
Ask HN: suppose I parachute into mainland Africa, could I help the people with my Hacker skills? - Tichy
In reaction to the "are you helping the world" thread, I really wonder what good could we do with hacker skills, on location? Like there are physicians who spend some months a year traveling poor countries and curing people.<p>Could we as programmers do something similar?
======
aitoehigie
To tell, you the truth, i don't think that your skills will really matter
here, and this is from the horses mouth. I live in west africa, which is one
of the most stable parts and i am itching to leave to a place where my skill
swill be appreciated.

~~~
thaumaturgy
This is something that appears to be poorly understood in the tech/computer
industry. Superb software design skills aren't as important in areas with
serious social and infrastructure problems.

Also, to some extent, I think that those that have recently spoken out against
foreign aid in Africa are correct: only Africa can improve Africa's well-
being. (I say this even as a former member of a local community organization
that raised funds to send an experienced hydrologist to Uganda for a year to
work on water quality there.)

------
mechanical_fish
A short answer: Politics. That's where your hacker skills have leverage:
Education, research, documentation, analysis, logistics, fundraising,
diplomacy.

Of course, we can't discuss many details here, because politics is anathema on
news.yc unless IP law is involved. :)

[And _that_ , BTW, is why we see all these posts lamenting that hackers "never
do enough to solve the world's big problems" -- most of the world's big
problems are _intensely political_ , and politics is to news.yc as sex was to
Victorian England. Of course, just because we don't talk about political
issues here doesn't mean we don't work on them, off camera.]

Actually, though, IP law is relevant: If you can successfully lobby to reduce
the patent lifetime for AIDS drugs you will save an order of magnitude more
lives in Africa than you could ever do with your own two hands.

Another source of leverage is, obviously, invention. Hackers are good at
inventing things, much of which you can do in your own shop (where you are
most productive).

None of this should stop you from traveling to Africa, but the most useful
thing you can do there is _learn_ : Once you have a first-hand look at the
life and problems of an African person you may have a better idea of how to
apply your leverage.

~~~
Tichy
I don't think hackers are anti-politics by default. I for one am very
interested in how to "hack" politics. I just don't think the "official
politics" we see is the real politics. Like I don't think people's opinions
are being swayed by debates. I don't know a good approach for changing
people's opinions, unfortunately - but if somebody would present one, I would
be very interested.

------
eatenbyagrue
You could probably help transferring an unclaimed fund of $25,000 from which I
am in dire need of immediate assistance.

~~~
gills
I don't see what value this adds

~~~
bprater
Pure entertainment value. As long as we are running 25:1 on entertainment to
valuable info, I'm good with it.

~~~
gills
I'm glad you got something out of it. I didn't.

I think it's a cruel stereotype, and the upvotes that comment has received are
telling of the lack of sincerity on this topic.

There are many things you can do with IT/ICT to help the developing world.
Here are some suggestions:

Build a non-literate UI on a cheap cellphone. Use it to provide rural villages
with healthcare and market information, and financial management tools (like
microfinance accouting).

Hack together a long-range WiFi to provide connectivity to a remote site.

Stream video from your cell phone to your favorite video-serving startup.
Convince people to donate their time and money by showing them conditions on
the ground.

Build a service that lets multiple villages form a cooperative using
cellphones. Let them buy agricultural inputs in bulk at better prices, access
wider markets for their goods, and coordinate transportation and tool sharing.

Use pcs or phones to educate rural farmers on modern agricultural techniques.

There are countless underfunded projects that are trying to do something in
this space, going far beyond microfinance (though that may turn out to be one
of the most important measures taken).

~~~
nazgulnarsil
_non-literate UI_

this is brilliant (no sarcasm) and a good example of fantastic ideas being
summed up in a single phrase. is anyone working on this?

~~~
stcredzero
[http://research.nokia.com/bluesky/non-
literacy-001-2005/inde...](http://research.nokia.com/bluesky/non-
literacy-001-2005/index.html)

<http://www.smallsurfaces.com/tag/nonliterate/>

[http://www.janchipchase.com/blog/mt-
search.cgi?tag=Kathmandu...](http://www.janchipchase.com/blog/mt-
search.cgi?tag=Kathmandu&blog_id=1)

~~~
nazgulnarsil
thanks.

