Oscar Lusio Sully is ICFJ’s go-to guy for any IT issues, but for the past few weeks he has struggled to find the orbiting satellite that would provide high speed internet for our media house in Baucau. Our internet provider, in Australia, had given him one set of coordinates for our satellite dish, but no matter how much Oscar maneuvered the dish – he couldn’t pick up a signal from the satellite. This past Friday, Oscar jumped in the pickup truck with us and headed back up to Baucau. I could see the determination on his face all the way from Dili to Baucau.
We arrived after dark, but Oscar headed straight for the satellite and began hooking up his measuring equipment. This time, the internet provider had provided another set of coordinates so Oscar was anxious to see if he could “see” the bird. Again, no luck.
Saturday morning, the electricity was off at the Media House, so Oscar cranked up the diesel generator, reconnected the equipment to the satellite dish and went to work again. This time, the internet provider had given him a third set of coordinates. Throughout the morning, Oscar with assistance from a couple of guys from Baucau, maneuvered the dish – changing its slope and elevation and it just wasn’t happening.
Lunchtime rolls around, but Oscar refused to take a break. Perhaps he felt he was getting close.
At the restaurant, as the waitress was packing up some take-away for Oscar and his “crew,” my mobile phone rang. It was Oscar: “Chuck, I’ve got some good news. I’ve found the satellite.”
We hurried back to the media house to celebrate.
Oscar has had very little training on how to adjust a satellite, but his determination and can-do attitude made it happen.
Now, he says he’s ready to install satellite dishes at three more media houses – bringing high-speed internet to the towns of Oecussi, Ermera and Suai, for the first time. Ermera should come on line in the next two weeks, while the two other locations will be operational by the end of March.
In the photo below, Oscar is on the left side.