November 2006, Steve Sweetman stepped off the plane in Nairobi, Kenya, to find the East Congo group in absolute chaos!  They had been struggling a whole month with a major malfunction in their computer system.  A lightning strike or power surge had fried their four servers making their data unattainable.  These servers were the main computers providing the central hub for all information for the East Congo Group.  They backed up to each other.  Losing this information would be disastrous and included up to ten years of language work as well as other important information.

It could not have happened at a worse time.  The key IT personnel who knew how the system worked were away in the States on training and therefore of limited help.  The skeleton staff left behind had done what they could but tensions were high as time went by with little results.

Steve & Sarah Sweetman in Africa

Steve arrived in Nairobi with his wife Sarah and two little children.  He was taking a few months off from his regular Microsoft job in New Zealand to help the African groups with their computing and software needs.  At the same time, his parents, based in Nairobi, would have the pleasure of seeing their grandchildren over the months they were based there.

Steve, with his advanced skills in computing and software, immediately got to work on the East Congo disaster.  He and the team were able to save 95% of the data the computer servers held, including all the financial and language data.

Not only that, Steve designed multiple layers of protection to keep the upgraded servers safe which the local team has now put in place.  He, along with Bill Mayes, Services Coordinator for Africa, then wrote up a manual to provide guidance for other groups wanting to protect their servers.  Working with Steve, Bill was able to take what they had all learned at East Congo Group and pass that on to other entities around Africa.

The East Congo Group was amazed at God’s timing.  They were so grateful that Steve had turned up when he did.  They found it very helpful to have someone come in from the outside and provide an external perspective.  They were also greatly encouraged that with help, they could improve their services and learn new things.  Steve was even able to show them how to use MS Windows Vista before it had been released on the market!

Saving the servers took up a lot of Steve’s time in Nairobi but that wasn’t all he did.  He still managed to complete the 10 priority tasks set for him before he arrived, much to the delight of the local team.  He quietly declined when he was tempted with job offers from the East Congo group.

Steve and Sarah are unsure of when they will be back in Nairobi, but in the meantime, there is still follow-up work Steve can do from New Zealand.  In the future, there will also be opportunities for experts here to lend help to those in places like Africa,without leaving this country or their jobs.  If you are interested, let us know!