------
Mystalic
I love the hypothetical and how you've asked it.

But to be serious, your programming skills are going to be of almost no use to
them. Hell, go look at the Zimbabwe government's website to see how much they
care - <http://www.gta.gov.zw/> (prepare to cringe).

What skills you DO have are compassion, finances, and the ability to get
awareness up HERE. Tons of charities need better and more functional websites
that come up more often in SEO. They need more prominent donation tabs, they
need websites that better explain their mission and better recruit. You can
create a site to promote a cause, you can team up with someone and start your
own charity (I intend to).

There's tons you can do. Just because you're not on location doesn't mean
you're not making an impact.

~~~
Tichy
What is a good way to find an appropriate organization to help, with an office
where I live?

~~~
Mystalic
Charity Guide (<http://www.charity-charities.org>) is a place to start, though
it mostly lists local branches of larger charities.

~~~
LogicHoleFlaw
Not to discourage you, but pick wisely if you go the charity route. I've
worked with some great charities, and with utterly incompetent ones rife with
cronyism, bureaucracy, and flagrant wasting of donation money. It can be hard
to tell which will be which before you actually work with it.

~~~
khafra
It's not a panacea, but if you can get ahold of the Combined Federal
Campaign's big book o' charities, it tells what percentage of donated funds
goes to administrative and other expenses, and which goes directly to the
cause. <http://www.opm.gov/cfc/html/qfd.asp>

------
bobochan
Wouldn't it make a bit more sense to signup with an organization that is
already working on this:

<http://www.geekcorps.org/>

As someone that has wired networks, written code and taught some basic
computer skills in Africa, I would suggest narrowing down your search a
little. Africa is a vast continent and there is a big difference between what
you might find in Tunis vs. Kinsangani.

There are probably many projects that could benefit from having geek help but
do not think you can just "parachute" into many places without a great deal of
preparation. Without concrete plans for things like where you are going to
live, how you are going to get medical care, etc. you may end up being more of
a liability than an asset.

Good luck and do not give up trying to find a way to help. I lived and worked
in Africa for four years after college and it was a great experience.

------
menloparkbum
Rather than parachuting in, you could simply book a flight to one of the
international airports located on the continent.

Teaching would be the obvious useful occupation. However, everywhere needs
good teachers, not just Africa.

~~~
menloparkbum
More seriously, I spent some time in Africa after my first startup imploded. I
volunteered in the pharmacy of a medical aid organization. Mostly I just got
their ancient windows 3.1 machine set up with an ancient version of Access,
(or something? I don't remember). I should have done a bit more teaching of
how the system worked, but I wasn't even sure how it all worked. I'm pretty
sure everything went to crap shortly after I left.

What I found more rewarding, and probably more useful than doing tech work,
was helping kids have fun. The other bleeding hearts I was with were Ultimate
Frisbee fans and we introduced the game to the local kids. We even had another
aid worker bring a huge shipment of 144 frisbees into the country. This may
seem frivolous, but one thing I noticed was that kids had tons of free time
and were really eager to learn how to do fun stuff. Art, music, sports, etc.
Computer programming would have been great, too... but there were hardly any
computers.

~~~
Tichy
Interesting story, thanks.

------
acgourley
If someone would like to pitch in, and has has at least basic python
abilities, consider helping out with Aaron Swartz's project: www.watchdog.net

There are a lot of bite-size python tasks they need help with. It usually
pulling in data from a very unhelpful format and converting it to a helpful
format. It's not terribly stimulating but it might be rewarding to enable the
data to see the light of day.

