
Show HN: 2.5B people can’t afford internet – need your opinion on our solution - jibla
https://giveinternet.org/
======
johnklos
Interesting, but buying in to the Google world requires a substantial amount
of locking-in. Perhaps you should examine open source, open OSes and not OSes
designed to funnel data to large for-profit companies.

"Studets" should have an "n" ;) ([https://giveinternet.org/en/our-
work/projects](https://giveinternet.org/en/our-work/projects))

What kind of work is going on to provide alternative methods of Internet
delivery, be they sharing from other parts of communities, buying Internet in
bulk, working with ISPs to get discounted pricing, et cetera?

~~~
jibla
Thanks for your feedback. Agree, we are considering open-source OS's as well.
We are at an early stage and Chromebooks were fast and cheap solutions to
start with. But will take your comment into consideration.

We work with the incumbent operators and smaller Wifi providers. They offer
free installations for our families and in some areas discounts on a monthly
fee. Btw we thought we were solving the affordability problem, but it turned
out some local Wifi operators are willing to deploy infrastructure in areas
where they considered not profitable before. As part of our partnership in
September, they launch a new base station in a rural area of Georgia and we
are excited about it.

~~~
UncleSam
"Stundents" -> "Students"

~~~
mycall
Amazing Google still has 6,160,000,000 hits for the prior. IMHO, it is a new
word due to large typos.

~~~
easytiger
Google's search results are pretty meaningless these days due to changes in
presentation of results and inference of intent

------
jibla
GiveInternet.org allows anyone to sponsor monthly Internet fees and laptops
for underprivileged high school students from refugee settlements and rural
areas.

Through monthly recurring donations from up to 700 individuals, we have
equipped 350+ students with Chromebooks, Internet access, educational
resources and our constant online mentorship. Our donors receive monthly
transparency reports with details on every cost, student success stories, and
our progress. Now we are working to incorporate a 501(c)3 nonprofit in the US
and expand operations to the Middle East and Africa by collaborating with
partners on the ground.

As we expand and refine our product, we need your honest feedback on our
platform! Let us know what you think about the website, our business model,
etc.

How?

Comment here; Fill out this 3-5 minute survey -
[http://bit.ly/2P3wDj6](http://bit.ly/2P3wDj6) Schedule a call with us for an
interview-[https://calendly.com/gjibladze/giveInternet](https://calendly.com/gjibladze/giveInternet)

~~~
Aaronstotle
I think this is an amazing project but isn't there a better alternative to
chromebooks?

Maybe used laptops, can usually get leased business laptops for a similar
price, and they don't actively spy you at all times.

~~~
Tempest1981
Can't you run Linux on a Chromebook? Not sure if it has problems.

[https://itsfoss.com/install-linux-chromebook/](https://itsfoss.com/install-
linux-chromebook/)

~~~
jibla
Thanks for the link. I don't remember we've tried this

~~~
Tempest1981
Note that Chromebooks have a different keyboard, so you may want to rebind a
few things.
[https://wiki.galliumos.org/Media_keys_and_default_keybinding...](https://wiki.galliumos.org/Media_keys_and_default_keybindings)

Chromebooks have a "Search" key instead of CAPS lock, and the F1..F10 keys are
Back, Forward, Reload, Full screen, Switch Window, Brightness Up, Brightness
Down, Mute, Volume Down, Volume Up. F11 and F12 might use Search with + and -

