When I was a child we used to take two opened tin cans, punch a hole in the bottom of the cans and put a string in the holes. We would stretch the string out until it was tight then we would talk into one can and the other end was placed on the ear. This was a lot of fun as we would play for hours with our home-made phones. It hardly seemed possible that within my lifetime we would be able to not only talk to people anywhere in the world but now we can even see them as we are talking. Staying in touch has reached new heights. I am sure all of you know what skyping means. I am still astonished at the technology that is available to the average person at a reasonable cost.
The importance of staying connected with our work in Indonesia is a high priority. We are in a remote area of the planet but in a few moments and a couple clicks I can be talking live with one of our staff. It is also a challenge keeping every system operating. The next step for us is to get a “tele-medicine” system operating. This will require a very fast internet connection. Once this system is up we will be able to get the advice of medical professionals from all over the world. They will be able to see the patient live and consult our medical staff as far as the best care for the patients. It is amazing that we can go from cans and string to satellites and C-bands.
