Ever since I began working for IPA, printers have been my arch enemy. No matter where I go or what project I’m working on I always end up struggling with a non-compliant printer to get my work done.
The problems range from an inability to find replacement ink cartidges (which are considerably harder to find in the developing world and if you can find them at all are very expensive), to poorly functioning printer cartridge knockoffs, to malfunctioning printer hardware.
These problems of course always crop up just when I need a functioning printer the most. For example, right now we’re helping people open a committment savings product (like the one discussed in this paper) in poor neighborhoods in Cagayan de Oro.
As part of this program, we take pictures of people with digital cameras and then print out little id pictures to help them open the accounts (its expensive and time consuming for people to get id pictures taken). However, this step requires a printer and said printer needs to work.
Sadly, this morning I found that my printer would not print anything in color properly – even though I bought a supposedly new color cartridge last week.
This means one more day spent frantically trying to find a working color ink cartridge.
Current Score:
Printer: 1
Alex: 0
Filed under: Field Work