------
qwerty456127
We probably should analyse the way it's done in India: ultra-cheap mobile
Internet (how do they manage to both provide the coverage and sustain such low
prices?) and budget-class devices. There has even been a post about the new
class of cheap phones which are more like those of the pre-iPhone era. I
believe giving everybody access to YouTube, Reddit and Wikipedia is important.

~~~
tguvot
I guess when you talk about India you mainly talk about Jio. They are founded
by Reliance Industries which is largest publicly traded company there. Most of
the network rollout and phone prices (nobody knows real BOM for their phones)
are subsidized and the general business plan seems to be to make money from
value added services that can be obtained from Jio in the future.

Also to make rollout cheaper they negotiated some exclusive deals with
Samsung; wrote their own operational support systems instead of buying off the
shelf ( very expensive for deployment and integration) and probably did a
whole bunch of other stuff.

It's not something that can be repeated without having large sums of money to
support it

------
brownbat
I really like the idea of transparent charities helping spread access to
information.

The most difficult challenge will be demonstrating effectiveness relative to
other charities operating near this space. Computer Aid International focuses
on refurbishing used computers and providing them to those living at income
levels 1 or 2, spending only around $42 per recipient. Room to Read
specializes in building low cost libraries and schools, serving communities at
a cost of $5 or $25 per child respectively, and they are really highly rated
on transparency and effectiveness.

I think you can justify the focus on Internet and Georgia, but I think you
should be mindful of where the bar is set and aggressively try to push towards
that. That might involve some hard choices, like whether Chromebooks can help
as many students as lower cost options.

Emphasizing that donors choose how much is allocated to administrative costs
seems like another odd choice to me. If you are serious about that, then you
could get in an unstable situation. Donors could easily have unsustainable
preferences here, because they generally lack experience running charities.

If you're just trying to convince donors that you are not wasting their money,
I'd focus instead on independent audits on effectiveness. Then be vocal when
you make hard choices about expenses, like through a blog of some kind, so you
can show you're trying to save money where possible, and trying to spend money
in ways that will maximize your impact.

Spreading access to information can be incredibly powerful, so I hope you find
a way for your program to take off, thanks for taking on this challenge.

~~~
jibla
Hey, thanks for the great feedback. \- We've tried used laptops. In the short
run, they might work, but the maintenance of the used ones is very hard &
expensive in the long run. The initial cost might be around 42 USD, but
overall we might end up with a much higher cost. But still, we're always
looking for more effective ways. \- The problem is so big, there are many
untapped geographies. We might even consider working with Computer Aid on
this. They might become our partners in some regions. \- Since every donor is
choosing how much to give for the operations & innovation we don't see any
problem. It's almost the same as tips, which are widely practiced by many
charities. Though you're right we have to be conscious about it. The average
at the moment is 17% \- Independent audit is a good idea. We are talking to EY
and BDO about it. So that they could run/approve our transparency. \- The blog
to reveal hard choices is a wonderful idea. Thanks a lot!

------
dannykwells
Why is this something that requires a non-profit to do? Facebook, Google and
Amazon are desperate to get more eyeballs and clicks on their apps. Giving
some one a Chromebook feels like just donating money to those companies...who
definitely don't need it.

Why should we, ordinary citizens contribute to this company? And have you
brought it to Google and Facebook for sponsorship? Would you accept $$$ from
them if they offered it?

~~~
Waterluvian
Yeah I think this is where regulation might be the right tool.

Facebook: "well I want to give out FaceBooks that an only access our websites,
but I'll settle for more eyeballs on the ads even if they use the devices to
surf the web too."

~~~
monocasa
Facebook was provided exactly that trade-off in India, and pulled out.

------
adammunich
I would recommend meeting up with the SudoMesh folks in Oakland if you are
nearby, they get together every Tuesday. Though, probably better to do after
CCCamp wraps up.

[https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh](https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh)

~~~
jibla
Will reach them out. Thanks

------
yorwba
If the aim is to provide internet access to as many people as possible,
wouldn't a cheap phone running Android Go or KaiOS be a more efficient use of
the money? Any particular reason you went with Chromebooks instead?

~~~
jibla
First, we started with the used ones, but the maintenance of used devices was
a disaster. Chromebooks were cheap, fast, virus-free and with bigger screens
(More convenient for education) We buy them from 150-180 USD per unit. But
this doesn't mean we' always go with Chromebooks. We always consider any other
solutions based on the need of the project

~~~
t0astbread
Are Chromebooks really that much cheaper than "regular" Windows or OS-less
Laptops? If so, why?

~~~
jibla
They are cheaper mainly because the Chrome OS is Free (and maybe because they
have almost no hard inside;) As far as we know OS and antivirus licenses make
Windows more expensive.

~~~
zrm
That explains why they're cheaper than Windows, but what makes them cheaper
than equivalent hardware with e.g. Ubuntu?