Check out things you can do at: <http://watchdog.jottit.com/volunteer>

------
ismail
hey, being from Africa: Yes, you could,though i dont in 'aid' and charity in
Africa we need to resolve our problems, only then will we learn how to compete
in the global economy. So for example, encourage entreprenuership etc.

Take a look at the bigger picture being how do can you use your technology
skills to programme/code something to make a difference? To assist with the
issues being faced in Africa (And globally).

i.e The current inflation being felt world wide, the energy crisis(fuel /
power), the food crisis with the high prices of food, in places like the US it
does not affect people and even for some people like myself it will not affect
me since i can afford the higher prices. However when it comes to people who
can just barely pay for their daily food, it leads to starvation.

So yes, while we build 199999 Facebook(x) clone or silly little online app,
millions of people out there are starving and can barely make ends meet.

Think about that.

There is a group created to put into action practical technology solutions to
target some of these issues, feel free to join.

<http://groups.google.com/group/technologyforchange>

------
pistoriusp
I think the way that you would be able to help the most is been able to
educate them. A bit of a "teach a man to fish" mantra.

I live in South Africa and we have a serious shortage of programmers in this
country, especially when it comes to the open source web based languages.

~~~
gaius
I live in England, we have lots of great South African programmers here :-)

~~~
pistoriusp
Funny you should mention that I'm immigrating next year to England. :)

------
acgourley
Have you contacted <http://www.geekcorps.org/> ?

------
aditya
This guy did it, but don't parachute in cuz you might break something and
cause more harm...

<http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/9/3/151048/0948>

------
aneesh
You can work with others. Develop point-of-sale software to improve efficiency
at crowded stores. Cell phone software can make markets more efficient and
prevent price-setting that farmers suffer from. Then there's medical records
software.

All of these 1) require some domain expertise, even if small 2) are
conceptually simple, but the delivery is hard

~~~
stcredzero
OpenMRS is a project to enable modern medical records technology, which is now
used in Africa.

<http://feed.openmrs.org/tag/global%20health>

------
sutro
Check out these guys:

<http://www.inveneo.org/>

I recently met the founder at an event in SF. He gave me a demo of their very
impressive solar-powered computer product. This is a high-tech nonprofit run
in an entrepreneurial way by people who are trying to change the world for the
better.

------
coglethorpe
You might not be able to provide medical help, but you could teach for free
and help others to gain jobs. You could set up a website to help aid those in
need (like Kiva, a donation site, or a blog that tells the world about
conditions).

------
babul
Don't know about the parachuting in bit and most people won't have/use
computers, but mobiles are making big impact/inroads in third/developing
worlds. Ideally do something using them.

So, perhaps a _text based_ mobile service (most places do not have mobile-
internet yet) to do something useful may be of value e.g. to find the current
market price of rice (to buy/sell without being cheated) or warn about events
like potential flood/hurricane risk or when the next bus is coming or text-
based bartering system or even just teaching the kids how to use the OLPCs
effectively.

------
ComputerGuru
Your programming skills: No.

Your talents and engineering senses? Most definitely.

The idea is the same, the venue is different, that's all.

------
biohacker42
Skill X, can not fix or much help a broken state.

Even a doctor could only help those in close physical proximity and in no need
of advanced medical tech or much expensive drugs.

The fix for broken states is to fix the state, then the economy takes off and
your stills are needed.

Most broken states are run by undemocratic governments, to "fix" them you need
a change of regime. Undemocratic states often spy on their citizens to stay in
power. So l337 crypto skill could help a democratic underground communicate
and organize.

------
dazzawazza
To be fair no. Working for a charity isn't really going to help either (I
refere you to the last 50 years where outside of disaster relief charity has
done little to remove people from poverty).

If you really want to help, buy the things they make and lobby YOUR government
to lower trade barriers.

~~~
Tichy
I am not even convinced "buy the things they make" is the right way to go.
Maybe they should just make other things? Buying things "they" make would be
the same thing as subsidization, which I consider mostly evil. It would lead
to even more investment into making things nobody really wants, rather than
investment into making useful things.

