganda please share some of your impressions / thoughts / comments with us. There is no better way to convey what Source Camps are all about then handing the pen to you.

Please tell us (and the world) what you took away from the Camp and if the things you learned were useful. We would also love to hear why you would recommend it to others (or not recommend it) and any other thoughts you might want to share.

We would like to encourage in particular those who took part in our first camps. Since Summer Source in Croatia three years have passed - this will give you enough of a perspective to see if what you learned at the Camp had an impact (small or big) on your work and/or life.

To contribute something to this page, please log in (you have to register first) and then click on that orange box that says "DETAILS AND ACTIONS". From the list of options, choose "REPLY" and write your comment into the text-field. After clicking on "PUBLISH", it will appear at the end of the page.

Thank you!

Last edited by: phi

Hi all, I'm Fajar Priyanto from Indonesia.

I was invited to AsiaSource in Bangalore India in 2005. Well, I can say that it was a life-changing experience. All about it was inspiring. The people, the event, the place, the atsmosphere, all.

It was the time that I found the true meaning of the spirit of Opensource and it's community. I learnt a lot and made some friends too :)

Simply short, thank you very much for inviting me into AsiaSource. Without you all, I won't be the way I am right now.

I'm looking forward to being helpful in any way I can if needed.

Knowledge Belongs to Everyone

http://linux2.arinet.org

Last edited by: Fajar Priyanto
in reply to Ex-Campers

Hello,

I'm Begzsuren, from Mongolia. I was a participant in Croatia Summer Source Camp in 2003.

That time was my first impression of free/open source software world. After the camping I made my page at http://www.mcl.edu.mn/croatia_eng.html

I have known many FOS softwares, after that my eye opened to use this kind softwares in my library services.

There are 1 professional NGO is working: Mongolian Unix User Group NGO (www.unix.mn)

Wish successes,

J.Begzsuren

= =

www.mcl.edu.mn

www.acic.edu.mn

Last edited by: Begz_Mongolia
in reply to Ex-Campers

Hi

I'm Brenda Burrell from Zimbabwe. I participated in the Africasource II camp held at Kalangala in Uganda.

I loved the experience, especially the informality of the venue and accommodation. It meant that people were a lot more accessible to each other than you would find in a hotel scenario.

The rain and remote location made it a challenging venue for the organisers, but for me it made all the difference.

The only complaint I have is that the programme was too ambitious and we really had to rush through most sessions to get through everything. Maybe less would be more!

The diversity of people brought together for the Uganda workshop was a big plus. All round a great use of time in my book.

Best wishes to everyone who was at Africasource II.

Brenda

www.kubatana.net

Last edited by: Brenda Burrell
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My name is Evelyn Namara from Uganda, i work with Linux Solutions.

I was part of Africa Source II, that was held in Kalangala early this year, Africa Source II was one of my most memorable experience and i do not regret being part of it.

Meeting so many people and sharing out ideas with the different guys freely was an experience that was worth not forgetting. There were lots of things to learn from the 'geeks' and people were willing to share out the knowledge freely.

I think Africa Source II was a super event and at the end of the day, going back home with lots of software as 'NGO in the box' was the best i ever experienced, to date i still use most of the material i got from the source camp and its amazing.

I believe the idea of source camps is amazing and people who go to them with lots of ambition get out there as changed people.

I have no regrets being part of Africa Source II and i have nothing to criticize about it, because to me, it was a perfect source camp.

Best regards,

Evelyn Namara, Uganda.

Last edited by: Evelyn
in reply to Ex-Campers

Hello There,

I am Shamsudheen Hyder from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My experience at the Asia Source in Bangalore, India, was fascinating as I met many people from all over the world. Some of them are still in contact and four of them have actually been to my home!

I continue to share the knowledge I gained about the various aspects of Open Source and it's applications. On my part to advance the usage of Open Office, I am planning to implement it as the standard in the Internet Cafe I am involved in, which has seen some setbacks recently, but will be operational by mid September.

I welcome suggestions and ideas on what more I can do.

Cheers

Sham

Last edited by: Shamsudheen Hyder
in reply to Ex-Campers

It's been a while since Asia Source camp at Vishtar in Bangalore. But it remains vivid in my mind. Vivid enough to have kept me in the F/OSS circle to date and to have sustained a number of high tech friends both here and elsewhere, a few of whom I more or less am in touch with.

Not that I'm now programming - I'm not in THAT class. I am happy to say that I'm able to sustain some involvement in advocating it to the NGO world here in the Philippines. First, in our NGO, CMA or the Center for Migrant Advocacy. Since then, we have migrated our two laptops to Ubuntu, including mine, and so my colleague and I have become used to its plusses and minuses hehehe but we are coping, thanks to our techie support based in Darwin and my co-camper Dong Calmada. Our desktop is just waiting for our techie.

