The Few, The Proud, The Geeks

You may have read about Geekcorps before on Slashdot. They're a bunch of good people doing a bunch of cool things, and it was high time we wrote something about them so that everyone can know what's going on. Click 'Read More' below to read about Geekcorps, and how you can help them push back the digital divide in developing countries.

Ethan Zuckerman, one of the founders of Tripod, felt that he wasn't getting as much as he wanted out of what he was doing. He knew from personal experience that a lot of people had achieved personal gain through the Internet, and wanted to donate money or time to a good cause, but couldn't find one that fit. So, along with now-program director Elisa Korentayer, Ethan decided to form Geekcorps, as a way to take burnt-out techies to developing countries, bringing their expertise to places that desperately needed it. Ethan assembled a team of technical gurus -- and international development specialists -- and started gathering funds to make his dream come true. His strategizing and monetary legwork is about to bear fruit: Geekcorps pilot program is beginning this year in Ghana. The Ghana program demonstrates the Geekcorps approach in a nutshell: the group will dispatch techies from the United States and Europe to developing countries to work with local small and medium for-profit enterprises. They're targeting countries with enough infrastructure to use the Internet for commerce, but where that opportunity goes largely unused.

The six techies to serve in Ghana will work with six businesses that work with information technology, whether they turn out to be cyber cafes or small manufacturers that want to get online. In return for providing these services, Geekcorps will ask each business to commit to social responsibility and community engagement. Geekcorps would ask, for instance, that a cafe offer access services for low and/or free rates to members of the local community. The specialists chosen for the program, likewise, are expected not only to help out these start-ups, but also to provide information technology training for the local community.

Zuckerman recognizes that Geekcorps isn't the only organization to do this kind of work; also in the works is a global database of techies who would be interested in volunteering for their program, so techie volunteers can be farmed out at no cost to other governmental and community-building projects. While there is only so much that Geekcorps can do, they understand that by keeping information free and taking the time to do it right, the benefits will be much greater.

Linux and other Free Software products have been extremely popular in developing countries, for their adaptability and low hardware requirements as much as for the absence of per-seat licenses. Is Geekcorps dedicated to using Free Software solutions? I asked Elisa Korentayer, one of the Geekcorps founders and international specialists.

Elisa: We're pretty dedicated. We're a big fan of Open Source, and we're a big fan of taking advantage of free software. The aspects of the Internet that are incredibly conducive to non-profit, saving-the-world kind of attitudes, we're really into that. Think about it -- What we're doing in human terms is very similar to what Open Sourcing is. We're going into a country and we're saying 'We're going to offer you services, but we're going to ask you to give those services to other people.' We're going to say 'You can have access to this, but you need to provide that access to other people who didn't have access before."

Elisa provides a startling example of the scale of the technology divide developing countries face:

Elisa: One of the sad-but-true facts right now is that the United States government has set a goal to have a computer in every school, in every library, and they're about 90% of the way there. The goal that the United States has for developing countries is for everyone to live within one day's travel of a telephone.

Geekcorps is looking for volunteers to build these solutions in developing countries. However, if you can't get three to four months off of work to volunteer in Ghana, there is still a good opportunity to work with Geekcorps in your off-time back in your local neighborhood.

Elisa: A lot of the other stuff we're thinking about in terms of taking advantage of the Internet is that we hope to have an open channel for our volunteers in Ghana to communicate back to volunteers at home, so other techies can log in from wherever they are to help those in the developing countries."

Companies worldwide claim to make the Internet and computers more accessible, but Geekcorps is getting out there and doing it this summer. Geekcorps needs time, effort and rampant volunteerism, and the opportunity for Open Source and Free Software enthusiasts to get involved is there for the taking.

Comments

Will you sign on?

[Jetifi]

Out of interest - how many /. readers would/will consider signing on to a scheme like this? Personally, at 19, a M$oftie and no exp. I'm probably not qualified.

Re:Will you sign on?

[strredwolf]

Most of the networking and some base info on setting up a server carries over, but if you play around with a distro (Slackware I know can be installed non-destructively on a VFAT partition) you can become on of "us" in no-time flat (can't say flat, actually, with how pudgy Tux is).

---
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com." The purpose of that site was not known. -- MSNBC 10-26-1999 on MS crack

Re:Will you sign on?

[ucblockhead]

It doesn't look quite the same as the peace corps, which needs mostly unskilled labor. I don't think college students are the target here. They seem to be looking more for people who've been in the industry a while. (Hence the "burned out techie".)

There are an increasingly of techies who've "made their fortune" so to speak in the mid-thirties. On the other hand, older people tend to have more commitments, like spouses, mortgages, kids, etc. That could be a big problem here.

In some ways, I think this could be a cool thing to do, but there's no way I could do it. The nice thing about being right out of college is that you have no responsibilities.

Re:Will you sign on?

[seebs]

Me, I'm too lazy, and too attached to my comfortable way of life. I'll stick to less direct contributions for now.

However, a friend of mine has been griping about how she wants to do some good in the world, not just sit at a desk, and I forwarded the article to her. :)

Re:Will you sign on?

[cDarwin]

I just subscribed to their list. It would take a great deal of planning (and the consent of the GF :) for me to be able to do this for 120 days. But, I would love to do it.

Some buddies of mine and I once set up a service bureau in Colombia to do map vectorization for companies in the US. Maybe I could contribute in a similar fashion here if my little penguin vetoes a full on trip.

Re:Will you sign on?

[Minupla]

Me. Just applied.

Linuxer since .9x SLS, done a stint of 5 years in the arctic installing internet infrastructure. Best experience of my life, both from a professional and a personal point of view.

As a friend once said, "When you're 75 and looking back on your life, you measure your worth not in terms of dollars you made, but in terms of difference you've made to the world around you".

This seems like a perferct opertunity to put some karma into the old karma bank, and not in a /. sense :)
----
Remove the rocks from my head to send email

That's pretty cool...

[seebs]

I'm not sure whether this is brilliant or stupid.

Pros: Technology clearly helps people become more self-sufficient. It's not necessarily a good thing to wait until everything else is in place to give people tools.

Cons: Perhaps the money and resources would be better spent helping people stabilize their economies, get fed, and things like that?

I guess I come down on the "pro" side. We've been trying to "feed the poor" for as long as we've had written history, and it's never really *solved* anything. Now, if we *EDUCATE* the poor, maybe that'll actually change something.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[stx23]

I suppose you could draw parallels to the 'give a man a fish' ideal, but in this case it would be Give a man a buck, he eats for a day, give a man the tools to make a buck, he eats for a lifetime.
I guess this is a good idea in that you have the aforementioned burned out techies put to good use as teachers, otherwise the alternative would be to ship them to the third world for someone to eat...

Re:That's pretty cool...

[GianfrancoZola]

Your cons are spot on.

Bringing everyone the Internet is one thing, but do they really want/need it? Mamy don't know what it is, and I can envision lots of people in developing countries get sucked into online culture at the expense of more pressing local situations that they should be helping to remedy.

Rolling out the necessary telecom infrastructure in remote places is quite a task. Besides, local (and even national) politics in lots of developing nations are rife with graft and corruption (hmm...so in that sense they're First World), something that will hinder the possibilities of providing good access to everyone.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[mbaker]

I'd tend to think it's a bit stupid, since an Internet Cafe is of little use to a developing nation.

Before we waste our time "educating" the people of a developing nation on how to use ICQ, or even how to type, perhaps helping them to construct meaningul systems of formal education is in order.

As for feeding the poor, that's a different can of beans all together. If you expect people to become self-sufficient, and not need continuous supplies of food, then you need to develop infrastructure for them.
This includes things like:

Creating real systems of education, like public schools for children and adults.

Creating specific schools for training teachers, so they can then train future generations of children.

Donating machinery for processing wood, stone, and various metals. It's hard to build a school without mills, saws, hammers, etc. And when you've a small economy (if any) it's almost impossible to buy these things. Of course we always have the World Bank to lend them money, so if they ever manage to construct an economy, U.S. corporations can setup shop in their country, and begin exploiting their population for cheap labor and eventually a new source of capital.

Donating farm equipment, like tractors and plows.
Educating the farmers on the use of compost for fertilizers.

Donating supplies of genetically engineered seeds for planting, to increase yields. Then educate the farmers on sustaining their system, to keep from needing further large sources of seed.

Creating roads, and teaching them how to construct road systems that last many years.

Creating supplies of safe drinking water, and educating them in various plumbing and filtering techniques.

etc etc etc

There's a lot of infrastructure that needs to be given, and education on how to preserve, and construct the infrastructure. I can't see any developing nation putting an internet cafe above quality education for its young. And though you may consider using computers as "quality education," I think that they could use mathematics, literacy, physics, biology, chemistry, medicine, etc a lot more.

What developing nations don't need:

Religous groups attempting to "convert" them, in exchange for vacinations and food.

