I've spent the last 2 weeks in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania, helping setting up a mobile health project for one of the local NGOs,D-Tree International. The project is known as e-IMCI (more on that later).This has been one of the most interesting projects I've been involved in. I got involved in this project after I met Neal Lesh of Dimagi in NewYork early this year, what began as an email exchange between the two of us,ended up with me diving head first into this project. Essentially mHealth involves usage of mobile phones/technology in the area of health management.disease surveillance etc.

In this case we are using mobile phones to implement standard health protocol commonly known as IMCI-Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, I won't go into the details of the protocol since I'm not an expert in the public health field, but in a nutshell we are taking what is primarily a long paper based processed and pushing it to mobile phones,equipping and training clinicians with the necessary tools to administer the protocol effectively and efficiently. IMCI had previously been implemented on PDAs by Neal Lesh and other team members in South Africa a while back, the project had been very successful, scaling the project using PDAs was an obvious challenge considering the cost of the device and so they're arose the need to port the application to devices that were cost effective and readily available. A decision was made to redo the application using JavaRosa, the open source platform that Dimagi has spearheaded.

JavaRosa is a good platform, though not perfect it still offers the best option for a standardised method of data collection using mobile phones

We hope to launch this project in Arusha within the next few weeks, and see how the uptake will be in the field. The effectiveness of any technology is measured by the uptake and continued usage even after the initial launch.

It's hard to believe that it's been exactly 2 years since I released Peupe-this blogging application I'm using right now, the reason I always remember is because I codenamed it Madaraka since it coincided with the madaraka day celebrations.It was an interesting time for me, I had just dived head first into the world of entrepreneurship with the belief and conviction that I would change this continent (I still believe I will in one way or another), I was uneducated in the ways of business but that didn't matter to me because I had the BRING IT ON!! mindset of an aspiring entrepreneur, and Peupe was meant to be the start of many projects that would rock the continent. The next 2 years would be a journey that can't be captured in a blog post.

Now as I look back I realise that I've come a long way, a lot has changed but my core values remain the same especially when it comes to technology,innovation and entrepreneurship. I still believe that Kenyans have the ability,and know-how to develop globally competitive applications that work in this market but that can be adapted for other markets beyond this continent.

I still believe that the challenges of being in a continent that's always known material deficiency, has not only made as stronger but more resilient to the struggles that lay ahead of us.We maximize the little we have because we know we may never get access to it again, just see how far we've come even with poor internet connectivity and access to mobile phones. Simply put when life has given us lemons yet we desired oranges,we've made lemonade.

I still believe that  African technology must go beyond the computer screen,beyond the techie sub-cultures, the confusing acronyms, that it needs to reach out to business and create new opportunities,explore new ideas and empower a new generation business savvy techies, my words back then to the local techie community "..technology/technologists cannot exist in vacuum, it must come together with business...". A sustainable business should never be the after thought of technology enthusiast, but should be at the core of his technology pursuit.

I still believe that innovation will always trump imitation. Africa has always played catch up to the rest of the world, but the internet provides us with the tools and medium to finally make our mark in this world. As we leverage the internet local applications that address the unique challenges that Africa faces, the ingenuity and innovation that is abundant in Africa will go beyond the continent and showcase what we can truly do.

So here I am,typing away at this blog post at 1am, wondering whether in the next 2 years I'll build something that will truly rock the continent, if my beliefs will be the same or will I have changed them to suit the day, who knows, what I do know now is that I STILL BELIEVE..

Let me start by first saying this post has absolutely nothing to do with technology or business..Last weekend I made a decision to take my girlfriend of two and a half years and ask her to marry me. I'm now told that this is just the beginning of a very long journey,you're probably thinking I'm talking about married life,that isn't the case. Let me fill you in what should be an interesting journey,African's have traditions associated with marriage,each tribe has different customs that are associated with this ceremony. My girlfriend is from the Kikuyu tribe,one of the largest tribes in the country, my research tells me they have about 6 steps before one takes one of their women away,each step involves time and money. Think of it as a business acquisition, with every process you get closer and spend more money, at the end of it all you have the woman and are saddled with a debt you and your beloved will be paying of for the better part of your life.

My apologies, I'm making this sound like its hell on earth, its not, when you come to think of it's worth every minute of cent you spend, after all you have your whole life to spend with this woman you've chosen,so who cares if her parents make you buy 10 goats and part with a few thousand dollars, it's only money. So here I am preparing,studying,psyking myself,to embark on 2 journeys, one is short lived and prepares me for the long one, I hope I'm ready.