Figure 4 : Captain Moin Uddin Ahmed, Regional Manager, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation

Admittedly, I was hoping that the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation would completely waiver shipping charges due to our organisation's voluntary alignment. Captain Moin Uddin informed me that, as this effort was voluntary in nature, free passage could be possible. However, as the 'Bangla Mia' approached UK shores, time was short and I decided that we should simply pay any shipping charge. Capt. Moin Uddin did say that he would arrange for the absolute minimal Sea Freight charges of approximately £400. The total charge for inland haulage was £50 [originally misquoted - actually should have been £95] from Dataservices, West London to the docks in Hull, Northeast England. This shipping quote in total translates to a cost of £33 or $47.85 per machine, which were a mixture of low end Pentiums 75's - 100's. I was told that the 'Bangla Mia' was due in port and at the middle of May. I passed on the information to my contact at Dataservices, Beth Stelling, Figure 5, who arranged for the computers to be shipped to the port where the 'Bangla Mia' was due to arrive. This was an incredibly frustrating time as I was promised the funds for shipment and as the deadline approached, I began sending e-mails almost daily to find out what the situation was. It seemed that all my messages were ignored and only after it was too late did I receive an e-mail from an employee of LEARN who informed me that they decided that the computers, being low specification machines, would not be suitable for their purpose.

Figure 5 : Beth Stelling; EB2000's initial, but since retired, contact at Dataservices

During my initial discussion with Imran Rasheed, I offered my assistance to procure machines for his project and was literally snubbed. At that point, I thought his response was legitimate because, although he knew nothing about me, Bangladeshis be they Resident or Expatriates do tend to promise a lot and never deliver. I also must blame myself for what could only be perceived from my perspective as a total misunderstanding. In my many e-mails to LEARN, I mentioned that Sea Freight charge could amount to around £400 but I also mentioned that I would do my best to get this charge waivered.

Undeterred by this setback, the search was on for another recipient.

The first group of potential recipients that sprung to mind was Grameen, Rotary Club, BRAC and the Bangladesh Government. After a one-on-one discussion with His Excellency A. H. Mamhud Ali, he kindly offered to send all official EB2000 communications to Bangladesh via the Foreign Ministry courier. I drafted letters to Grameen, Rotary and BRAC but fell short of offering the 15 'free' machines to them. Instead, following a meeting between Mahmud Farooque and the Honourable Secretary for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. M. Fazlur Rahman, we decided to try for an ambitious alternative by approaching the Bangladesh Government directly.

It came to our attention that the immediate past (Awami League) Government identified that they wish to put at least 3 computers in each of the 12,000 Secondary Schools in Bangladesh. Within what time frame was unknown to us. Dr. A. J. M. Abdur Rouf, the Science Adviser to Mr. M. Fazlur Rahman, wrote to Mahmud Farooque spelling out that although the Honourable Secretary praised our efforts, the Ministry was in no position to take on any joint project with EB2000 due to lack of staff. He indicated that once the positions in the Ministry for dealing with such a venture were filled, they would contact us to establish a collaborative effort for a Computer Procurement. He then went on to advise us to offer the computers to any one of the NGOs in Bangladesh.

Our direct approach to the Rotary Club of Bangladesh met with no response, even after sending the District Governor Elect an official letter of introduction via His Excellency, A. H. Mahmud Ali c/o the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka and three e-mail reminders. Meanwhile, both Professor Mohammed Yunus, Director of Grameen and Major General (Retd.) Mohammed Sahool Afzal, Director of Information Technology at BRAC responded in person.

Prof. Yunus wrote a personal letter declining our offer as he mentioned they required high specification machines.

Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Afzal of BRAC, on the other hand, responded very positively and asked for additional information. Within 12 hours of sending an e-mail to BRAC offering the computers to his organisation's activities in development, Gen. Afzal accepted the 15 computers. He asked that I inspect the machines, Figure 6a & 6b, and inform him of our progress. During a trip to London, I met with Beth Stelling and toured the Dataservices warehouse in person. I also met with His Excellency, the High Commissioner to keep him appraised of our efforts and Capt. Moin Uddin Ahmed to finalise shipping arrangements. The 'Bangla Kokholi' was initially due into harbour around mid July but due to a lengthy delay at Algeria, their estimated time of arrival was pushed back to mid-August.

Figure 6a & 6b : 15 Pentium Base Units, Keyboards & Monitors, brought down for inspection