Cyber Café: At Long Last, Good News!!

After months of discouragement, the Cyber was finally overwhelmed with good news in August! It all happened at once so that, in just a few short days, Cyber became a completely new Cyber! (If you need a reminder on how Cyber is set up in 2 rooms with laptop/desktops, read my blog on Cyber here).

First, we painted and rearranged the Cyber to be more welcoming. The Cyber was due for a coat of paint not only because it’s been a few years, but especially because it is right on the main road where big trucks come by sending dust flying into every crevice. That is to say, the walls were dirty.

The new colors brightened everything up and, since we used all oil paint, we hope that it will be easier to keep these walls clean. Personally, I think the blue and crème color scheme is tranquil and creates a peaceful Internet surfing atmosphere, and it’s not just because they are my favorite colors. Here we are all painting together:

Katie, Dan, Orio, Me, and Clara (before)

Dan, Orio, and Felix (during, almost after)

We also rearranged all the furniture to include a welcome desk which is much friendlier. We used to stand in the back and wait for people to come in, look around, and be confused. This picture is taken from the door and you can see how far away Sr. Alba is:

Now people walk in and there is a friendly face at the desk, so there is much less confusion:

We also got a new specially made table for our 2 photocopier/printers that includes enough space to put down the papers you are coping and we have plans for a defined waiting area with reading material as well as a work table for stapling, collating, etc. Here is the new Cyber:

All this was enough, but then, when we had just started the work at Cyber we were Italian Surprise Attacked. This turned out to be fantastic not only because the Italians could help us finish painting the Cyber, but because they brought us new laptops! Since the theft in April, we have been limping along with the Cyber’s two computers that were fortuitously at home the night of the theft, plus 2 loaners. All 4 of these computers were temperamental and refused to work entirely as they should (and 2 of them were not ours so we had to be extra careful). Now we have 4, yes FOUR, new laptop computers to use for Cyber- that makes SIX total. Like 3 times as many computers as Cyber owned before.

So this is the new Cyber. I was very happy to see these changes implemented before I left because I put so much of my time and heart into working at Cyber and I wanted to see it grow during my time. There is still lots of room for more improvement at Cyber, but I have to leave something for future volunteers!