More stuff...

So there are a number of things that have been going on of late that I haven't written about yet.  I got my backpack yesterday, and am expecting the Hammock today.  I got this specific backpack pretty much strictly because it had the special airflow back and it was the one of that style that fit best.  As a result, I have no idea what all these pockets and straps are for!!  lol.  Actually, a lot is pretty self explanatory, and makes complete sense given my experience, but still I was going through it last night... so many little intricacies.  Very amusing...

I checked google analytics today and saw that we have officially gotten our first visit to the website from someone actually in Sierra Leone.  May not seem like much, but is still a good step.  I have specifically been holding off on doing much of the marketing until I get closer to actually leaving.  I figure its easier to have people maintain interest in the actual trip once I am there or about to leave, rather than the less exciting build up to it.  So to get visits that seem to just be coming of their own accord is positive.

I have continued to email with Cyril at Zain telecom, and he said that I could very easily just use a modem to plug into the computer and use the internet.  $70-75 for the modem and then $10 for 100mb.  I'm asking him for a full rate card for more usage.  But it is pay as you go so that is positive, no contract or anything.  With this I wouldn't have to buy a $400 smart phone, which would REALLY help my budget.  But I still need to get a phone and I need it to double as a descent camera, so still not out of the woods yet.  But it could give me more flexibility.  I tried calling Nokia yesterday and asking, but think I got hung up on... I'll have to find out more of the technical aspects to it and go from there.  It may be more worth while to do the full-on smart phone given the $75 modem, the cost of another phone with good camera, and future considerations but time will tell.

I have been working on flash cards for Krio, but I must admit am not getting far.  I just can't seem to be too successful without being in country and listening and learning right there on the spot.  This brings me to another thought that has been slowly growing in my mind given multiple conversations I've been having with people associated with the country.  Maybe it would be worth it to spend the beginning of the trip a bit more settled.  Yeah, I know not a new idea, I was already thinking to spend a week in Freetown getting acclimated.  But Kaps with Child Help and I have been talking about some project ideas and with others people about security and not getting taken advantage of - basically involving getting to know my way around the people and language.  This makes perfect sense given all my other time abroad, some places and people will try to take you for all you're worth as a foreigner 'with money'.    I am going to put together an entire post on this in a little bit though that will get into the possible project and these other considerations.  For now though, I just thought I'd put up another update...  

Networking

Networking is going to be the most important, yet most complicated and time consuming aspect of this planning process.  The more people we know in Sierra Leone before I go, the more depth my trip will have.  There are going to be multiple aspects to this process, but in short they will be:

• A US based network of people, companies, and organizations 
• Individuals and organizations located in the US but already affiliated with Sierra Leone  
• Sierra Leone based organizations working in country
• Globally based individuals and organizations affiliated with Sierra Leone (new) 

The tricky part of these lists is that it is a lot of flat out tedious work.  To find, to research, to contact (and usually not get contacted back).  But this is what will make this project successful, so it must be a priority.

Putting a Master List Together

So what needs to be done in order to make this trip happen?  I would hope that this could become an open forum from those of you reading it.  Please either just put a comment down below, or send them in, as you wish.  I think the best thing for me with it though will be to put down the broad strokes here, and then to go through each list (and its progress) separately and periodically.  I'm going to link each heading to a search for that topic (some don't have anything written yet though) so you can easily see what's been written if you'd like.

• Gear - Backpacking/Living
• Briefly though: hammock, backpack, sleeping bag, hydration, cooking setup, first-aid kit, clothing, footwear, tools, misc, etc.
• Communications
• Phone
• Computer (possibly)
• Keyboard (if no computer)
• Solar Charger
• Networking/Relationships
• US based sponsors - I will be looking at companies such as Vibram and other similar businesses with specific interests in what i will be doing to help either with products and/or financial support.
• US based individuals and organizations that are affiliated in some way with Sierra Leone.  
• Sierra Leone based organizations and individuals that can help facilitate things on the ground during my trip.
• Language
• English is the 'official' language of the country, but Krio is the lingua franca and the one that I need to be working on.  I've been meaning to post of this for a while and will soon.  
• There are also many other tribal languages that I will try to have pleasantries down with.  The two main one's are Mende and Temne. 
•  Travel
• Flight
• Visa
• Accommodation for when I first get in.  (am thinking to spend the first couple days in the cheapest place I can find to get past jet-lag and get acclimated.) 
• Itinerary
• Finances
• Donations
• Existing cash
• Registry
• Marketing
• Email updates
• Business Cards
• Post Cards
• Networking
• Medical 
• Yellow Fever Vaccine
• First Aid
• Insurance
• Anything else I may need, but don't want!!

