Some organisations worked with women, others worked on human rights, on livelihoods, education, etc. Every Thursday for four hours, RDS staff held a workshop in their office, using their one computer to demonstrate how to search for information and contacts on the Internet. Another workshop showed NGOs working on habitat how to manufacture roofing tiles using information found on the Web. Mrs. Isaula and RDS technician Erlin Palma also took the message outside their office, showing up at meetings all over the country, preaching the IT gospel. Working with the government After NGOs, the largest sector of RDS's clients is the government.
Many ministries use our network.
We trained staff from more than 15 government agencies, and our server hosts a number of their web pages. But the government is not always comfortable with the newfound ability of Honduran NGOs to participate actively in the development process. Mrs. Isaula cites the example of RDS's work in preparation for the Stockholm conference in May, 1999. NGOs kept emailing their plans to the government and asking to see the government's plans, and the government objected to this. But our networking is only sending the government copies of information that were out there, and inviting them to be equally open with their plans.