~~~
jibla
Right. We have tested Ubuntu as well. Still figuring out what the right
solutions are. Do you think Ubuntu might be a better option? Or are there any
other solutions that might be relevant for us?

~~~
jzemeocala
I would personally recommend ubuntu. It's also free and unlikely to get
viruses. Plus, In my experience from helping the elderly and other computer
illiterates get connected, it often has a much gentler learning curve.The main
hurdle then would be to find the cheap hardware with decent compatibility
(perhaps a cheap 2 in 1).

Also, you should consider approaching canonical about sponsorship. Considering
their relationship with amazon there has to be some funding to be found there.

~~~
jibla
Got it! Will definitely consider Ubuntu and approach Canonical. Thanks a lot!

------
devwastaken
If you're targeting those in countries with less freedom, you will want to be
careful about pictures and names. A woman trying to get an education in
afghanistan is life or death.

~~~
jibla
Agree. Good point! We had the same issue in Georgia in a village with a Muslim
minority population. We try to be very careful when it comes to the privacy
issue. We have signed documents of the family members giving us the rights to
use photos on the website. Not everybody agrees. And we never use family
names.

------
hairytrog
Maybe tech companies would contribute based on the extra money they can make.
If Google can earn $5 for each additional user, they should be willing to pay
4.99 to create new users.

~~~
jibla
Good talking point! Will keep in mind, thanks

------
tguvot
Gamarjoba,

I think what you are doing is very important thing but it's not scalable to
2.5b people.

The biggest problem for those 2.5b people are:

\- Availability of network infrastructure. It starts with whatever network
backbone and ends with either mobile internet or wifi network. In most cases
there is no business case to build out this kind of infrastructure as there is
essentially no way to recover investment unless its subsidized by government
or world bank or something.

\- Availability of electricity. There is many place that simply has none or
it's very unreliable. It has twofold influence - its hard to build
infrastructure that will work and people have no place to charge
phones/laptops

\- The actual price of devices. Even if you are talking about advanced feature
phones or low end smart phones (laptops are way out of price range for most of
2.5b people) its still expensive. There is all kind of schemes with operators
subsidizing the device over few years but it's bring arpu to very low numbers
making it hardly viable business.

Edit. I actually lived in Georgia during the "fun" time, late 80s - early 90s.
Good luck.

~~~
jibla
Gamarjoba:) We've researched this issue thoroughly and the infrastructure is
not an issue. While 50% of the world's population lacks internet access only
15% live out of the coverage area of 3/4 G networks. This is actually where
the number 2.5 Bn comes from. The main challenge is the affordability of
monthly internet fees and of course devices. We actually solve both problems
by providing devices and an internet connection.

Electricity might be an issue in some areas but according to our assumptions,
more than 160 million secondary students in low and low-middle income
countries live in cities and areas where electricity is not an issue.

Btw by working with the local communities, providing resources, training and
constant assistance, we also seem to encourage them to see the relevance of an
Internet connection. We hope to prove that most of our beneficiaries will be
willing to continue paying for their Internet fees long after we have stopped
paying for them. According to preliminary studies most of the families are
ready to reprioritize their costs and maintain an internet connection.

The "Fun" times you mentioned is one of the reasons why we've started
GiveInternet.org since we have experienced first-hand the transformational
power of connectivity in improving people's lives.

~~~
tguvot
I'll disagree. I worked previously "somewhere" that had yearly budget of tens
of millions of dollars in order to tackle this specific issue - bringing
internet to people that do not have it. We had extremely good data, most of
which not available publicly; dozen(s) of people working solely on identifying
scope of problem while other people trying to come up with solutions.

I don't have the data anymore so I can argue with you on exact numbers , but
even when you are talking about 3/4g networks, in most of the cases it will be
3g and rolling out 4g is too expensive and backbone wont have enough capacity
to serve all the people that are lacking access.

>Electricity might be an issue in some areas but according to our assumptions,
more than 160 million secondary students in low and low-middle income
countries live in cities and areas where electricity is not an issue.

