SEAS tech group bridges rural India to world

Himachal Pradesh is probably not a familiar locale to most, but for four Penn Engineering students, it was a very memorable vacation spot over winter break. Juniors Robert Lavan and Sameer Qudsi, sophomore Samvir Sidhu and senior Jonathan Wanderer traveled to the largely rural section of India as part of the University group Communitech. Chaperoned by Assistant College Dean Srilata Gangulee, the small group set out to provide computer access and education to underprivileged women and children of the region. The project was initiated by Sidhu, whose Indian background inspired him to bring technology infrastructure -- complete with practical applications like bookkeeping, word processing and some programming -- to the less exposed economic populations of India. The next step was funding. "Basically [Sidhu's] dad is CEO of Sovereign Bank and wanted to work with Communitech," Lavan said. "He just called people up and asked... that's how it happened. People were throwing money at us." In addition to the monetary donations which aided the students in their transportation and accommodation costs, the computers themselves that they set out to install were donated by India-based company Birlasoft. "Birla is like the Rockefeller of India," Lavan said. "Having a major business person on our side made it a lot easier." Next, the group connected with the State Commission for Women's Affairs in Himachal Pradesh. That organization arranged for Communitech to install computer labs in two community centers. After the arrangements were made, the technicians were off and -- 19 hours of flight time later -- ready to bridge India's digital divide. The group members landed in Delhi and immediately drove to the city of Chandigarh, where their headquarters were located, including the group's 20 computers for installation in the centers. "A lot of them were broken," Lavan said. "We spent two days fixing them, and we also immersed ourselves in the culture. We were taken to an Indian wedding party. If we're going to work in these countries, then we've got to understand these countries." In addition to the party, members of the student group visited the Taj Mahal, spent New Year's in the Himalayas and went para-gliding. But the trip was not all fun and games. The students encountered an obstacle one night when they arrived in one of their target cities, Chumba, and were told that several dignitaries were slated to visit the next morning -- so the entire lab had to be set up in one night. After losing power about half a dozen times during the course of the night, the 10-computer lab was completed, and the group got a special thanks. "They popped that on us, so we worked until like three in the morning," Lavan said, adding that the leader of Himachal Pradesh later thanked the group. Members of Communitech said they chose not to install Internet connections in these labs at first because they felt it was too drastic of an initial change for these communities. However, they made plans for internet access to be installed at a later date and used as an income source -- educational computer lab by day, Internet cafe by night. The group members say they do not intend for this project to be the last of its kind. "We've kind of sown the seeds in India at this point so there's a lot of opportunity to continue work there, with the same organization as well as other people," Qudsi said. Those intentions are in keeping with the group's history. Communitech has previously done projects in other parts of India as well as in Ghana and West Philadelphia. But that is not to say this trip was not memorable. "We got to apply the knowledge that we take for granted," Lavan said. "I was given a computer when I was four years old. It really makes you feel good about yourself, it really makes you feel like you have a purpose in the world."