Gus Zuehlke, a catechist from Indiana, USA on invitation from his friend Fr Robert Binta, then chaplain of the Catholic Parliamentarians visits Uganda to give a retreat to Ugandan lawmakers.
On this same trip he visits Gulu, Northern Uganda; a risky feat at the height of the Lord’s Resistance Army (L.R.A) insurrection which had cost thousands of lives and is overwhelmed by the destruction and poverty that he sees in the Internally Displaced People's (IDP) camps.

The isolation of northern Uganda is a thing that particularly stays with him and he returns home to the US filled with the need to be part of a solution.

With Fr Joe's blessing Gus sets out to research the possibility of implementing his idea and himself not being an ICT expert he brings on board his friends Ted Pethick, an IT network consultant and Jerry Vickers an IT Manager who lead research into the possibility of deploying a low power system, linked by satellite that would use portable computers and Internet phones. Also on the team working with Gus and co is Mark Summer, co-founder of Inveneo, who  developed the solar-powered system on which BOSCO's system would run. For his part Gus embarks on raising funds for the project.

BOSCO Uganda is formally registered as Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach and begins its work as a community network with Rev. Fr. Joseph Okumu, a career priest and Anthropologist as its Executive Director

At a colorful event at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Santiago, Chile, BOSCO Uganda emerges winner of a Breaking Borders Award which prize rewards individuals or organizations spearheading web-based projects.