Corporations "investing" in them, for later exploitation.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[six11]

This may seem trite, but remember the adage, "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day..." Assuming the people actually want to become "developed" (as many cultures want nothing to do with it). It's very surprising what technology can do to developing areas. Of course, there's the technological benefits, but I've been more interested in the non-technological aspects. For instance, learning about technology, or doing something that we might find very simple, can be a socially activating thing. Suddenly this person that thought he or she was completely out of the loop can do incredible things with a computer. It can be quite a self confidence booster.

If you're interested in getting more info on the effects of high tech on poor areas, check out the book, "High Technology and Low-Income Communities: Prospects for the Positive Use of Advanced Information Technology", edited by some of the greats, Donald Schon, Bish Sanyal, and William Mitchel. ISBN: 026269199X

Re:That's pretty cool...

[Luminous]

I'm on the pro side of this also. I am more likely to support a program like this than one of the Lords of Poverty programs that do nothing to alleviate the causes of poverty and hunger. Feeding the poor will never work. It is a logistical impossibility due to human nature. Freeing the poor from oppressive structures that prevent them from getting the knowledge and education needed to avoid disease and to increase food production is possible and will work. I also believe it isn't the U.S.'s responsibility to wire the world, care for everyone, but it is the responsibility of developed countries as a whole to make sure conditions don't get so bad that there isn't any hope at all. Stable economies lead to stable political systems.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[WeeMadArthur]

A bunch of people have mentioned how we should help the starving people first. I'd just like to point out that just because a country is considered 3rd world doesn't mean everyone is starving. I've lived in several third world countries where there is plenty of food and have fairly stable economies. They just aren't as rich as the US so they can't clean up a bit and start the industries that would help them.

I think this would be a good way to help boost 3rd world economies.

Andrew Sharp

Re:That's pretty cool...

[Luminous]

I believe the internet cafe was being used as an example of the types of services that can be provided. And I am almost sure they aren't saying developing countries need equal access to porn but an internet cafe in a village could help dispense up-to-date information on AIDS and other diseases. As seen with Chechnya and Fiji, empowering people with the ability to communicate beyond borders can do more good than harm. Also, Geekcorps aren't planning on going into Eritrea or backwater Senegambia, but to countries that already have the technological infrastructure to take advantage of the Internet but aren't.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[Luminous]

All in all, if someone doesn't support this concept due to anti-altruistic beliefs, then this concept can be thought of in selfish terms. The lessons we can learn in dealing with the difficulties in wiring developing countries can be applied to rural America. Why not start in rural America? Because the situation isn't so bad as to force us to develop new concepts and new technologies.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[mbaker]

Up to date information about AIDS is useless if you don't have scientists to apply that information.

There is no end to the need of this infrastructure in a developing nation. And infrastructure is all we should build in these nations, not businesses.

The money would be better spent helping them educate their children, than helping them construct 'net cafes, internet service providers, or anything else. Even constructing general telecommunications equipment is more important, than specifically offering them the internet.

In Ghana they'd be better off donating computers to the few quality sources of education, than anything else. And perhaps taking positions in their schools to help teach math, science, etc.

You can't run before you can walk, and that's certainly what it sounds like.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[geekcorps]

Just to weigh in - let me reassure you all that we didn't choose Ghana via the dart method. I lived in Ghana in 1993-1994 and have travelled there subsequently. On a trip in January, my wife and I were amazed at how many people asked us questions about using the Internet. After spending most of an afternoon giving a spontaneous class on web-based email at a cybercafe in Accra, we concluded that Ghana would be an excellent place to try a Geekcorps pilot project.

Ghana's an interesting example of a country in transition - most of the population lives in rural areas and work as subsistence farmers, but there's a large migration to urban areas and a need for high-paying jobs to support these migrants. No, most folks aren't going to come from a village and land a job doing web design... but they might find jobs working for a factory that's expanding... because it's suddenly selling products to a wider world market... because someone's helped them set up an ecommerce presence and fulfillment system. This is realistic in Ghana because the government has substantially liberalized telecommunications law, allowing ISPs to operate and ordinary individuals to get relatively inexpensive phone lines. (Not the case in much of the world.)

One of the populations we're most concerned with helping in countries like Ghana is the thousands of university graduates who have computer and business skills and bring them to the US, because there aren't a lot of good IT jobs in Ghana at the moment. Our goal is to help folks build great IT businesses in Ghana to give folks an incentive to share their talents in their home countries, rather than contributing to the problem of "brain drain" many developing nations face.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[geekcorps]

There's some terrific work being done on Digital Divide issues in rural America. If Slashdotters want to get involved, a great org to look into is TechCorps, which works on wiring and supporting educational efforts in US schools, especially schools in rural areas. Actually, we're learning a lot from TechCorps' efforts in rural areas, and we're trying to apply those efforts in Geekcorps' work. (The idea of virtual volunteers - folks providing answers and research support via email - is something we've unabashedly stolen from TC.)

Actually, the reason we're choosing to focus on the International Digital Divide is that so much good work is being done on DD issues in the US. For a good overview of some of the other groups out there, check out helping.org.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[cpt kangarooski]

...give a man the tools to make a buck, he eats for a lifetime.

No, if you give a man the tools to make a buck, he eats for 15 to 30 with time off for good behavior ;)

Re:That's pretty cool...

[cDarwin]

Sounds like the sites you visited would not be considered as candidates for GeekCorps' current programs. Please read above.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[Chalst]

The project's goals are great, and I think Ghana is a great choice of
country to work with. It's important to make a distinction between
primary and secondary development needs, where primary development is
concerned with improving rates of literacy and basic health, and
getting liberal (independent judiciary and police force, free press)
institutions into place.

Until these are in OK shape, work on secondary development (improving
secondary health care, technical education, etc.) won't make much
difference. Ghana has been making great progress on primary
development since its new constitution cam into place. Ghana is also
influential in African politics, as a country that is getting tings
right. I reckon this is a place where the right input can make a big
difference.

Re:That's pretty cool...

[Chalst]

Ghana has a reasonably good, if not yet very old, system of compulsory
primary and secondary education. In cities, literacy is close to
100%.

How do you recommend your `education to preserve infrastructure' be
organised? By government fiat? I think building up communication
networks and online repositories of knowledge about the quality of
local government, agricultural information etc. would do the job
better. Why do you think promoting IT skills must be at the expense
of the skills you support?

Great use of Linux!

[strredwolf]

Nothing like the GeekCorps to up the ante. It's not one days travel to a phone anymore: It's one's day travel to any communication -- be it phone or Internet.

Iridium can also help in this respect, I just realize. It can actually reach some of the remote areas!

---
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com." The purpose of that site was not known. -- MSNBC 10-26-1999 on MS crack

Smart?

[bdigit]

Wouldnt it be better to start giving these countries some food before the internet? There gonna spend all day surfing the web racking up there ISP bill. =P

Re:Smart?

[Luminous]

Ghana is not a starving country. It is a country that lacks finances and resources to develop beyond its current level. If it stays in its current level, it will slip into social chaos. It is a common problem in developing countries. Usually they get dependent upon a U.S. corporation for development, and then that company pulls out, creating a power vacuum. Someone coming to a developing country and assisting them to develop in the direction they want to without forcing an ideology down their throats is a wonderful positive thing.

Re:Smart?

[cvillopillil]

As a citizen of a developing country, I can assure you that there are quite a few people here using the internet. Sure, not as many as in the US etc, but well over 1 and a half million. Unless you can provide an affidavit stating that EVERY single person in the US and Canada is rich and doesn't need the kind of services you're talking about for developing countries, like the one I'm in....well, I dunno. Maybe it's just time for some people to step off their proverbial high-horses slightly. The one and a half million refers to dial-up users and ISDN dial-up users, btw, and there are also a shitload of companies with permanent connections to the internet. Sure, DSL isn't quite there yet (telecomms monopoly), but once the monopoly is broken up, we should see DSL prices coming to acceptable levels and not restricted the way they are at the moment. AFAIK this is schedueled for 2001.

Technologically, the only thing I'm concerned about here is education. There's no denying it, it's pretty useless here at schools. Kids are still using P75's and 486DX4/100s running MS DOS 6.22 and TurboPascal. THIS is a worrying factor. Universities aren't much better in their choice of language - BLECH - JAVA. (They do have better hardware though). Anyways, that's about all for now.

other needs

[crovax]

Don't people think that preventing starvation in 3rd world countries would be more important than bringing the internet the 2nd world countries?!?

I for one will not support the Geekcorps.

Don't get me wrong, I think It is a good idea and there hearts are in the right place, but there are other things that are more important.
-----
If my facts are wrong then tell me. I don't mind.

Re:other needs

[seebs]

We've been trying to prevent starvation for about five thousand years. It turns out that people who don't have a good education tend to fuck a lot. They tend to have too many kids. Until you get them out of the cycle of having more kids than they (or you) can support, you make no progress.

Think of it as a particularly relevant form of education. Communication, planning, resources... These are all things people will need if we want them to someday feed *themselves*.