I find myself just assuming I've left some really important thing out - like 'breathing' or something - but this will have to be the start.  And again, by all means, add all the comments or responses you can.  I need the most exhaustive list I can!!

Facebook and Twitter

So among other things I have spent much of the morning setting up a facebook page for walking lion and a twitter account @lionwalking ("walkinglion" was taken).  Feel free to befriend, like, or whatever else it is that one does on these sites.  I am not sure how this will all work, but it seems that I am set up so that if a post is made on facebook it will show up on twitter, and my 'tweets' are linked in to show up on the left column of the walking lion website.  I can 'tweet' and post on facebook via my mobile phone as well.  I also set it up so that a post on walking lion goes straight to facebook and then the chain continues.  This will allow me to do quick updates from my mobile phone while moving, or write a full post and both will show up throughout.

I am still having a problem with the emailing from walking lion though to people, on facebook it only shows up as the title and there is no link and people still aren't brought to the page.  So It seems that I am right back to the start, I must figure out a way to be able to post on the website and have it automatically send and link the post to followers and the other media sources.  We'll see, still work to be done...

Connectivity Revisited

So the clock is ticking on getting things moving towards leaving to go to Sierra Leone.  I need to start accumulating some of the things that I will need to take.  I woke up this morning after just charging my phone yesterday and its already down to two bars.  The battery's going, so why not get start thinking about a new one?  And the computer as well.  Why not get used to using it here and now?  I'm thinking of doing a 20 mile day-trip on the Appalachian Trail this weekend, I need to be able to pack as close to what I'd be taking at least weight wise.

Phones, phones, phones.  I need something as inexpensive as possible with as much as possible...  hmmm...  sounds like everyone!!  lol.  But more importantly, I need an unlocked phone that uses a sim card.  I need it to be quad band, 3G capable, connectible to a computer, and internet ready.  It would also be outstanding if I could get a fabulous camera function so I can combine the weight and not care two things.  I also need to contact the companies in Sierra Leone and see what kind of internet connectivity and fees they will have.  I was hoping to get a friend involved that works in the phone industry and would be able to provide expert advice, she's been non-responsive though.  :-/  Tough with voluntary stuff...

So It looks like I might have to do something on my own.  I haven't gotten a phone in a long time and there is a lot of a process to go through to make sure it will all function there "in country."  The thought crosses my mind whether I should just get something there.  But in general things are so much more expensive in that setting.  The other issue is that in looking at phones these companies all have country specific marketing and availability.  Actually, I should say that they pull out the US from it all.  If I was buying a phone in Europe it would be simple, they are compatible and flexible there with global communications.  The US...  not so much.  Anyway, for example, I want to buy a phone, but I can't just see a list of a manufacturers phones.  They all have which carrier they use.  I don't want one for a specific carrier.  Just a phone.

Or is it just a phone...  This post is now fluid...  All of these phones can do absolutely everything I want to do on my trip; from pictures, to messaging, to the internet, but there is just no typing solution other than to type with your thumbs...  Why carry an entire netbook if you could just take a phone and a little keyboard?  Ooo...  previously all the flexible keyboards looked big, but I just searched: 'mini' flexible keyboard and got some interesting results.  It would be ideal if they made a flexible (rollable) keyboard the size of a laptop keyboard.

Just got off the phone with the manufacturers of a mini flexible keyboard (pictured) made by Genica and sold by their sales subsidiery geeks.com.  But the salesperson spoke of PDA keyboards for phones.  He said they are tiny, but for full two hand typing.  Couldn't be much smaller than a netbook...  My big question was operating systems and plug in.  These normal keyboards are USB and seem to all be for Windows.  Phones don't usually have either, so maybe pda is the way to go.