Trade barriers are probably a good point, though.

~~~
dazzawazza
If you lower the trade barriers you will get a chance to buy the things they
make and they will get a chance to make what we want.

The reality of africa is that Europe dumps a lot of it's produce into African
markets at below market prices reducing the value of the local goods. There is
no point in giving to charity until this stops. African countries don't want
charity, they want markets and foreign capital so they can grow jobs for THEIR
people.

~~~
Tichy
Maybe you are right, on the other hand "dumping produce below market price"
could also be considered a gift.

Is this a deliberate scheme by European countries to destroy the African
economy, or why are they dumping the goods? Or maybe their production methods
are just more efficient and therefore the goods are so cheap?

~~~
shawndrost
"Dumping produce below market price" is the other side of the "farm subsidies"
coin. See "Your Farm Subsidies Are Strangling Us", by the presidents of two
African nations:
[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04EFD8103DF...](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04EFD8103DF932A25754C0A9659C8B63)

~~~
Tichy
Sure, but why do they have to rely on cotton? I just question the assumption
that all Africans should be farmers. In fact, is it likely that they will
reach our standards of living if they all remain farmers? I don't think so -
very few people in developed countries seem to be farmers, for all I can tell.

Of course if cotton can be produced cheaper there, it is a shame that the
world doesn't make use of it. But other than that, I don't see why a nation
should stubbornly insist on one kind of production.

------
jfischer
You might help out with a project like OpenMRS
(<http://openmrs.org/wiki/OpenMRS>). This is an open source medical records
application used in several African countries, primarily for HIV/AIDS care.

------
subwindow
I had been considering doing something similar in Ghana. I thought about it
for a few weeks and kept coming back to teaching. Teaching programming in
particular probably wouldn't be very useful, but teaching basic computer
skills definitely would be.

If you worked with a small town (provided they had access to reliable power),
you could probably have a measurable impact on the local economy. That is
really the only way I could sustain myself in such a situation- by being able
to see the good I'm doing to a whole community.