The more I think about it, the more cool this sounds; it's a good use of resources. Free skilled labor is always good.

Re:other needs

[Maurice]

Well that is why there is the World Food Program. These geekcorps people are not using any of your money so quit bitching. On the other hand the World Food Program is using your money (in the form of income tax payed to your country who pay their UN fees).
Why don't people like you understand that you can't feed everyone in the world. There will always be poor and hungry people. Otherwise, it's called communism and we know it doesn't work.

Why is there always someone who will post along the "feed the hungry" lines when there is an article about space exploration, etc?

Or may be I am replying to a stupid troll. Oh well...

Re:other needs

[moosemilk]

You need to do what you are passionate about. If you are passionate about feeding the poor, go feed the poor. If you are passionate about building IT and technology infrastructure, go do it! If you are passionate about feeding the poor and go build IT and technology infrastructure, you will be less effective to the whole of society. If you want to take over the world...

Re:other needs

[gier]

It's more a case of a division of labour, I'd say. There are people already working on trying to end world starvation. If you dig around a bit you'd find that there's different organisations doing it too, directly and indirectly. And then there's the ones trying to save the environment, which also involves going to some less developed countries and asking them to ease off on the greenhouse gases. And then there's this: Geekcorps. Similar to, say, the VSO in the UK except in a much narrower focus and maybe slightly different aim of an end result. We need ALL of these. Concurrently. In parrallel. It's good to have your heart in the right place. Even better when you act on it.

Re:other needs

[GianfrancoZola]

Getting them out of this cycle has proved to be an arduous process. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa, large families are a cultural tradition, and it is often expected that women will have many children. Boys are preferred, so they sometimes keep having kids until they have enough boys to help out w/ the daily tasks--gathering wood, water, raising crops, livestock, etc.

I don't think it's entirely accurate in the sub-Saharan Africa context to say 'they don't have an education, hence they have lots of kids'. Birth control is a very new phenomenon that has to become accepted in the culture to succeed. That doesn't happen overnight. Family size is a function of necessity, not education.

You are probably right about some places in the world, but that's what I know about sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

Re:other needs

[crovax]

Very Insightful, and convincing.
your point of view on the problem being the government, and needing the infrastructure is something that I could agree with.
-----
If my facts are wrong then tell me. I don't mind.

Re:other needs

[talks_to_birds]

This is, of course, a valid concern.

But...

...when there are hands available to do the work, I think it best to advance on as many different fronts as possible.

Developing countries need help everywhere/anywhere.

If we wait until starvation is eliminated before doing anything else, a lot of good work will go undone...

t_t_b
--

Re:other needs

[seebs]

In many parts of the world, anyway, birth rate varies inversely with female literacy. Maybe not totally, but even getting a few people to slow down on the kids will help immensely in some areas, and the second-order effects (kids who got more attention and education when growing up will be even better off...) can start really making a difference.

Re:other needs

[seldolivaw]

First off, get your terminology straight: originally, the "second world" referred to Africa and India (they were sailed to and discovered by the Spanish/Portuguese before the Americas were discovered. The third world referred to the "New World": this, obviously, includes what is now the United States. Obviously, these terms have changed.

"Third world" is now a synonym for a "developing nation" -- anything that isn't a developed nation is, I guess, part of the third world. The term "second world" is no longer used. But this is not the point.

People who say "we should solve all our/their basic problems before we tackle new development" are missing the point: we need development in order to solve the basic problems. If people had listened to this kind of thinking back in prehistory, we'd still be a load of cavemen desperately trying to hunt enough animals to keep everyone fed before we started work on this new-fangled "fire" thing.

If the Geekcorps can create a successful IT business in a country that creates 20 new jobs, then 100 people will have a source of income and can feed themselves. That is preventing starvation.

Re:other needs

[mbaker]

Perhaps you should think about what the individual was saying for a moment. Obviously he's stating that he will not donate time or money to this program. I don't him one stating that he does in any way pay for this rather innane program.

You could, in fact, feed every single human being on this planet. It wouldn't even take a remotely large faction of total land area of the planet.
The problem lies in distribution, whether it be how to get it there, or supporting (financially) the number of people needed to supply food for the rest of the world.

There will always be poor people, while any one person thinks that he is somehow entitled to as much of everything as he can possibley get, and that the condition of everyone else is irrelevant.

5% of the population having 80% of the world's wealth is a rather good indicator that our system "doesn't work."

There has been no real institution of communism, so whether it would work or not is hard to say. And before you call China or the U.S.S.R communists, I think you should read some Marx.
Totalitarian regimes don't a communist make.

Re:other needs

[mbaker]

While we're suggesting population control, perhaps U.S. citizens should stop having children. This way our flooded education system can have a chance to correctly process our urban children, we can lower our percentage of the world's pollutants, lower our percentage of usage of the entire planet's fossil fuel supply, curb our destruction of our lakes, streams, and oceans, and any number of other things we do wrong.
It would also be beneficial if a few hundred thousand patriots would commit suicide, especially executives of multinational corporations. This should cut down on the exploitation of the world's people by a great amount.

On a serious note, this isn't the sort of infrastructure developing nations need. They need real schools, good roads, good plumbing infrastructure, environmentally friendly means of producing electricity, hospitals, and effective agriculture.

Learning how to use a computer isn't going to help them make better roads, if they don't know math enough to seriously study physics.

Re:other needs

[mbaker]

I think you're sort of missing his point.

To successfully feed a large population, you need to have a lot of infrastructure in place. This infrastructure, which leads to successful and prolonged feeding of the people, is the same infrastructure that allows people to study that new-fangled "fire thing."

Creating an internet cafe in a country where they don't even know what an eigenvector or a cell is, isn't going to help them much. So a priority above an internet cafe is obviously an effective means of education. And to provide an effective means of education, you need institutions to aid in mass education. And to build these institutions you need to be able to process stone, metal, wood, etc effectively. You also need to construct environmentally safe sources of power, and so on and so on.

You can't just give people that can't afford vacinations five 386es, and expect them to somehow build an economy on it.

Re:other needs

[seldolivaw]

And you have missed mine.

Did I say an Internet cafe? No, I said an IT-based business. Obviously, creating the business involves a lot of education. It's not the same as educating the masses, but that's the point. We need money before we can educate the masses, and the way to do that is by educating some people and starting businesses in motion.

Okay, sure we should educate everybody, but you don't grasp how poor these countries are: why do you think the education system sucks in these countries (screw "these countries"; I mean "my country" and I'll say so)? Because it's never occurred to us that "HEY! Sending people to school is a good idea!"? It's because we can't afford schools, we don't have the resources to build them or the money to continue staffing them. Because we're POOR.

Saying "educate first, then build your economy" is the ultimate hypocrisy of the developed nations, and especially the US. These nations did not become rich by thinking about the poor and uneducated, they got where they are by ruthlessly exploiting them -- picture slaves in the cotton fields, and illiterates working in the steel mills and automobile factories. The US, one of the world's richest nations, also has one of the worst education systems, and that fact has been proven time and time again. How can you remember that fact and still say "education is key"? Smart people are fostered by strong economies, not the other way around.

Obviously you need some basic infrastructure in place before starting an IT business -- computers need electricity. But it doesn't need to be and cannot be universal before you can go to the next stage. The cities are always more developed than the hamlets, even in the US. Start giving people in the villages vaccinations, but start giving people in the towns the 386s. There's room for both.

Re:other needs

[geekcorps]

>I for one will not support the Geekcorps.

That's cool with us, as long as you work on the issues that you think are more important. I'm certainly not going to claim that universal access to the Internet is the most important issue facing the world. I am going to claim that it's an important step towards economic development and job creation in countries that desparately need good paying jobs.

There are numerous issues confronting the world community. Some of them require short-term action: famine relief, refugee assistance, peacekeeping missions. Others require long-term solutions: economic development, infrastructure development, public health. The world needs organizations and people to work on long-term and short-term issues. So if you feel Geekcorps is working on the wrong issues, that's fine (and perhaps true), but please back up your words with your time and money and support the efforts that you see as more important than what we're doing.

Ethan Zuckerman, CEO and co-founder, Geekcorps

Re:other needs

[Spoing]

It turns out that people who don't have a good education tend to fuck a lot.

If you want people to stop having babies, give them condoms and TVs. Everything else is secondary.

Re:other needs

[mbaker]

Of course they're poor. You wouldn't see organizations attempting to use their money to help these countries develop, if they had piles of U.S. dollars.

However, attempting to construct businesses that can't be maintained by the country, isn't going to do it any good.

More than money, what these countries need is a self-sustaining infrastructure. You can get money as a side-effect, but the infrastructure needs to be built.

A much better way for this to be built, is for organizations to construct, for free, this infrastructure. Otherwise these countries become tied to the World Bank, and eventually further exploitation by the U.S. corporations. Fun stuff, really.