Well, it certainly helps to just speak to people.  It is amazing at how simple it is to get answers with human to human contact.  People are really the best source of knowledge, not the internet..  But the best pathway forward right now seems to be to look at phones and to see what phones have compatible keyboards.  I must admit that I really liked the idea of water resistant and flexible given Sierra Leone's climate, and most pda keyboards are solid, but there may be a few options given what it looks like online.

Ooo...  There looks to possibly be flexible mini keyboards with bluetooth and pc/mac/pda/smartphone compatibility.  That would be ideal, getting closer... if I can just find one that's just right...  I"ve found all that but big and pink!!  Ok, time for Chi Gung, a run, and lunch though...

Marketing and PR

Hand-in-hand with communications is of course the promotional/marketing aspects of the journey.  The cornerstone is of course the website.  All information would theoretically flow through there.  Obviously though, as information is posted on it, who then reads it?

The plan at this point is largely grassroots, and hopefully will eventually become somewhat exhaustive.  For everyone that gets invovled it would be hoped that they would bring their networks in.  Obviously these days facebook is an incredible tool, as are things like twitter and other social networking sites.  These would all be used to maximize exposure.  There is some difficulty with these situations though as I have found that these mediums tend to be more about individuals than about causes or ideals.  I always say that facebook is about sports, spouses, babies, and parties - the fun things, the distractions.  It's rare to see political messages and the such, but this journey through Sierra Leone is actually going to be a personal journey.  It is one person undertaking a challenge in an effort to bring other people closer to not just that individual's challenge, but to the challenges faced everyday be the whole of the people there.  Life is about personal contact and personal attachment.  The more people that become that much closer to those in need, means more care will be shown.

Every web post will automatically be linked to facebook and twitter.  This will basically provide 'teasers' for anyone following the project or affiliated with it that would then bring them to the website.  Search engine optimization (SEO) will also be worked on in an effort to have searches not just for "Walking Lion" but for "Sierra Leone" to be high in searches.  This however, requires a great deal of things that are not all completely under the influence of any one person.  It requires traffic and lots of searches, hence the promotional campaign needed.

So if friends and family will be reached by grass roots and social networking sites, what about people interested in Sierra Leone, charity, and hiking?  Again, the website is the medium of information, but we will need to bring them to the site.  There are certainly going to be people interested in the country itself - that are either from there or for other reasons affiliated with it that will be targets.  For this there are a number of existing websites that would be notified and approached.  Getting invovled with the US and European based Sierra Leonean communities will be a key aspect to the project, both in legitimacy and in terms of support.  I already have started a list of local communities and websites worth contacting once the project gets further along.  The aid community will also be a good avenue to follow.  The key is to get linked in to a number of their websites as this both raises the SEO of our site and brings more people into the project.

Another avenue that I thought would be very interesting is to contact local schools and approach grade levels that might be interested in following the journey in an effort to learn about the country, Africa, and/or other places and cultures of the world.  I think this would be a huge learning opportunity for children - especially elementary school aged children.  I am not sure how this process will work, whether we would need to go through schools or teachers, but it would be a very worthy line of inquiry.  If you had several classes of children reading the blog everyday this would raise the awareness and impression numbers tremendously.

The project would also be using social media and other automatic notifiers as press releases for local mainstream media.  Of course it would be great if large publications such as the New York Times would follow the journey, perhaps giving interviews throughout or after, but more realistically it would be local papers and Sierra Leoneon focused publications that would be more specifically interested.  For example, I live in the Poughkeepsie area of New York.  I would send releases to the local newspaper and - though mostly unlikely given its readership - perhaps this paper would follow a 'local' person on this kind of journey.  An article or two would be wonderful to bring people to the site.  More realistically, it would be publications of altruistic and/or hiking minded people that would be interested in the journey.  This will all need to be researched.         

Though not exhaustive or even extensive, this is a brief sketch of some options to be followed in terms of marketing, if you have any additional suggestions, by all mean pass them along...