You cant really just buy enough hardware for everyone. It doesn't work well on
scale. See one laptop per child.

~~~
jibla
I understand and maybe 2.5 Bn might be under question.

But lets just to narrow it down to one country - US. One of the worlds
strongest economy. Only in the US more than 3 million families with school-
aged children can't afford internet connection (Sprint claims it's 5 Mio
families) That's why these programs exist:
[http://1millionproject.org/](http://1millionproject.org/),
[https://www.internetessentials.com/](https://www.internetessentials.com/),
[https://www.fcc.gov/general/lifeline-program-low-income-
cons...](https://www.fcc.gov/general/lifeline-program-low-income-consumers)

Now imagine other countries and cities even developed ones. Not talking about
developing countries. Btw 160 million secoindary students which I mentioned
exclude rural areas, only those who live in urban areas.

Regarding the devices, I agree that might be challenging but the prices for
devices are decreasing dramatically. Plus some models of monthly installments
can make it plus 5-10 USD to monthly internet fees, which is pretty
acceptable. So we believe in the long run the device problem is also solvable.

~~~
tguvot
I actually live in US now. It's complicated over here. There are numbers that
are talking about 20% of so that either cant afford or dont have in general
access due to absence of infrastructure.

Will play devils advocate a bit: there is a lot of projects that attempt
sponsoring model. Why one should choose yours over, lets say, this one
[https://www.worldvision.org/sponsor-a-child-in-
africa](https://www.worldvision.org/sponsor-a-child-in-africa) .

------
vkaku
Your solution to what? To People who don't need an Internet but have other
important issues to deal with? You're hoping that by putting them on the
Internet you're going to create a new market?

I don't understand the point of this. I thought the people who cared about
being on the Internet already were.

~~~
mycall
if "IoT/Robot/AI" or whatever it becomes can adapt to their needs, the people
who don't need the internet, maybe there is a market there.

~~~
vkaku
Well, this is the general idea:

People can either afford the Internet or not. If they can't afford it, there
are good chances they can't afford to pay any other bills.

These people are usually not in developing countries, but the developed ones.
The developed ones where no amount of government laws can bring affordable
Internet to the public, nor any places with free WiFi nor good libraries with
free browsing facilities.

So clearly, there is something bigger at play, and it is about artificially
pricing people out of a market being the ultimate goal.

The people who do really need to be on the Internet in such a society would
have already worked their way around it. And if not, they have other issues to
take care of before they go to artificially high priced internet.

~~~
jibla
Sure there are more important things to solve for so many families, but In the
modern world, we can skip on gradually solving basic needs. We can and should
leapfrog. Furthermore, we believe that internet access and access to
information can play a catalyst role in solving those problems. Today we take
the internet for granted, but it's luxury for so many people. It is a
commodity like water and electricity.

One thing is, what we think people need and another is what they really need.
It will be more relevant to use so-called LSM's - Lifestyle measures while
evaluating the importance of the internet. That said how do we explain the
resident of the village with no clean drinking water, buying a cell phone or
kitchen appliance? or a mother paying for her son's education tutoring, even
when she goes hungry? A farmer investing in cattle before improving his house?
These are all facts and I am sure many of us have heard these stories. One
thing is what we perceive and another is what people really need.

Btw by working with the local communities, providing resources, training and
constant assistance, we also seem to encourage them to see the relevance of an
Internet connection. We hope to prove that most of our beneficiaries will be
willing to continue paying for their Internet fees long after we have stopped
paying for them. According to preliminary studies most of the families are
ready to reprioritize their costs and maintain an internet connection. Because
of the high price barrier, they couldn't afford the internet and now since
they understand its role in their lives and its relevance, their priorities
have changed.

~~~
vkaku
Okay, what is the first thing the poor families should be doing after getting
the said internet connection?

Is the answer - job opportunities, free education, survival skills? The truth
is that the internet does provide these, but how many of them actually use it?

~~~
jibla
What we can say from our experience of working with poor students, is that
they are no different from those kids around us. Contrary to popular belief,
the underprivileged accept advanced technology as readily as we do.

Young people adopt technology easily and use it the same way their peers in
wealthy countries and sometimes even more consciously because their problems
are much different from the first world ones. They use it to serve their basic
needs, but also it becomes a window to the world and opportunities for them -
a chance. Internet helps them discover their interests and passions, trying
things out and learn about new professions they've never heard about.

Anyway, it is better to be connected in today's world, than not. Why? because
of the same reasons why none of us here on HN would give up their connection.

------
capex
Not sure about how it actually works. I couldn't find the information around
how you actually 'give' internet to people? Do they use their own device, or
do you provide a device as well? What happens when the funding for someone
runs out?