Once the infrastructure is in place, the populations can be educated in various things, such as literacy, mathematics, the sciences, engineering, medicine, good farming techniques, etc.

To attempt to thoughtlessly industrialize a nation, is somewhat moronic. To expect that you can create an economy with ignorant people is naive.
If you attempt to industrialize a nation, without educating the masses, the country is doomed to a painful developmental process, just like the U.S. and the Britain went through. Massive exploitation of people by a small ruling class. If this is what you wish for developing nations, then I'm saddened.

What sort of economy can one expect from a horde of ignorant workers? One based upon mindless factory work, such as China. The scenario is more or less a large U.S. corporation setting up its construction in a developing country with poor, ignorant people, and using lax social laws to exploit them heartlessly.

After all, you can't expect a country of ignorant people to somehow be able to compete against the factory workers of multinational corporations. And without quality education, they domain of employment is limited.

Now of course you'll suggest that somehow these same ignorant hordes can construct an e-commerce business that will be able to rival all of the countless other e-commerce businesses, when they exist in a country that "has no resources."

You site quite heavily into the construction of the U.S. economy. Mentioning slaves, ignorant factory workers, and poor education.
Certainly the U.S. has a deplorable history, and if it's your belief that through repracticing the same injustices against the people of third world nations will somehow construct an equal setting, then I urge you to think again.

The world was certainly a much different place while the U.S. was industrializing, enslaving, and exploiting its workers. And though while no one is there to enslave and exploit you, you can certainly build quite an economy (for a small number of people, at least), it's certainly different when there is an entrenched giant exploiter waiting to utilize your weak country for its cheap labor.

If you settle for attempting to produce just a worker class of citizen, while a small number of people attempt some form of modern business, your country will just be ripe for exploitation by the U.S. corporations.

If organizations were to hand-hold a developing nation while it developed, the nation would be developed in parallel, and stand a better chance of being able to stand on its own. It's hard to exploit a nation of educated people, fully involved in their Government, and capable of designing their own technologies and economies.
What is really need, is large scale non-profit investment.

The U.S., while an extremely rich country, is also a country of great inequality. A very small amount of the population is in control of the majority of our GDP. We've a long history of exploitation of workers by this small population, and a long history of exporting this exploitation to other countries, as our citizenry becomes increasingly more resistant to domination.

And most importantly, the U.S. is still broken. The education system is hardly the worst in the world, but is certainly in need of development. Our higher education facilities are amongst the best in the world, while our secondary schools range from excellent to poor, depending on population density.
You don't think that those large amounts of poorly educated people in high population density regions are experiencing the benefits of our "great economy," do you?
Try living in the poor part of a U.S. city, and tell me you want to encourage the same sort of exploitation that the U.S. used to get where it is today, because you dream that one day that people have that to look forward to.

There is certainly room for computer education in developing nations, but there's also limited good, at this time, that just wasting money on setting up a few computer businesses can do.
The resources would be better spent advancing their schools, and not wasting money on businesses that will just fail, at best.

Re:other needs

[kaphka]

Until you get them out of the cycle of having more kids than they (or you) can support, you make no progress.

People don't have more kids than they can support. At least, not in the average case... temporary perturbations eventually smooth out. You should read about r-strategy versus K-strategy reproduction.

Unfortunately, I can't find any good links about the model, but the basic idea is that organisms tend to have fewer offspring (and dedicate more resources to them) when their children's future prospects are relatively predictable (K-strategy). When the future is unpredictable, it's easier just to focus on quantity (r-strategy).

For example, in the U.S., a college education, or rather a college diploma, has a big impact on your future success, so middle- and upper-class Americans tend to have few kids and pour lots of money into them. In less developed countries, a well-educated child is just as likely to starve or die of disease or be eaten by a lion as an uneducated child, so r-strategy prevails.

There's no question that this model applies on the level of species... insects versus mammals, for example. It hasn't been proven that it applies within species as well, although it seems obvious that it would.

Incidentally, even though what we consider "birth control" has only been around for a few thousand years, humans have always had other ways to control their reproduction. I had a professor who would illustrate this point with wisecracks about Monica Lewinsky... You can fill in those blanks yourself, if you must.

Re:other needs

[orabidoo]

no, your etymology is incorrect. "third world" is a direct translation of the French "tiers monde", which itself is an analogue to the previously existing "tiers etat", which referred to the common people, i.e those who were neither nobility nor clergy. "tiers" just means third, because they came after the two privileged classes.

Re:other needs

[cDarwin]

The map on this page is pretty telling.

Re:other needs

[tim.youfreak]

given how infrequently geeks get laid (judging by #slashdot) i would say that getting them hooked on the internet and programming linux should do wonders for population control.

:p

Re:other needs

[kjeldar]

Or condoms and computer skills.

Re:other needs

[kjeldar]

Since we're splitting erymological hairs, the poster was probably using the term in the popular sense. During the Cold War, the 'democratic' West and the 'communist' East were referred to as the First and Second Worlds, and underdeveloped/emerging countries were referred to as the Third World.

Re:other needs

[whosit]

Here's a well thought out rebuke for you - Fuck off Have a nice day.

The Appropriate Technology???

[Alien54]

I for one would be interested in knowing what hardware they need or bring with them. And would have alot of concerns as too what is the appropriate level of technology to use in such a situation

what happens all too often is that businesses (and individuals)want to donate their old hardware stored in the back closet (XT, AT, etc) made by companies that at no longer around, and/or are no longer supported. Considerable expertise is required to work with these, and many folks are deficient when dealing with command lind interfaces. Often, the expertise resides with a few people who still remember how these things work

of course, knowledgable folks all want the latest toys.

I can still run my business from a dos database program I know (it's relational), but I don't. (I have moved on to better things)

I know I would be considerably under-happy about providing tech support for people ramping up on this. Especially from overseas.

(I have worked in tech support, and the worse cases are the people who want you to help design their system from scratch over the phone, for free. and of course who do not want to learn since you are their intelligent talking book. It is, of course far easier in a course room situation, where you can grow the appropriate attitudes of personal responsibility)

So the issues are:

technology level
documentation
training
user expectations
repair issues

How are these being managed?

The repair issues alone could be horrific. Something works well for six months or a year, then dies a horrible death, and you need to redo the setup with new obsolete hardware. This could be a death trap for the tech supporting the setup.

Gross overgeneralizations

[digitalboy]

What do you think these people are? Some kind of hive mind?
Did you not conside that they will all have their own individual preferences, just as geeks in developed nations do?

Re:Gross overgeneralizations

[blogan]

Did you not consider the question can be answered in a few different ways? You're assuming the answer would be one word. However, it can also be answered like: I see usage split at about 40% using KDE, 40% using Gnome, and 20% using Afterstep. However, since we are using lower end machines, we tend to train them on the Afterstep. If they have a higher end machine, they usually choose Gnome or KDE.

Of course, that's just made up. I don't have the actual statistics or anything. There are more ways to answer a question than radio controls. Besides, the post was meant mostly to be humorous.

It was about time

[bandolero]

I've been toying with a similar idea for some time: dedicate some of my time/skills to try to make a little difference no matter how small, although I also thought that the third world it is not in dire need of the techie skills I've got to offer. Doctors & farmacists for medical help, teachers for education & literacy, engineers for better infrastructures (water, electricity, etc). That is what they probably really need most. I'm not sure if they really need us to set up a network or a cybercafe for them although it is probably worth a try. I just wonder how many people go do this kind of thing not just to help others but to feel better with themselves. The society we have built generates lots of burn-outs fed up with this crap where the supreme value is money and no-one gives a shit about anything else. Feeling depressed today? get out there and buy something you'll feel better for a little while. There is a whole bunch of people that is so attached to OBJECTS that they are nothing without them. Many of us geeks are a bit like this.

structure it as a business

[swinge]

to keep the program "honest", I would treat it more like a venture capital/entrepreneurship program. establish "businesses" that have some customer-seeking goal and purpose. A business or small industry would need to hire all sorts of people giving opportunities to a wider variety of the locals, and it would be teaching some important sales, marketing, and financial skills (those are "technologies" too) that will help to create a wider infrastructure in an underdeveloped economy.

The charitable portion of the project would be pouring in the free training, but the success could be measured by these projects becoming self-sustaining. I guess I'm thinking of a higher tech version of what the Grameen Bank has been doing in Bangladesh, where they put together a group of locals who each accept individual loans, but agree to "cover" each other and share the risk of default. These people (women, I think) embark in small industry, using the loans (very small) to buy a sewing machine or something, but the model has proven quite effective in allowing families to achieve real financial independence (no, we're not talking about early retirement here :)

So, I like the idea of a realistic but forward looking project: grounded in creating self-sustaining commercial enterprises, but one which is also teaching more high tech and the other aspects of a modern service economy than the Grameen program strives for.

Re:structure it as a business

[geekcorps]

Great observations. We're looking towards Grameen, Accion and other microlending programs for ideas for how to run Geekcorps in a way that - eventually - will be sustainable.