I also had the chance to meet up with Stephanie Hankey together with other Asiasource campers when she did some monitoring visit last year. Our two junior staff were also able to learn Open Office courtesy of ISIS, where Pretchie, my co-camper is the System Admnistrator. I have also participated in the F/OSS sessions organized by Foundation for Media Alternatives in was that a Linuxworld something I have to check - where Cheekay, another source camper, shared on Gender and ICT I think? Attended another on FOSS and something about legal and security. Also had a chance on the latest Ubuntu when who was he came to visit.

I also became part not only of two F/OSS e-groups: OSANG and BUKAS but also a member of the evolving BUKAS, together with Pretchie and Dong Calmada, another co-camper.

Immediately after Bangalore where I participated in the GIS session, I promoted this to the Action for Economic Reforms in relation to their project with the European Union on Millenium Development Goals. Two softwares, one for GIS and another for their MDG planning matrix, were both open sourced. In our own CMA, we are just about to start to translate (is this the right term?) our SMS SOS OFW hotline, that we launched last February 14, into open source. My colleague also presented this in FMA's recent workshop on open source advocacy tools for NGOs. Unfortunately, I had to give up my "scholarship" to others because it was in conflict with a forum I was organizing at CMA.

I am now regularly sitting with the evolving BUKAS group. We are in the process of critiquing the government's ICT roadmap and by next week, we shall be critiquing FMA's FOSS and education, FOSS and gender and FOSS and the digital divide. Then we shall be holding a dialogue with the government's Commission on ICT to take up the ICT roadmap and more.

At the same time, I'm able to more or less keep abreast with the goings on with my co-campers here in abroad through the regular updates I get on my e-mail. Thanks. IThis is all to update on myself. I would like to reiterate my thanks to the Asia Source organizers. It was one of the best things that happened to me, despite being technologically challenged.

Last edited by: rhodora philippines
in reply to Ex-Campers
Tags: feedback

I've been lucky enough to have attended two Source Camps - AfricaSource I in Namibia, and AfricaSource II in Uganda.

While I was working with open source full-time and developing a little after work and helping people somewhat aimlessly on local mailing lists, the drive, passion, and stories from my fellow Campers convinced me that I needed to do more - to be more involved.

By the time AfricaSource II came around, I was working full-time on developing open source software (for example, on KnowledgeTree, an open source document management system), and I was helping people from all over the world on more than just a once-off basis.

I am changed - I have developed a lot of drive and confidence from my interaction with my campers, and am passionate about helping people learn to help themselves, and instilling the same passion in others.

The networking opportunities at both camps have left me with a number of contacts that I use regularly - whether to just keep up with what's happening elsewhere or connecting two people that I know so they can help each other.

In terms of skills, the most valuable to me have been those around facilitation - from learning how to focus on the needs of others and not leading them where I think they should go to various activities that I've learned and used to improve team cohesiveness.

The Source Camp programme continues to improve in ways that help the Campers learn the skills they need and perhaps more importantly to learn the confidence to ask questions, to learn from themselves, and to meet people who they can work with on their shared goals and passions.

Neil

Last edited by: Neil Blakey-Milner
in reply to Ex-Campers

Finally managed to find the time to explore this new space. Congratulations to the fabulous TacticalTech peeps for setting this up! Very clever, really, to provide other people the necessary resource to hold their own Source Camps. And I do like the 'sharing' philosophy behind this.

Hmm. Maybe I should introduce myself before I continue yapping away...

I'm Cheekay from Manila and from the Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme. I was at the Asia Source Camp in Bangalore.

While I had been an Open Source user and advocate prior to the camp, I do think that the camp experience was the final nudge I needed to fully convince me to take the Open Source option first before considering a proprietary solution (to make proprietary software the alternative and not the default option). What convinced me was the breadth and depth of human resources that was made available during the camp: from listening to seasoned Open Source developers and users talk about all the cool and useful stuff a person can do with Open Source to seeing how 'newbies' experience Open Source with ease. The former provided me with tools that enhanced my own Open Source use and understanding; the latter alleviated my concerns about the usefulness and relevance of Open Source to regular, non-geek people.

My interest in Open Source was and always has been (probably always will be) how Open Source could be brought to more women, how women can benefit from it. Being at the camp gave me an opportunity to learn and reflect on this matter, and by the time it was over, I had a much better understanding on how to convince women to use and commit to Open Source.

Beyond that, the source camp was a one of a kind, you-had-to-be-there experience that I will always remember fondly. I am still in awe of how the organisers and facilitators managed the 100+ participants and created a relaxed and learning environment. I do hope that this resource will guide future camp organisers to replicate that experience.

Last edited by: c5
in reply to Ex-Campers

Hi All,

I want to thank Tachtical tech for great work they're doing to spread the gospel of Open source especially to the developing world, we all believe that this is immense contribution to liberate developing counties to improve our economies through use of cheap and sustainable resources and F/LOSS.

My Name is Nashon Onyalo and I took part in Africa source2 in kalangala Uganda, My unselfish opinion is that the event's experience was beyond imagination; can you for a moment think of meeting people all over the world, with different technical expertise, skills, knowledge and characters in one small beautiful beach in a remote village?