~~~
jibla
We work with the local ISP's and small Wifi operators. After installation
families provide their subscriber codes and we set automatic transactions to
those codes.

Yes we also provide devices which are funded either by individuals (via online
donations) or corporate sponsors

First, we wanted donors to choose a student (according to their profiles) but
this led to many challenges including the one you mentioned. So now donors can
see profiles of every student waiting but they usually donate to the platform.
We don't have one time donations. only monthly donations.

But still, we are at the MVP stage and figuring out what the right models
could be.

------
microcolonel
Make internet access cheaper by operating an efficient internet service
provider, which can afford to offer access to the internet at a rate that more
people can afford, in the places where it currently is too expensive.

~~~
jibla
At the moment we work with local ISP's and Wifi operators who offer free
installations and in some areas discounts on a monthly fee.

Btw on Wifi operators is willing to deploy infrastructure in areas where they
considered not profitable before. As part of our partnership in September,
they launch a new base station in a rural area of Georgia.

------
jteppinette
> We believe that Internet access is a human right.

I disagree with this. This doesn't event make sense [EDIT: to me]. The
internet is simply a very large network of private systems. You don't have a
right to access this network, nor do you have a right to force someone to join
this network.

If your "human rights" can be negated by the power going out, they are quite
weak.

I am being nit-picky, but I just don't like this marketing tactic.

~~~
jibla
Does it make more sense if we formulate it as "access to information" and not
"Internet access"?

~~~
jteppinette
"We believe that everyone should have access to the internet."

------
lacker
It says that you spend $7 a month to give people internet, and that you are
giving internet access to 350 students. So, you are giving about $2,000 a
month of value to students? It doesn't seem like this is a cost-effective
charity if you have even a single employee. I think you would be better off
giving the underprivileged people money directly, and letting them purchase
their own internet access.

~~~
jibla
At the moment we are bootstrapping and co-founders work for free, but we hope
to become more effective after we reach some scale. We need to keep our team
running not only to pay for the internet but for students identification
(Working with schools and NGO's), Donor growth, community building, partner
relations (ISP's and local Edtech partners who provide their services to our
students for free) impact measurement, etc. At the moment a couple of
corporate donors are covering those costs. I am not sure if I've answered your
question

~~~
Tempest1981
Why start with the students, instead of the 9/10 schools that lack internet
access?

(From your website: "In the poorest countries, only 1 out of every 10 students
has Internet access at school.")

~~~
jibla
According to educators and researchers, there is a huge difference whether a
student has access to the internet at home or in a public place where access
is limited. In terms of creativity having internet access whenever you need it
and how long you need it makes a meaningful difference. But this doesn't mean
we only provide students with access. Sometimes we have projects where we
connect educational community centers.

~~~
Tempest1981
Thanks. Although I suspect more people might donate if they felt their
donation helped 100 kids at a school, vs 1 kid at home. The "huge difference"
might not be obvious, and I don't think it was in your FAQ.

It might be a fun experiment to let donors choose either school or individual.

~~~
jibla
Although the studies show that people are more willing to give to a certain
person (the story behind her/him) rather than a group. But yes, might be still
worth testing. Thanks

------
maxheadroom
Some links on your site are directed to the vanity 'charte.ge' but are still
branded with 'giveinternet.org'. An example would be the 'Meet our team' link
on this page:
[https://giveinternet.org/en/faq](https://giveinternet.org/en/faq)

Perhaps, this was a previous project name and the links haven't been fixed?

~~~
jibla
Oops, thanks. Will fix it.

------
badrabbit
The west had the same mindset with democracy.

What works in one society may not be best in others. I think countries should
organically grow their information infrastructure in parallel with their
physical infrastructure and economy.

That being said,China's belt road initiative is also building out internet
infrastructure along the belt road's route.

------
commandersaki
You asked for an opinion, so here it is...

Schools don’t need computers or Internet to provide a breadth of education. I
don’t know if computer literacy should even be taught in schools considering
there’s so many different kinds of computers and they keep changing.