We're working exclusively with businesses, rather than building NGOs, which have the tendency to work to sustain themselves rather than to solve problems and move on. Our goal is not to continue working with a business, but to train trainers at that business, so they can train their staff and communities. To keep ourselves honest, we're limiting ourselves to five years in a country.

We're also looking towards the venture capital community to provide an essential component of our work. As we work with companies to expand their online presences, they're going to need money to expand their work. If we can help introduce our best partners to venture capitalists willing to take the risks inherent in investing in the developing world, we'll consider ourselves very successful.

Sustainable economic development's a challenging field, though. It's taken Grameen, Accion and others a couple of decades to work the kinks out of their admirable methods. Give us a little time to work out the right model. :-)

100% a good thing

[Nafai7]

How can a person like me really help the underdeveloped nations of the world? I don't think I have what it takes to go out to the starving masses and hand out food. However, I CAN take an old Pentium or even 486 and set up an e-commerce server, enabling individuals and companies in other countries to grab a little piece of the new global marketplace.

Remember the old adage (paraphrased as best I can remember), "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime." I'm all for geekcorps... I'll be checking into their web site further to see how I can help.

How to start a Civil War

[Roger_Wilco]

First of all, I think the idea of educating people is a good thing. Don't get me wrong!

But, according to Johan Galtung's Rank Disequilibrium theory of war, educating the poor, if done by itself, can encourage violent revolutions.

The theory goes like this: when people are wealthy, educated, respected, and their skills are being well used, they are not likely to revolt. Likewise, if they are poor, uneducated, abused, and ignored they are likely to be resigned to their lot, and be not likely to revolt. However, people who are a mix, eg poor but educated and unable to get a worthwhile job, are unhappy and are therefore more likely to revolt.

This theory suggests that to cause a civil war, one should:

1. Create universities, producing an intellectual class
2. Make few positions available where the education can be used effectively
3. Institute mass education
4. Make no other changes, so the populace is educated but given no opportunity to better themselves with any correstponding rise in economic status or power.

Galtung does not suggest by this that 3rd world countries should be kept in their "underdog" position, but that development should be done on several fronts simultaneously.

Re:How to start a Civil War

[mbaker]

It's impossible to institute mass education without creating infrastructure, so I'm not certain his theory is worth much.

Not to mention that there's no shortage of things for an educated individual to do, in a developing nation, so I can't see them revolting out of boredom.
If however they're being abused by their Government, perhaps revolting isn't such a bad thing.

Definitely necessary, and a great idea

[seldolivaw]

First off all, I'd like to say that I come from Trinidad in the Caribbean, which is a developing third-world nation, albeit more on the "developed" side of developing. And this kind of program is exactly what the developing world needs.

The third world needs to catch up with the developed world. This can not be achieved by following in the footsteps of the developed nations: as fast as we develop, the developed nations will maintain their lead and we will always be second-class world citizens.

Information technology has the ability to allow us to leapfrog several steps in the development process by creating economies based on the 21st-century business model from the ground up rather than recreating offline economies and going through the same painful and expensive restructuring process that the developed nations are currently undergoing. And, yes, it would be a good idea to get all our citizens clothed and fed, but to do that we need money and lots of it, and the only way to get that is to get our economies competing effectively with the rest of the world.

But the age-old need-money-to-get-money problem comes into effect: we are too busy preventing complete collapse of our economies to think about beefing them up. We don't have the resources, both physical but especially mental -- third-world countries suffer heavily from "brain-drain" as all our best and brightest get their bloody H1-B visas and ship off to the states as fast as they can.

The developed nations have made all their money exploiting the developing nations for raw materials, cheap labour and relaxed laws of every kind for centuries now: it's high time they started giving back.

Re:Definitely necessary, and a great idea

[wanna]

Some of the superficial comments such as why would 'an Internet cafe' help underdeveloped starving populations seem to miss the reality of what technology could really accomplish in situations like this.

At least one person who posts on /. has a WebPage which I have seen as a /. link, which addresses exactly how useful minimal computer equipment with an extensive 'medical' database, can be in an isolated poor area where there are no medical facilities and only local, poorly trained medical practitioners. Her actions made it possible to access data that they would have no way of knowing or utilizing prior to her having done exactly what is being suggested by this group.

One centrally located connected computer in a severely depressed rural area could be utilized for more then ONE specific project. It could access medical, agricultural, educational, political and cultural information and act as effectively as the little red schoolhouse did in the early days of the American West.

Not only could our OLD technology teach a man to fish, but how to prepare the fish properly, how to compost, how to balance a diet and how to work smarter at fishing, farming and family planning.

Good for these guys! Wish I wasn't SOooo old and still so technologically inept! I'd volunteer in a heartbeat!

Re:Definitely necessary, and a great idea

[geekcorps]

Thanks for bringing up the subject of "brain drain". At Geekcorps, we see this as one of the toughest problems many developing nations face. Since there's such a shortage of talented techies in the US (recent figures suggest 300k unfilled tech jobs in the US), the US gov't has made it fairly easy for highly skilled citizens of other nations to come to the US. While this is great for US companies - and many US companies, including my previous two employers (Tripod and Lycos) have been built with their efforts - it's tough for countries to lose their most talented citizens.

The solution to brain drain - IMHO - is to create more economic opportunities for these talented folks in their home countries. If Trinidad had a few more successful IT businesses, there might be fewer folks grabbing those H1-B visas.

A bit of good news - brain drain can be reversed. That's one of the reasons we're so excited about Ghana. Ghanaians who've been living in the US for the last few years are starting to return home to start IT businesses. This is great news, and a major step forward...

Re:Definitely necessary, and a great idea

[afc]

OT: I may be reading to much into your nick but it looks to me like you're an Asimov fan (OTOH, perhaps not, you just combined names from the closest bookshelf in the library :-). Shouldn't your nick be 'seldonolivaw'?

cheers

Knowledge is power. The Internet is knowledge...

[clintonr]

Given the chance to learn, and love learning, people in '2nd world' countries will embrace knowledge, and strive to advance their society (or at least their families..).

Give people access to the internet (and in turn, the world around them), and they shall learn. Education is the key.

"Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime..."

Do this in your own community!

[Izaak]

If you can not get away from your job for several months, don't be afraid to do the same thing in your own community. Most metro areas have their share of poverty and poor education.

I build up net surfing stations using linux running on old hardware and then donate them to people who can't afford a new computer. I also occasionally teach free computer classes for people who need to improve their job skills but can't afford commercial training.

Thad

Re:Do this in your own community!

[mbaker]

I would just like to commend you for this. All too often U.S. citizens tend to take for granted their particular lifestyle, and forget that a large portion of our population isn't very well off.

You're doing a noble thing, and I can only hope that there're many other people equally concerned with the well being of neighbors.

Re:Do this in your own community!

[Izaak]

I would just like to commend you for this. All too often U.S. citizens tend to take for granted their particular lifestyle, and forget that a large portion of our population isn't very well off.

The funny thing is, I never originally set out to do anything nobel or generous. It was just that I had some old hardware that was not doing me any good, and I knew some people that could not afford a new computer. After a while the word got out, and I was getting donations of old computers, so I felt compelled to find people who could use them. The free trainging was just the natural next step.

I've discovered I've really like seeing that light bulb go on when a person discovers just how useful a tool a computer can be. I've also discovered that a properly configured Linux machine can have a very user friendly desktop that even a total computer neophyte can handle. This whole myth about Windows being easier is a load of crap. ANY system is easier when it comes preconfigured out of the box versus having to install it yourself.

Later,

Thad

you guys are missing the point

[Anonymous Coward]

In the upcoming global market that the Internet
presents, we are slowly erasing the divides that
are present right now. If you could train a
village in Africa on how to successfully compete
in the new market, they will be prepared to earn their own money for food. No one wants a hand out, but no one minds someone helping them to help themselves. A minor investment in training and equipment will pay for itself tenfold unlike consumables, enable them to purchase consumables on their own.....

Every time I try to help an underdeveloped soceity

[Rombuu]

Starfleet comes down on my ass about the "Prime Directive"...

Peace Corps doing the same thing

[Anonymous Coward]

The Peace Corps is doing the same thing. This is great news for people like me, who were told all they were qualified to do is teach mathematics. The url to a local article follows, maybe someone can find one with a national scope? Peace Corps director launches technology program

....Teach a person to fish......

[flatrabbit]

It comes back to that old adage...
Give a person some fish, and feed them for a day.
But, teach a person to fish and feed them forever."

The real question is: Is technology Fish?
meaning is technology the one thing that we should be teaching second, and third world countries(I personally hate the terms 2nd and 3rd, it makes them seem different than us even though they aren't!). Is technology really the holy grail? Will it feed the hungry?, will it cloth the clothless?, will it fill help the less fortunate countries stand with their more technologicaly advanced brethren?

