[wsfii-discuss] Nepal Wireless Networking Project wins Asian Nobel Prize

Thu Aug 23 03:10:17 UTC 2007

Congratulation Mahabir Pun!!! Keep the good jod always UP :)

Tashi deleck,
Dawa.

On 8/22/07, Tracey P. Lauriault <tlauriau at magma.ca> wrote:
>
>   *Nepali teacher wins 'Asian Nobel Prize'*  [image: *]      [image: *]Mahabir
> Pun
>   Imelda Abano
> 13 August 2007
> Source: SciDev.Net
>
> http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=printarticle&itemid=3818&language=1
>
> A Nepali teacher has been honoured with a prestigious Ramon Magsaysay
> Award, regarded as the Asian Nobel Prize, in recognition of his innovative
> application of wireless computer technology in Nepal.
>
> Mahabir Pun, 52, from the remote village of Nangi in Nepal, will receive
> the 2007 Award for Community Leadership and a US$50,000 prize along with six
> other awardees in Manila, Philippines this month (31 August).
>
> Pun started the project — The Nepal Wireless Networking Project — to meet
> the communication needs of his village, seven hours climb to the nearest
> road and without a telephone connection.
>
> "I believe that better communication systems are important for the overall
> development of a community and a nation," Pun told SciDev.Net.
>
> Under the project, villagers and a team of international volunteers
> initially powered several computers with small hydro-generators in a nearby
> stream.
>
> They then linked them wirelessly to the Internet with a series of
> television dish antennas and mountaintop relay stations, using the nearest
> telephone connection in the town of Pokhara, a two-day trip away.
>
> Pun said the project has so far provided 14 rural villages with access to
> services like telemedicine, distance learning, e-marketing of local products
> and telephone services.
>
> "I strongly believe that all the people in the world have right to use and
> benefit from this technology. This has been a basic need in developed
> countries. Therefore one of my goals is to work hard to close the digital
> divide as much as I can," said Pun.
>
> The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation writes that his innovation has
> brought progress "by connecting his village to the global village".
>
> Sandy Dela Cruz, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation communications
> programme officer told SciDev.Net that Pun's dedication, innovative
> leadership and motivation in connecting the mountain villages of Nepal to
> each other and the outside world is magnificent.
>
> "He is an inspiration to young people in Asia because of his courageous
> and ambitious goal for Nepal," Dela Cruz said.
> The Ramon Magsaysay Award celebrates outstanding individuals and
> organisations working in Asia for the people of Asia.
>
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