~~~
jibla
We never target children at an early age. We focus only on High school-school
age students, who need it most. As soon as we connect a student the whole
family gets access to the internet. It becomes a family thing. You should see
high-school students (age 16-18) living in refugee settlements and rural
areas. They almost don't have access to any kind of education and information.
No link to the worlds. Because of that, they have such a limited worldview.
Internet helps them discover their interests and passions, trying things out
and learn about new professions they've never heard about. Also, we run online
mentorship programs to teach them how to use the internet in a proper way.
(Here is the copy of my recent reply to another comment: Besides connecting
students, we run an online mentorship program via Chat, online groups,
sometimes phone/ video calls. First Students receive a link with a "welcome
package"-list of most popular and relevant educational platforms which are
available in the local language. We also partner with the local EdTech
partners who provide their services for free for our students, so if anyone is
interested in any platform we teach them how to use it and provide free
access. We are also long term partners with Khan Academy and Code.org and
actively promote these platforms to the students.

On a weekly basis, we post in an online group different educational content,
free offers from our partners and education organizations who provide their
courses for free (both online and offline), we post different scholarship
opportunities, fellowships, programs, etc.

We plan to provide tailor-made educational content separately to each student
according to their interests and challenges. Also thinking to test different
models.)

------
WheelsAtLarge
The idea of giving is good but it is very hard to substain it over time.
Pleople want to give but not in a constant basis and eventually stop. A better
model is to join a profit basses organization with a nonprofit and work
together to give.

~~~
mmsimanga
I agree with you. As an African there is also another danger to receiving
things, you stop working for them. You begin to expect these things as part of
your life but in reality they only exist for as long as those giving have
enough money or generosity. I am not saying people shouldn't give but it is a
good idea to be aware of some of the long term effects of giving and being a
receiver.

~~~
jibla
I also think we should be conscious in giving. but as Chinese proverb says:
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you
feed him for a lifetime.

So we think that by giving internet connection we don't just give certain
things. We try to bring an environment where people can find their passions
and interests, discover professions, try out things, leave and try another,
acquire relevant information, etc. Internet might be a huge step towards
equality of opportunity.

------
fmajid
Do you have plans to cover elsewhere than Georgia?

Terms like “Russian occupation” are loaded. The Abkhaz certainly don’t feel
Georgian, and it was Saakachvili who shelled them first (albeit after a string
of Russian provocations).

~~~
jibla
Yes, we do plan to expand in the middle east and African countries by
partnering with the partners on the ground.

Regarding the political issue, I'd rather don't step into these discussions as
this thread has another purpose. The fact is Georgia has 250K IDP's
(Internally displaced people) in the country not able to go back to their
homes.

------
russdpale
Look at where money is parked around the world, and you have your answer.

------
tryitnow
Improve the global economy especially through more free trade and more
migration. That will help more people afford everything, not just the
internet.

There's other solutions too, like reducing corruption and cost of doing
business in developing countries. But there's little westerners can do to
implement those solutions. Trade and immigration are things western nations
have control over.

------
6DM
In this era, I am no longer convinced that the internet is such a good thing.

------
programminggeek
Better idea... give out AOL CD's.

~~~
qwerty456127
Or Encarta CDs perhaps...

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20739629](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20739629)

------
not_a_cop75
Perhaps I'm the asshole here, but until internet companies feet are really
held to the fire on pricing, I don't feel like giving is going to make a
substantial difference. If suddenly the money becomes available to sponsor
millions of people's internet, the price of the internet will magically jump
50-500% in cost.