I think the answer is yes. I firmly belive that technology can help other countries find a place in this new world that we are creating. If they aren't given the tools to help themselves now they are in danger of being left behind in this "race" for technological evolution.

Hey posters. If you are relly reading these replys then I have another favor to ask of you: Please make this a real topic. Turn this reply into an "ASK SLASHDOT". With the Question something like: IS technology really the holy grail that will solve all the world's problems?

Well it doesnt have to be that question but somthing like it. You all have better experience writing questions that people resond to. Be my guest.

Thanks for your time.


flatrabbit,
peripheral visionary

Re:....Teach a person to fish......

[mbaker]

Give a man that can't fish a computer, and watch him try to catch fish with it.

information

[k13]

I think that it is always a nice thing when humans try to help other humans, but I am not entirely sure what geekcorps wants to achieve. It seems that they want to help local businesses and help them get onto the inet.
Funny that is, who would be able to buy anything from them when noone has inet access(now we are talking about really far away future earnings<g>). Internetcafes are nice, but will, unless properly adminstered be used for gaming, which will also not help the economy.

Even when considering latest economic research, evidence is inconclusive and not entirely on the side of more information equals better living standards. From geekcorps webpage you can't exactly figure out, what they are up to.
Having read some of the development economics papers, it seems that there have been positive relations between enabling them to access to the following kind of sites(incomplete, but you get the notion):
news(which many don't have in their villages and towns)
crop and farming information(what kind of seeds, best strategies against shocks, how to build up credit systems on a village basis,..)
social, political and job education(there are actually a few NGOs I think, that are trying this right now)

What did not seem to be useful is to let them get lost in cyberspace browsing around for hours at amazon&co:)

The Internet by itself will IMHO not help developing countries a great lot, until they can enhance their productivity(which is actually possible), educate people(which is also possible) and let them communicate with the outside world(which most of them have and will never see/experience, being bound to their countries/villages for all their life), which will hopefully open their minds and initiate/support democratic thinking and values of the people in those countries.
The problem it seems has very often been to get Internet access to the villages, service the computers, governments(the inet challenges some of their views, take for instance China) and who is going to pay for all this.
Just to throw something into the discussion here, some people believe, that after having been left out of the Industrial Revolution, that the Third World, might be able to join the Information(Internet) Revolution and simply skip the step to fully developed industrial countries.
This is an interesting point and I think that it might be possible for some countries or better regions, but that this won't be a general solution. Looking at India, which has a few software development hotspots, taking the country as a whole, the Inet has not changed very much, besides inducing dreaming about becoming an inet millionaire, for some of the cs students. Most of the ppl still live in poverty and neither has the inet changed the trend of the population, namely upwards(by 2030 they are supposed to overtake China, according to the UNpop)
Before bla-ing anymore along, I would like to know, what exactly it is that geekcorps will be doing and whether they are planning to help ppl use the inet or get local business into the net(if the later is the case, I doubt they have thought enough about all this).

Considering the latest developments in countries like Zimbabwe(was down there just 3 months ago<g>) I would make sure that there are not some nice coup d'etats&co cooking...would give the name Internet Revolution a totally new meaning(you would be very fast revolutionizing your geek ass again out of that country)

-k13

Re:information

[geekcorps]

I think the comment Elisa or I made about cybercafes is confusing people. We're working with a wide range of different businesses in developing nations that want to use the Internet. Some of these businesses are focused on the access side - ISPs, cybercafes, etc. Most are businesses that would be using the Internet to reach a wider market with their products. Whether you're running a manufacturing facility or producing crafts, having access to the web, and the ability to build an ecommerce presence, makes it loads more likely you're going to be able to sell your goods to a world market, rather than a local or regional market.

In some cases, it allows you provide services that simply don't have a local market. One business we're hoping to work with in Ghana is providing software development services for companies in the US who are running large COBOL systems. There's not neccesarily a large market for their services in Ghana, but there is in the US, and net access allows them to work in a market they couldn't otherwise reach.

I agree with the poster that IT by itself doesn't neccesarily improve living standards or development conditions. Our goal instead is to help businesses use IT to create jobs. Better paying jobs means more money to spend on medicine, education and other essential services. IT's not a magic bullet, but may be a catalyst for long-term change.

Re:information

[k13]

Ethan, nice job replying that fast!

I took the liberty and snipped from your answers left and right, hope you don't mind:

!!!"Thus, the projects we're going to undertake are more like helping a business set up an ecommerce presence or a wireless WAN than teaching basic email skills."

???Funny, the WAN was actually something that I was thinking of, but I could not resolve who would provide the financing for this. I am talking about a WAN to farmers or for education. What does the government in Ghana say to that, are they willing/going to support you for *such* infrastructure projects(pilot stage)

!!!"Ghana's an interesting example of a country in transition - most of the population lives in rural areas and work as subsistence farmers, but there's a large migration to urban areas and a need for high-paying jobs to support these migrants. No, most folks aren't going to come from a village and land a job doing web design... but they might find jobs working for a factory that's expanding... because it's suddenly selling products to a wider world market... because someone's helped them set up an ecommerce presence and fulfillment system. This is realistic in Ghana because the government has substantially liberalized telecommunications law, allowing ISPs to operate and ordinary individuals to get relatively inexpensive phone lines. (Not the case in much of the world.)"

??? Hmm(always good for a bad beginning<g>). I see you being able to help them to develop skills to setup ebiz centres and so on, so I see the supply side here, but then I have a problem seeing the demand side. Who is going to buy what? Are you thinking of the international markets when you are talking about ebiz, or domestic ones? What kind of e-business shall that be?
I can see a huge software development centre and web designers and so too, but I have a problem with anything physical(transportation costs). So is one of your visions to have a software centre there? Develop the domstic e-conomy?

Some things that I think would be interesting:

a) software and web development centre
b) practical seminars at university level(how to install a server, linux123, networks[practical useable stuff that theydon't learn at the uni]), you might have a more efficient and wider reach and they will surely welcome a foreign expert with hands on experience
c) convince the government to officially commit to a tech zone and
d) talk to biggies to start investing over there, even if starting only with a small office for outsourcing software development. It is a chain, if this starts, small companies that will supply them will come and so on and so on
e) increase efficiency of the government bureaucracy using IT
f) if you are going to go for helping subsistence farmers and their villages try cooperating with econ academics(email me if you are interested, could get you some contacts that are just working on informational issues and developing countries)

Have you talked to the Ghana government, what are they thinking about this, from my experience this has often been crucial to projects in the third world.

Get the third world programming!
Skip the Industrial Revolution.
This could work.
Hmm...:)
Some peoples' wages I see going down:)

-k13

Re:information

[geekcorps]

k13 - Some great ideas here:

>a) software and web development centre
Some private industry efforts are already underway, and those are the types of businesses we're trying to assist.

>b) practical seminars at university level(how to install a server, linux123, networks[practical useable stuff that theydon't learn at the uni]), you might have a more efficient and wider reach and they will surely welcome a foreign expert with hands on experience
We're likely to offer these to universities, to Peace Corps, to NGOs... it won't be the main focus of our work (building businesses), but it's one of the additional benfits we can provide. Even better, we'd like to train folks in the businesses we're working with so they can provide these services to their own universities...

>c) convince the government to officially commit to a tech zone and
This one may take some time, but long-term it's a great suggestion. I think we may need to run some successful programs and build some credibility before we can push for it...

>d) talk to biggies to start investing over there, even if starting only with a small office for outsourcing software development. It is a chain, if this starts, small companies that will supply them will come and so on and so on
Slowly but surely working on this one. First, we're trying to support Ghanaian efforts to be a place to outsource your programming tech. But as we talk to more businesses to obtain funding, support and volunteers, this is a message we can and will spread.

> e) increase efficiency of the government bureaucracy using IT
Okay, that one I'm a little scared of. :-) If I felt confident it worked in the US, I'd feel better about undertaking the task in Ghana. :-)

>>f) if you are going to go for helping subsistence farmers and their villages try cooperating with econ academics(email me if you are interested, could get you some contacts that are just working on informational issues and developing countries)
We're definately focused on urban areas first, rural areas second, but will definately email you re: contacts in the econ field. Thanks!

Yes, we are talking with the Ghanaian gov't as well - hoping to meet with the Minister of Communications when we're next in the country.

Thanks for great questions and comments.

Re:Peacecorps does tech stuff to!

[cyberr0ach]

Actually, the peacecorps is looking for techies as well! But I think they are concentrating on things like wiring schools, training kids, etc. I know, 'cause they made the Big Push for me to join when I was graduating from college a couple of years ago.

These two plans could work together really well and tandum... I mean, what good is a tech startup without a stream of qualified workers, and what good is giving kids tech knowledge if they're all going to have to leasve the country to find work?

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[extrasolar]

Without the internet, how would they know what these things are in the first place?

Re:Peacecorps does tech stuff to!

