If you were thinking that the title suggests something to do with technology, then you’d be absolutely right.
The year was – from memory – 1986 when UNICEF finally decided that it was necessary to use (personal) computers and because nobody had any experience of such ‘devices’, there was no on-line guide to tell us how to go about their introduction. The Quetta office was simply sent two Wang computers (you may need to Google what the Wang computer was). They came with a sort-of-a-user manual but, because such documents were written by people who had designed the computers in the first instance, the vocabulary was as alien to English speakers as Armenian or Xhosa. Bear in mind that our national staff were using English as their second, third or even fourth language, and we must also take into account how quickly the technical terminology around computers evolved at that time. And still is evolving, come to think of it.
The Pakistan Office was unable to provide training in the use of the Wang computers, or if they did, it was limited to the Islamabad office. Provincial offices like Quetta (Baluchestan) were expected simply ‘to get on with it’.
Curiosity is one of my many failings – and I wanted to see what these machines could do before making up my mind about how we should use them. The only problem with this was that the Quetta office was so endowed with ‘events’ that it was difficult to find the time necessary to study the documentation. Those ‘events’ included presumptive fraud, the use of heroin, marital abuse, semi-starvation of some staff children to name but a few, so I expected that it would take considerable study time.
And then my children arrived on education grant travel, and as I saw them only twice per year, I was determined not to devote time to a Wang where I should have been having time with the family. Definitely a delicate balancing act. The children got my attention full time during the weekend, and sometimes during the week.
Then there was one day when my wife and daughter went to do ‘woman-things’, leaving my 12 year old son, Vicary, alone, so I suggested that he come to the UNICEF office where I could find something to interest him. Luckily, many of the staff were on field travel at that time.
When we arrived in the office, he immediately saw one of the new computers, and his eyes lit up. “May I use the computer, please, Dad ?” Naturally, with such an expensive new toy, I was reluctant to let a 12-year old loose on it, without supervision. He could see that I was not really happy with the idea and he said, “We use the BBC Micros at school” as if that was all that needed to be said. He had to explain to me what a ‘BBC Micro’ was. It was a simple personal computer which was used to train children in computer technology, and he was learning how to code on it. With great reluctance, I indicated that he could ‘play with it’ but if he broke/damaged anything, there would be consequences. “Aw, Dad !!!” he said.
Peace reigned in the office for the next 30 minutes when Vicary appeared at the door of my office where he lent against the door jamb with arms akimbo and asked me if I wanted to learn how to ‘do’ Word Processing on the Wang ? There we go with those new terms again.
At that time, I had purchased a Sinclair personal computer with the intention of learning about computers even before the Wangs were sent to Quetta. For those old enough to remember them, they were dreadful machines that relied on an endless tape rather than a floppy disk. There we go with all those terms again, but getting used to a plastic keyboard and following routines to obtain a product on the screen was invaluable, but I was somewhat crestfallen by Vicary’s comments on my mini-computer which he termed ‘rubbish’. Wikipedia actually has some reasonable comments to make on the Sinclair, however.
The Wangs were portable – they hadn’t quite got to the stage of LapTops but it meant that I could bring one of them back home when the office closed so that Vicary could show me ‘Word Processing’. Which he did at a speed that was quite frightening. He also taught me that when you get in a muddle, it’s best to crash the machine and start again – well, he meant a ‘hot boot’ – but this required that you save your work frequently. Good lesson. And all of this with a 12 year-old teaching his 45 year-old engineer father. My, oh my !
I was taught well enough to be able to write a 130 page Design Manual for piped water supplies on that same Wang computer some months later. Thank the Lord for children.
Nice Story, Ken.
ReplyDeleteMany of our programmes(and stuff in our personal lives) are based on learning from children. Thanks for sharing!
SO true! our ten year grandson gives mu husband and I demonstration lessons on how to use the icons on the IPhone and knows more about its uses than his grandparents.
ReplyDelete