Op this thread is very interesting and educative to read, I'm  excited you came up with something like this to create an awareness in the local board on how we can help strengthen the bitcoin network so we don't necessarily have a parasitic relationship with Bitcoin network. Running a node is the true definition of bitcoin enthusiasts, and I urge us to join in supporting the network.  I'm also running a node currently and my blockchain download is around 70% now probably within the next few days I should have gotten to 99% though it not as easy as it seems due to the poor lighting in our country on normal residential areas, I had to take my pc to a industrial company where they make use of 33kv electricity line which is more stable and reliable than domestic rational electric power supply.



When I started running a node on my pc I saw a total of 720GB of data to be downloaded from the Genesis block to current block as at then don't know if some few megabytes have been added,  but all I can say is if we must run a node, just consider it a sacrifice to the network and be proud of your sacrifice and efforts in supporting bitcoin network.
The data subscription part has not been easy due to the hike in data price this year and after spending so much for data, I had to improvise to a cheaper medium. Which is buying an Airtel router with the first month as an unlimited data plan, it's a bit slow though but will do.

#Well done bitcoin enthusiasts.