[geekcorps]

Hi. Ethan from Geekcorps here. Yes, Peace Corps is starting a couple of programs for technical volunteers - we were down meeting with the Director of the Peace Corps earlier this week and he's pretty enthusiastic about what the Peace Corps can do to bridge the International Digital Divide. But we agreed that Peace Corps and Geekcorps are focusing on different aspects of bridging the digital divide. Specifically, Peace Corps is sending volunteers who can spend a lot of time with communities teaching basic tech skills (word processing, basic web usage, email.) We're sending volunteers for a much shorter period of time (three months instead of two years), but our volunteers are specialists with deep skills in an technical area. Thus, the projects we're going to undertake are more like helping a business set up an ecommerce presence or a wireless WAN than teaching basic email skills. We're really excited about working with the Peace Corps - one thing we talked about with the Peace Corps recently was the idea that we could serve as a resource for Peace Corps when we're working in the same country.

Two major points missed

[penfold2]

I think there are two points here which everyone seems to have missed.

First there is the question of what use the Internet would to people in second world countries. A few people have commented that it would be enable people to learn and gain knowledge, but there is more to it than that.

With the Internet as we currently see it, one of the major uses which we in the developed world have is purchasing things on-line. These purchases are invariably cheaper than they are to buy in a shop, so we save money. In Britain the government has already commented that they want to get more of the deprived areas onto the Internet. They recognise that those people who most need to save money, are loosing out on the chance to do so. Those who can afford an Internet connection can save a lot, thus increasing the economic divide within the country. This divide is obviously even bigger between the developed and developing countries for in part the same reasons.

Secondly. Those people who have questioned the merits of a scheme like this, on the grounds that there are more important things which developing countries need seem to have missed the point. Yes, they do need food, water and shelter. Of course we shouldn't stop giving that and start giving them PC's. But there is a limit to the amount of food and cloths which can be donated at any time, and once this limit has been reached, we should not sit back and say we are doing all that we can, we should strive forward to find more ways in which we can help, which IMHO is exactly what this scheme is setting out to achieve.

To me it makes no sense at all to get a highly skilled computing professional, lugging sacks, building walls etc, when he/she has rare skills which can be put to use instead.

Re:Two major points missed

[k13]

I don't see those two points missed, besides the first one being bs from my point of view and irrelevant. (btw I would like to know where you read this about the UK government.)

You say, ecommerce is good for the third world because they can get their goods cheaper.(right?)
Good, let's tear that apart:

1.) They don't have the purchasing power for buying stuff and would only waste their time browsing goods that they cannot afford(overgeneralisation)

2.) How shall pay their goods(even if they have the money)? Do they have ecash systems or credit cards? Have you every lived in one developing country? especially in the rural areas? Then you might know that there very often are NO banks(which is actually one of THE biggest problems, the inefficient and restricted credit and money market) You could try starting a click-click barter system interesting concept..hmmm

3.) Have you ever heard parcel delivery to the 5th hill on the right behind the second water fall on the left? No UPS does NOT deliver to those countries very well. Maybe the US will attach you books from Amazon on their next cruise missile if you happen to life next to a chemical plant.

-k13

Re:Two major points missed

[Chalst]

More important that getting goods cheaper is having better knowledge
of prices with which to plan economic activities, especially in
agriculture. Too often poor farmers are encouraged to produce cash
crops whose revenue advantages evaporate next harvest because all the
poor framers are producing the same thing.

Putting better knowledge of who's producing what in the farmer's
hands has the potential to avert unnecessary poverty and misery.

Re:Two major points missed

[Skorpion]

You ask what internet is good for poor countries.

Well, thats a stupidest question I have seen for
a long time.

I am from a not very wealthy country and when we started into the 'Net (BitNET/EARN then, whole country hang on 9600 bps line for a while in this 1992) it was a poor country at all.

there was no Web, no eBay, no Amazon and no use for it, it seemed.

Bu there was use and we made a good thing of it.

The real power of Internet is not the marketplace.

It is only the power of making money on the Internet (and NASDAQ).

The real power is the knowledge. Using Internet you can get information on almost anything that exists, and I'm disappointed that fellow Slashdotter does not think about it.

Those countries need industry to stop being poor. And the cheapest and best industry in present times is IT. You only need educated people and some hardware. And Internet is the best way of educating people for the industry. They will leard, nad start their companies. Make some money.
This will help the countries they live in.

And thats why they need Internet and GeekCorps.

Alex
--

Remember the home front too!

[pkj]

Bringing computers into third world countries may sound exciting and exotic (I revived a few dead computers for a K-12 school of 30 kids while sailing in the Bahamas) but it may surprise you to know that a computer is just as alien in America's inner cities as it is in much of the third world. This is not to mention the fact that in much of the third world electricity and telephones are still considered luxuty items, so getting a machine on the web can be a serious challenge!

The point is, you can make a huge difference just be working a few weekends, essentially in your own back yard. To see an example of what can be done, check out a site that we have been working on in Baltimore:

http://agape.qis.net/

This site is hosted over the same 56KB modem line that the kids used to surf the web, so be prepared for a wait, ok?

-p.

Re:Remember the home front too!

[Andreas Rueckert]

Seems like you did a great job! Keep up the good work! Do you teach HTML to these kids? It seems some of the pages are not really HTML. But then some of them are really good, like http://agape.qis.net/~mharri1/

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[geekcorps]

>Yes, I know this isn't an interview, but if someone on Slashdot is in the Geekcorps, could you please tell us:

It can be an interview if you want it to be. Keep throwing out questions and I'll answer them as fast as I can. Can't promise I'll answer everything today (gotta mow the lawn at some point), but I'll get you responses faster than Lars did to the Napster questions... :-)

>Do people in developing countries prefer Gnome, KDE, or Afterstep? Vi, emacs, pico?

In Ghana, the developing nation where I've spent the most time, most people aren't aware that they could be running Linux on their PCs. Part of the work we're hoping to do is introduce folks to the opportunities free *nix presents for folks who want to run a highly scaleable tech presences. So, give us a few months and we'll get you some data back from the pilot. :-)

Me, personally? Gnome and Emacs.

Starvation vs Knowledge, or why this is good.

[Sir Logic]

I see a lot of debate about whether we should feed the hungry or educate the people in technology.

I think the people advocating feeding the hungry first are overlooking vital information.

When looking to feed the hungry, you should first ask, Why are they hungry? How about this list?

• Is there enough food to feed the hungry?

• Answer: Yes there is.

• Is there enough means to distribute the food?

• Answer: Yes there is.

• Is the distribution being blocked?

• Answer: Yes.

• Why is the distribution being blocked?

• Answer: Political corruption.

• Can this blockage be overcome by local production?

• Answer: Yes and No, in some cases, yes if the knowledge how to produce were available, in some cases no, where the local production is blocked by the current polical/military environment.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. The question then is, Is there a place for the tech help? I would say, absolutely, and the more technology spreads, and the more information is dispersed because of this, the more people will have the knowledge and thus power to prevent people from being starved by corrupt polical systems. Will starvation be eliminated? No, because corruption cannot be eliminated, it can only be reduced.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents on the subject... :-)

Great idea

[PenguinDude]

I think this is a great idea. The argument I see being used against this the most is that a lot of third world countries have more important problems to worry about (like food, shelter, ect) than worrying about technological issues. I agree, but remember Geekcorps isn't going to any old third world nation, but targeting those who would benefit the most and already have a sort of established foundation to work from. Second, I agree that many places have more important problems at hand, but also look at it like this: There are other organizations out there to provide for those needs. Geekcorps is going what geeks do best, so to speak. Combine Geekcorps efforts with the efforts of other "helping hand" organizations and I think together we can make serious progress in developing nations.

Just a thought

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[k13]

What about some of the unix pros here(did I say some? ooh my god) helping you guys by designing a unix distribution that is optimized to run on extremely low spec computers?(maybe something like this already exists and I don't know about it??) Or do you already have something in mind yourself? If something like this already exists, please drop me a link, I have been looking for something like that. -k13

What about reciprocity?

[SimJockey]

I seem to be in a rather small minority on /., but I am not a computer type at all. I'm an engineer with some geek tendencies, but I can't program my way out of a wet paper bag.

I have been thinking a lot about initiatives like this lately. Having developed a fairly deep toolkit of skills (water treatment, energy optimization) and a huge karmic deficit (I work in the oil industry), I am looking for a way to apply my skills in a more socially beneficial way.

What really has been my impediment to pursuing a second or third world opportunity is a fairly strong disagreement with the over-riding faith in technology that seems to underly many of these initiatives. To me, it reeks of cultural imperialism that what was good for our society (in my case N. American) will be the way out of hunger and suffering for those around the world.

To be honest, I am skeptical that the modern technological life seen in much of N. America is anything to be envied. As we become further immersed in mediated experiences, we lose our need for community. And community is one thing I have seen in pre-industrial (for lack of a better term) nations in spades.

Maybe initiatives such as Geekcorps address this need for community for the relative few who become involved. And hopefully those who do will bring back a different outlook on what they can do for their own society.

