[Computerbank] CBAI - SA March News

[romana]

Hi all, and welcome to new subscribers!

Well, the CBAI -SA group has been a bit quiet of late, so time for news and 
updates.

In March's news and information:
CURRENT GOALS & ISSUES
HOW CAN YOU HELP???

CURRENT GOALS & ISSUES
Behind the scenes, we are quietly working towards a couple of important goals:
1) Permanent premises.As many of you know, premises are our highest priority. 
However, funding for premises is an issue. We are applying in June for WFTD - 
Work for the dole, a scheme whereby we train long term unemployed in building 
computer systems, installing Linux, and training recipients. This will supply 
us with funding for premises and projects. Until then, we continue to operate 
out of the Eagle's Nest (for those that have been here and know the horror of 
our endless hilly driveway) that is mine and Shaun's home at Bridgewater. 
This is not a great solution, both in terms of CBAI-SA access, and in terms 
of our overcrowded house, and the impact on us and our 4 offspring:)
Storage of systems is at our home, and in the sheds of members. This means 
access to parts can be very difficult!
One solution we are now investigating for at least a short term solution is 
local councils - do they have rooms we can utilise as a community group? 
2) The WFTD Application needs to be written. Unfortunately, we will need 
premises to apply! (A seemingly circular problem!!!) We will be looking to 
train 10 people for three days a week. Volunteers will be needed for this.We 
currently have some people who have indicated interest in doing this. In the 
long term, funding would go towards paid positions, part time at first. This 
model is currently working very successfully in the Victorian branch.
3) While we have received donations recently of systems, we are currently out 
of Hard Drives, so we cannot ship systems to recipients. Victoria has offered 
to come to our aid with some 500 and 800 mb hdds, but we will go through them 
rapidly, as we need to ship systems of at least 2 gb. Modems are another huge 
issue. We currently have sufficient ram, but we go through that pretty 
quickly too! As a national body, we are looking at submissions to Federal and 
State governments, to ensure an ongoing supply of hardware. However, we are 
up against Microsoft supporting groups, so we face a real battle!
4) As Branch Convenor, I (and Genevra the baby) are off to Victoria, for a 
meeting of all Branch Convenors from around Australia, on March 23-24. I am 
happy to raise any topics raised by the SA branch, but please get suggestions 
to me asap:)
5) As soon as we receive Hard Drives,we plan an Installfest, to ship some 
systems, clear some backlog, and give us back some space here:) Anyone want 
to volunteer a venue, please do so, else its trudge up the hill time, folks:) 
I will discuss possible venues with the folks from LinuxSA, and also see if 
they have anyone interested in coming along to help.
Date to be announced (as soon as we receive hdds from Vic, basically:)  )
6) Meeting time - we have had recently several expressions of interest from 
new volunteers- time to organise a face to face. This may be at the 
Installfest, say for an hour beforehand, to discuss issues etc or we may 
decide to hold a seperate meeting, depending upon feedback. Please let us 
know your opinion asap:)
7) The Computerbank Australia email list has been down for a while due to 
technical issues out of the maintainers control, but is back, better than 
ever:) All are welcome to join! If you are interested in joining please send 
email to majordomo at lists.linux.org.au - in the body of the message put: 
subscribe computerbank. If you would prefer to use a webpage interface then 
subscribe from http://lists.linux.org.au/ 


HOW CAN YOU HELP???
We need help with all the areas raised above.
We need volunteers to help with:
* premises location, and moving day when we find one - try talking to your 
local council, or suggest othe rpossible sources of premises
* writing the submission for the WFTD scheme
* volunteering to become a trainer for WFTD particpants - (we will ensure 
that you are fully trained if you are inexperienced!). We aim to be able to 
pay a small amount of money to the trainers, and long term, actually employ 
them.
* attending meetings and install days
* locating sources of hardware, storage of hardware, pickup of hardware
* input into discussions for the National meeting
* anything else you can think of!!!

Looking forward to hearing from you all!!

Romana:)
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romana at timelady.com icq no:393293 

Computerbank Australia -  SA branch coordinator 
http://www.linunix.com/cbsa/ 

"Between the idea and the reality, 
Between the motion and the act, 
Falls the Shadow..." 
(TS Eliot) 
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