Source events are beyond description, you would probably say it's all you would need in one box.What makes this event different to me is simply "People" I wonder how they are chosen, its one out of a million events one would wish to attend. It's a place where you learn everything at ago from how to open a bottle of bear with a mere paper to constructing a huge cheap network or may be building your own multi-million FM station with $30.

I want to say big "kudos" to the organizers, they must be inspired by some hidden energies and the fact that they are now willing to share these energies in public is great news to everyone.

Thanks and Regards

Nashon Onyalo

Last edited by: Nashon Onyalo
in reply to re: Ex-Campers

Hi everyone, this is Jerome S. Gotangco from the Philippines. I was invited to participate in the recently concluded Asia Source II camp that was held in the memorable Yawitra Asri in Sukabumi, Indonesia.

While I already have deep experience with using Free and Open Source Software and even involved in some project directly, participating in the Source Camp was unexpectedly life-changing.

The camp goes beyond the technicalities and philosophies of F/OSS. I've learned to respect and love people from all walks of life, different culture, different beliefs, but we are all the same in goal and aspirations in life. The camp gave me a bigger network - not technical but social. I've earned more than I expected from the camp. Thanks for the memories and it will never be forgotten.

My thanks also to Tactical Tech for giving us the chance to experience and work with you guys. Most especially to Dirk, our track 3 facilitator who is a real hero.

Variatio Delectat,

Jerome
http://jerome.gotangco.com

Last edited by: Jerome S. Gotangco
in reply to Ex-Campers

Hi, I'm Handoko Suwono from Indonesia.

I feel very honored being eligible to participate in the Asia
Source II in Sukabumi, Indonesia. Meeting over 130 participants
and facilitators from all over the world is indeed an
overwhelming experience.

The camp style is a new way of training which is not the same as
other trainings or seminars held in formal occasions such as in
hotels or conference rooms. The nine days event really long
enough to know each others and create bonds. People were feeling good and eager to share knowledge in the spirit of open source (remember the skill shares and speed geekings).

I work in a small enterprise which adopt easily to adapt ICT
facilities to lower the digital divide. The experience gained
during the camp will help a lot in preparing and promoting how
open source programs can adjust to the more proprietary software particularly on lowering the budget of using expensive hardware to cope with recent upgrade of the new pricey
operating system.

The question is, will it still be free for FOSS in the future?

I also want to thank to all sponsors who make this event happen
which are UNDP APDIP, IOSN, InWent, Tactical Technology Collective, Aspiration, Hivos, and ICT Watch as the local host.

Handoko Suwono
Datacom Informatika

Last edited by: Handoko Suwono
in reply to Ex-Campers
Hi!

I'm Carmela "Ela" Bona from the Philippines and I was one of the very
fortunate people who was able to experience Asia Source II last January
22-30, 2007 in Yawitra Asri in Sukabumi, Indonesia.

I came to Asia Source II with a very minimum knowledge on Open
Source. I've only used Linux when I was in college but that's it.
Nothing more afterwards. Participating in Asia Source II opened my eyes
on the real Open Source: its benefits, its advantages, and the changes
it can bring people. I was even shocked to see that a lot of people are
involved in Open Source advocacy. And I was very lucky and fortunate to
meet such great, intelligent, genius people.

Right now, I'm working in a non-open source environment and it makes
me so unhappy. Ever since I got back from the camp, I've always wanted
to practice my learnings in Asia Source II. I'm slowly exploring the
great tools I got from the camp (thanks to NGO-in-a-Box) and getting
started on my personal blog.Eventually, I'll be spreading the good news
of FOSS to the people around me.

Lastly, I would like to thank the organizers of Asia Source II. You
guys made me realize the real Open Source...You made me meet very great
people from all walks of life...You brought change into my life...(and im
willing to go back anytime) Thank you very much...Mabuhay ang Asia Source
II! Long Live FOSS! Long Live Asia Source! :-)
Last edited by: Carmela "Ela" Bona
in reply to Ex-Campers

Hi,

My name is Klaikong Vaidhyakarn from Thailand. I attended two SourceCamps in Asia Source I and Asia Source II.

The source camp has been made friendship among geeks and social practitioners until now, we still in touch through the mailing lists.

The important thing the source camps was inspired me to organize the Mekong ICT Camp in February 2008. Because the source camp methodology that make all participants sharing their experience about technology and build good network between participants.

The Mekong ICT Camp was followed the instruction in this site. The information in this site is very useful for anyone who want to organize the activity like "Source Camp". I would like to thank Tactical Tech Collective not only the wonderful event like Asia Souce but also the great knowledge in this site that make us accomplish our event.

Klaikong

Last edited by: Klaikong
in reply to Ex-Campers

India is the best place to have your camping. I swear, the place is really amazing and completely historical. We held our camping in Calcutta for 3 days and fell in love with the place. After that, we even made essay papers for reflection and reaction for the said camping. I even made an article for our official school magazine. It was awesome.

Last edited by: krizza
in reply to Ex-Campers