Mentoring teams outside of North America

[molly o]

Team 433 tried to start a team in Ghana this year as one of our community outreach projects. Unfortunately, a sponsor withdrew at the last minute, and we were not able to register them for the 2006 competition. We did manage, however, to raise enough locally to bring eight students and three teaches to the Philadelphia regional from Ghana. They learned about the competition as they made repairs in our pit, looked over and debugged our code, and participated in our best cheering section of the year. Next year, we believe that they will be competing for themselves.
In the past few weeks, our mentor/teacher has been receiving emails from different people who saw us at Philadelphia or our pit at Atlanta where we had a team picture of us and the Ghanaians from Drexel. Some people have been inspired to start a similar outreach or already had such an endeavor underway. They have been looking for advice and support. Mentoring a team abroad has some obstacles. If your team is in the process or has already started a team overseas, please post here. Creating a database will allow us to know who to turn to with fundraising questions (particularly in regards to shipping), travel issues (visas?), and any other of the numerous logistical issues that arise in such a project.
Thanks.