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Communications for schools, clinics and villages in the Marovo Lagoon - VSAT

March 2009

Work on the VSAT installation is progressing well - see earlier news below.

This video shows the level of cooperation & the effort made by various groups necessary to make these kind of major advancements happen. The establishment of the network framework is an essential that has taken quite some effort to achieve. The next step, the equipping of various villages & communities so that they can utilise this framework is now the challenge. As this project proceeds the interest level has been constantly growing as local Marovo people realise the meaningful advantages that having internet & email will make to their Community, businesses & personal lives. Any contributions, be it a cash donation or perhaps a serviceable laptop not in use, would be greatly appreciated & will make a difference.
Grant Kelly Managing Director Roco Ltd - Uepi Island Resort

September 2008

Progress with the VSAT installation is moving along well. Whilst the major project donors (South Pacific Commission, EU & others) are generously providing an outstanding major facility at Patakae Secondary School in Marovo & some relay facilities, on the periphey, the communities need some help. Several Uepi visitors such as Vicki & Mike Diemar and Amelia & Angela Traino are making donations to help these communities. Such donations will be used to provide hardware at various communities around Marovo. In particular Chea & Chubikopi in return for assistance with the Tao Marovo (the big hill on Marovo Island) relay station, have earnt themselves the hardware to receive the signal in their villages. But the task of providing the wireless router, solar panel & battery & any 'laptops' within the villages falls to them. We are hoping other Uepi guests will also choose to donate. Note that the 'laptops' are new solid state devices especially designed as a result of programs such as this and the "One Laptop Per Child" project & are very affordable (about AUD$350). The VSAT at Patakae has produced some significant results for the school & is impacting the wider community, even in these early stages. The Tao Marovo relay will also serve Hinakola primary school, Ngari Ngari (Onne) Community (& secondary school when built), & potentially other communities even as far as Vakambo.

If anyone is interested in contributing, please let us know by e-mailing us at info@uepi.com


Patakae School Office building where the VSAT facility is housed & the VSAT antenna installation	Patakae library building. Uepi staff Sau & Bonie are being assisted by others to upgrade the solar panels.

The antenna sends the signal to "Tao Marovo" mountain above Chubikopi and Chea villages	"Tao Marovo" mountain with part of Chubikopi village in the foreground. Photo - Laura Davis

April/May 2008

Uepi has been involved in a very exciting project within the Marovo Lagoon. The South Pacific Commission, EU & others have become very pro-active in projects to improve communications in underdeveloped areas, primarily to help alleviate poverty. There are various often interlinked projects including for example "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC)". The Marovo has become one site for pilot projects, in part due to a resident expat David Leeming. David set up the Peoples First Net "PFNet" HF radio email operation in the Solomons, is involved in OLPC & also the establishment of VSAT satellite broadband pilot projects. ne such VSAT is already established at the far southern end of Marovo at BekaBeka school with extensions by repeater as far as Mbatuna, which is just visible from our dining deck.

The next phase was a VSAT in central Marovo at Patakae Secondary school across from Chubikopi where most of our staff hail from. The VSAT installation “The Patakae project” already has adopted great improvements over the “Beka Beka project”. A wireless extension is to be established to Chaera Clinic. This involved installing a repeater station on Tao Marovo the big hill on Marovo Island. This station is well located to serve other users such as Chea & Chubikopi Villages (immediately adjacent to Tao Marovo) & a new Secondary School which should commence at Ngaringari quite near us (ex Onne Village). There are others too. Work was completed in mid May and the connection at Patakae is established.

Uepi has made a significant donation to the project to help achieve this. We also assisted with working party transport & so forth to build the station on Tao Marovo. It seems that each village will require about AUD$1500 of equipment to setup their own receiving capability. It may be a bit more depending on site factors. The idea is that users in the village will communicate to the world via handheld units (third+ generation, no longer called laptops) especially designed for the purpose. We think the cost of these units might get as low as USD$300 provided the project can buy in bulk.

We are looking for donors to help out with these costs. If anyone is interested in contributing, please let us know by e-mailing us at info@uepi.com

We sincerely wish to thank the following people for use of their photographs in our website:

Peter Lange, Peter Pinnock, Oceania Films/Matt Guest, Eric Cheng, Fred Bavendam, Andy Belcher, Manuela Kirschner, Louise Murray, Roberto Rinaldi, Mark Strickland/Oceanic Impressions, Jill Kelly, Grant Kelly, Wes Kelly and Jason Kelly.