------
ihack4fun
i think the root of all problems/evil in africa comes from lack of (bad.. very
bad!) leaders. there's mugabe on one extreme and many other mini-mugabes who
are "sly" enough to go unnoticed (they are not sly or clever or whatever but
just downright stupid!), and worst of all, potentially "good" leaders will
simply never get to lead because of the long queue of bad leaders waiting to
get to the top and make themselves rich - and who , believe me , are ready to
do anything to make sure that the "good" ones never lead - including murder.
kenyan example - yet its not the worst 1\. MPs in kenya , one of the poorest
countries in the world, take home AT LEAST 8000$ per month (it must be 10000$
by now) , much more than most rich countries. they vote for these salaries and
block the parliament activities (hold hostage) if they dont get the amount
they wanted - after all they are the law makers !. 2\. Before elections,
several women who wanted to become MPs we're beaten , raped etc.. in order to
scare them. 3\. Now , after elections, with the hard times and especially
after a near civil war situation ( also because of "kenyan leaders greed for
power" - that's another long story !) , MP revenue taxation was proposed ( i
had forgotten to mention they are not taxed ) - they we're obviously up in
arms against it and vowed it would never happen - even if they earn 1000 times
more than the average kenyan, who pays taxes. i believe african countries have
their share of talent ( intellectuals, artists, good leaders .. all what you
want) only that they never (and might never) get to exercise it. many africans
know this so they simply have no faith in govt and live like they dont have
them - which is more or less true, this means living in some very chaotic
societies where the strong survive and the rest are left to try and survive.
let me cut it for now but if you can hack the bad leaders and replace them
with good ones - maybe that might just be the hack of the century :)

~~~
DabAsteroid
_i think the root of all problems/evil in africa comes from lack of (bad..
very bad!) leaders._

You don't think IQ is a factor?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality#Nation...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality#National_IQ_and_QHC_values)

------
bjelkeman-again
With the right plan I think you can be more effective if you stay at home and
deploy your Hacker skills.

Mechanical-fish wrote in another thread: "Wake me up when you have an
actionable plan to solve a problem. That would be interesting."

We identified a big internet service/applications gap in the development-aid
water and sanitation sector. Essentially these people are stuck in the
LP/cassette tape age, when the rest of the world moved on to iPods and p2p
networks.

Some basics:

Market size: 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation, 1.1 billion lack
safe water to drink. Some US$10 billion is spent every year to try to resolve
that problem. The goal is to halve those numbers by 2015 (UN MDG goals), but
that isn't going to happen.

Problem: There are lots of problems with development aid, but we are focusing
on a couple of specific areas: information exchange, funding and monitoring
and reporting.

Information exchange – Information about low cost, appropriate technologies
and sustainable water and sanitation solutions for low-income households and
communities is very hard to find and collect for the non-specialists.
Information is available, but spread over a large number of sources, and
essentially disorganised.

Funding – The water and sanitation community struggles to attract additional
flows of money and connect funds directly to where the demand is. It is
estimated that around 15-30% of budgets are directed away from intended
beneficiaries due to corruption and high overhead costs, partially due to a
lack of transparency. It is specifically difficult to find grants and loans
for local initiatives, even though these initiatives have proved to be very
efficient.

Monitoring and reporting – Monitoring and reporting are often used as a means
to ‘justify’ a correct use of funds, not as a tool to intervene pro-actively
in projects while they are evolving. The sector is stuck in the “thick Word
report” process, rather than using easy to use IT tools. Additionally the
sector struggles to visualise and share results in an appealing way to those
outside the sector.

You can take what I considere basic internet tools and drastically improve the
"state of the art" that the people working in this field today use. Which is
what we are doing, like picking low hanging fruit. We are putting together a
non-profit foundation to work on this and deliver some tools.

We are putting together three integrated products:

\- Akvopedia – the first truly open knowledge platform dedicated to water and
sanitation \- Akvo Matchmaking – an unique marketplace for water and
sanitation projects screening and funding \- Akvo Really Simple Reporting
(RSR) – an easy and transparent way to track projects in the field and to
share and visualise results

Essentially a Wikipedia for water and sanitation knowledge, eBay, Blogger and
YouTube for water and sanitation projects, rolled into one.

The tools we develop ourselves will be available under GPL and the platform is
available at an "at cost" basis to the users, who are NGOs, government
departments and companies. Which will be way below in cost what they can
provide for themselves.

We are in the process of deploying the platform and building out the first
product, Akvo RSR. The web site is essentially a wireframe which we used as
part of our fundraising, which will be swapped out with the real thing during
the summer.

We have more than a dozen development-aid partners and we are working with
hundreds of field partners lining up to use the system, and expect to put the
first 25-50 projects on the system over the next couple of months. The goal is
to scale this up to thousands of projects over the next year and then further.

I could go to Africa and work as a hydrologist (I have the education) but I
think that I am going to be much more effective rolling out some modern
internet systems to make all these people working in this field more
effective. Our funders agree with me, otherwise I don't think they wouldn't
have given us money.

~~~
24pfilms
I think this is the right approach. I think by being inventive and creating
ideas like www.freerice.com you can make a hell of a difference. John Breen
the guy who created this has sent much $$$$ to the World Food Programme. It's
a WIN/WIN situations users love it because they are learning, and the hungry
get fed.

www.codewithcause.com

------
evilneanderthal
I'd have to say I think you'll end up using your nunchuku skills and bow
hunting skills more than your hacker skills.

------
akd
If you parachute into mainland Africa, the most likely outcome for you is
death.

I had a friend who worked in Kenya for a few months and the class conflict was
so tense there that he had _six_ armed bodyguards on the advice of his
employer.

~~~
muriithi
Where in Kenya? I live there and unless your friend was doing drugs, his story
sounds highly implausible.

------
swombat
No.