Additionally, while we want to magically give internet to all nations and I
think that is a wonderful gesture, it seems to me that the very best thing we
can do for the whole of mankind is to improve the impulse control of every
single person alive today. With proper impulse control comes the ability to
want to be educated and make a difference. Internet certainly makes it
possible to become more educated, but without proper impulse control I'm
afraid it would all be wasted on uselessness. I say this as someone that has
themselves looked at way too many cat pictures and Netflix videos. Also the
internet seems to be awash with types of vendors that are trying their very
best to remove the impulse control of others. I don't think giving Candy Crush
to the entirety of any continent is going to benefit if impulse control is the
issue that is causing them the most struggle. Perhaps we should better focus
on giving people the types of applications and access that are scientifically
proven to improve lives? Just a thought.

~~~
jibla
The prices for internet connection are much cheaper in developing countries
10-15 USD and we work with local ISP's and small Wifi operators where they
provide free installations and some operators provide discounts on monthly
fees.

Regarding your second question I am copying my answer from a post below:

Besides connecting students, we run an online mentorship program via Chat,
online groups, sometimes phone/ video calls. First Students receive a link
with a "welcome package"-list of most popular and relevant educational
platforms which are available in the local language. We also partner with the
local EdTech partners who provide their services for free for our students, so
if anyone is interested in any platform we teach them how to use it and
provide free access. We are also long term partners with Khan Academy and
Code.org and actively promote these platforms to the students.

On a weekly basis, we post in an online group different educational content,
free offers from our partners and education organizations who provide their
courses for free (both online and offline), we post different scholarship
opportunities, fellowships, programs, etc.

We plan to provide tailor-made educational content separately to each student
according to their interests and challenges. Also thinking to test different
models.

At some point, I am not sure yet how can we maintain this educational part on
a bigger scale. Hopefully through partners on the ground. But still, we
believe that since we all take internet connection for granted and at the same
time utilize it for the good of ourselves (not always of course), others have
the same right to do it.

------
mruts
My wife started a school/community center is Africa and we are one of the only
places in town with computers and internet you can use for free. It was a rare
occasion indeed that anyone wanted to do anything except watch youtube videos.
Now that we banned youtube, people honestly aren't really that interested.

I'm not saying internet is bad or whatever, it's just that it's not going to
change people's lives without a lot of groundwork first. Educating people so
they have questions to ask, or things to produce, or knowledge to acquire. We
both really thought having free internet access was going to be a paradigm
shift for these kids, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be making much of
a tangible difference at all. You could make the argument (I personally
don't), that it has actually made things worse.

~~~
qwerty456127
> Now that we banned youtube

That's a pity. YouTube is a treasure of awesome educational videos, better
than any school can be. If only I had YouTube when I was a schoolboy... Cool
people explain math (and other subjects) I could never understand but grok
instantly this way. I can also hardly imagine a better media spreading
cultural progress. It also promotes artistic expression, incl in poor people -
have you seen the post about african teens making short scifi movies? If I had
to choose just one website to give everybody on Earth access to that would be
YouTube.

Nevertheless narrow content kind focus can be a problem - if somebody watches
nothing but stupid/weird stuff (it may be good to have this kind of fun
occasionally but one should not focus on this too much) and is suggested more
and more videos of the same kind this can hardly be beneficial. Perhaps Google
should invent a solution to this problem. E.g. showing some educational videos
among recommendations regardless to what kind of videos you watch.

~~~
erklik
> if somebody watches nothing but stupid/weird stuff

the issue with that, is what counts as stupid/weird? Is watching vlogs
stupid/weird? Is watching people like Logan Paul, weird or stupid? One could
argue that you could actually learn alot from people like Logan Paul, about
what to do and what not to do.

Also, people can learn things from the unlikeliest of sources.

------
hairytrog
You might be starting with the wrong question. You are assuming internet
access is a good thing and that extending its supply will be best for
everyone. Consider the following:

\- the internet makes people dumber (low attention spans, group think,
advertising driven content, addictive behaviors promoted, etc)

\- the internet makes us consumers instead of creators

\- the internet makes people depressed and anxious

\- the internet causes around 5% of global GHG emissions

\- internet enhances ability for total monitoring and censoring of speech

\- internet creates centralized global tech monopolies on information flow and
data

\- extensive global networks put society at increased risk of total collapse

What are the benefits and do they really outweigh the negatives? Can the
benefits be accomplished through other means? Just make sure you're
comfortable with possibly making people's lives worse.

~~~
jibla
Do you think we, those who are connected, should give up our internet
connections? If not should we leave the rest of the world's population without
it?

~~~
hairytrog
No. I'm addicted.