Finally, if anyone knows of any similar initiatives for those of us who deal in atoms rather than bits, let me know.

Re:What about reciprocity?

[fishexe]

I'm an engineer with some geek tendencies, but I can't program my way out of a wet paper bag.

I can't program my way out of a wet paper bag either. I think that's one of those things you have to do yourself.

Unless of course you've got a giant robotic arm mounted attached to your computer. But most of us don't, so I'd say you're on par with the average programmer.

Ever get the impression that your life would make a good sitcom?
Ever follow this to its logical conclusion: that your life is a sitcom?

Domestic Geek Corps (Amerigeeks?) Anyone?

[Giordana]

As a geek living in inner-city Boston, I know for a fact that there are schools here that don't have functioning libraries, forget computers and network access. My high school taught BASIC and Pascal on vintage Apple IIes as recently as 1996.

Why not put together a domestic Geek Corps? Call it "Amerigeeks" something like that. Why go overseas when you can bridge the "digital divide" in your own backyard?

Re:Domestic Geek Corps (Amerigeeks?) Anyone?

[geekcorps]

Actually, the reason we didn't start domestically is that there's a ton of good work being done in the US. If you're interested in the problem of wiring K-12 schools, we think very highly of Techcorps. They do terrific work bringing knowledgeable techies into local schools. If you're interested in other groups that are working on domestic digital divide issues, or you're interested in volunteering, check out VolunteerMatch which provides an excellent db of organizations and opportunities.

This is how to help the poor

[Brian Stretch]

Hernando de Soto has it figured out.

If you don't have property rights, you're just a serf.

NO, NO, and NO

[FooRat]

"Don't people think that preventing starvation in 3rd world countries would be more important than bringing the internet the 2nd world countries?!?"

A million times no. I see this argument dragged up on /. every single time an article has anything to do with developing countries, and it is quite simply saying that it is better to give people fish than to teach them how to catch fish, which will never get anyone anywhere.

Yes, there are people starving *right now*. And yes, sending them food will help prevent them from starving *right now*. But then five, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now they will *still* be starving, and then their children will be too.

There is only one way to solve the problem and that is to focus on long-term solutions for empowerment: that means precisely two things: education, and technology.

I'm sorry if that proposal does not give you the immediate gratification/satisfaction that somebody somewhere will not starve *today*, but you will just have to learn how to think long-term, rather think about those people's kids, grandkids etc.

By just sending food you achieve nothing other than to perpetuate the problem.

Voluntary teaching?

[FooRat]

"How can a person like me really help the underdeveloped nations of the world?"

I live in a developing country (South Africa) and have been wondering myself what I can do to help give our local "previously disadvanted" people some sort of leg-up into technology (long-term solutions are absolutely the only way to go, i.e. educating people.)

Basically I was thinking about devoting a few hours per week to teaching programming, since that is my field of expertise, and as skills go, its going to be a basic requirement for some time still for any country that wants to prosper.

Not sure where I could go though or how to go about it.

It would be nice if they could set up some sort of index of "how to contact a Geekcorps near you" type of thing. (Mebbe there is one, haven't clicked the link yet ..)

Re:Voluntary teaching?

[Andreas Rueckert]

I have another question: how much free teaching material is available these days? We have a lot of documentation available for skilled geeks (think of the LDP), but what's up with entry level material? I sought software engineering tutorials recently and it seems there's almost nothing available. Is a server like educateyourself.org enough to close this gap in reasonable time?

Re:Voluntary teaching?

[geekcorps]

>It would be nice if they could set up some sort of index of "how to contact a Geekcorps near you" type of thing. (Mebbe there is one, haven't clicked the link yet ..)

Wish we had a Geekcorps SA at this point, but we don't yet. We're building out a page of links to local digital divide efforts for folks who can't take the time to volunteer overseas. I'll drop you an email if we find a good group in SA.

Re:Peacecorps does tech stuff to!

[TheGeek]

I'm personally pretty interested here, maybe for this coming fall or later (once I get through my apartment lease)

The problem is that although I've got 6+ years in the industry, have worked my way up to Tech. Svcs. Manager for an internet provider, I have no cash to live on or for plane fare for this sort of volunteering. Wages are not as high for the tech sector here in Canada (Vancouver) as they are elsewhere, like the US. If there was a program like this which would pay plane fare, and give a small living allowance, I would be much more likely to go. The living allowance would not have to be much more than to keep myself fed, clothed, and not completely insane, but three months without something would be pretty difficult.

TheGeek

2 cents

[NickoLas]

I think that the businesses are going to have problems holding up their end of the bargin. I mean, its nice to be able to trust everyone, but
there is no way to see if the business supports the local community. It's a hell of a lot easier to recieve then to give.

Almost my dream life

[RomulusNR]

Since I left college a year ago, I've been telling people that my ultimate plan in life is to become a world-traveling techie.

Originally, the idea was that I would find a job with a company that had an overseas office, and at some point transfer there, and work there for a year. During the course of that year, I would save up enough money to move to another country, and try and find a job there before I left.

I realized of course that first, I needed to clear myself of my existing debts (which is currently progressing well), and second, I would probably be limited to developed countries.

I didn't give much regard to 1) language barriers and 2) racial strife. For the former, I figure that English is a well-established language internationally, enough to get by on, and that for where it doesn't, I'll either motivate myself to learn it, or get by on touristese. For the latter, I don't know; but I don't think it would keep me out of many countries.

From my POV, it's too bad GeekCorps is volunteer. I couldn't take that time off (3-4 mos.) from work; it would have to be between jobs. And I think I'd be seriously bored to go back to America with its unexciting two-party politics
and its disaffected society of boob-tubers.

(And to my peril, I'm more attracted to iron-curtained political hotspots than well-traveled classical locales. Heck, I can see all I want of London by watching PBS. But Bagdad, that's a real place to discover. Violent overthrows and bombings on the street corner? The occasional repressive military junta? Like I said, American politics is boring me. Having something interesting happening around me is a welcome change to living where I've been lately.)

Call me a cloud-headed adventurist (and I already know I have a death wish, thanks), but honestly, I chose a the technical field because I wanted to be able to do something I enjoyed. In the same sense, I want to find an exciting way to do it.

If GeekCorps lasts, I just might decide to save up some living money and jet off to one of their missions sometime next year. Assuming I haven't already found the ideal path to my quest.
--

globalization with a human face

[General Books]

Geekcorp's approach is admirable because it will help increase worldwide participation in cyberspace. I think the Internet has previously-unimaginable potential for social reform, but it will not be realized with such disproportionate access. Check out the UN's 1999 Human Development Report. This link will show you a pie chart that illustrates the divide (plus alot of good docs)

GLOBALIZATION WITH A HUMAN FACE

The Internet can decentralize power, which could be such a boost to humanity. I think the dream will remain unrealized if the power will only spread amongst the top %20 of the world.

But, as with any method of intervention, there is the potential of harm. I personally agree with those who would dissolve/drastically reform the IMF and World Bank. These institutions generate tremendous wealth for financiers and externalize the substantial risk to industrialized tax payers. They loan to the foreign elite, but extract the payoff from the developing poor.
It is not hard to imagine a program like this one creating a stronger dependency on the West, which is probably not in their best interest.

For the most part, I think Geekcorps embodies some great ideals (blending open source with philantropy and a species-centric view), but I'd like to see some more discussion re: How to make sure we are truly helping. I think we'll find it's a more difficult question than we think.

A Little More Background Research?

[Anomynous Coward]

Geekcorps seems like an interesting project, concentrating on assisting "small to medium sized businesses " bridge the tech divide.

Without criticizing Geekcorp's intent or integrity, I want to point out organisations who have been doing this and more to assist not-for-profit NGOs and humanitarian groups for years. Most people know the story - this technology represents to many groups in developing or strife-torn countries the cheapest (and sometimes the safest) way of communicating to the outside world.

The APC has been assisting communication, networking and training in developing countries for well over 10 years.

Especially in Africa, people such as Karen Banks (amongst many others) from GreenNet have been working with African groups with internetworking (or UUCP/Fidonet when the comms infra has not been available or appropriate) for many years.

Also, ISOC (Internet Society) have a sustainable education/training project open to all in developing countries.

There is little sign on the Geekcorps' site that they are aware of these and many other efforts (except for AOL), but I would hope that communication with these groups would further their goals through coordination of efforts (or at least of being aware of what others have been doing for many years before them).

shine brightly

.anom (ex peg.apc.org, ex ISOC chapter director)

Re:A Little More Background Research?

[joshpkop]

Check out this story in the Sunday NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/yr/mo/biztech/ articles/28india.html

Re:A Little More Background Research?

[geekcorps]

I'm sorry if we gave the impression that we don't appreciate the work other NGOs are going. Our focus on getting businesses to help businesses is not an attempt to belittle or draw attention away from the great work organizations like APC are doing. We've chosen to focus on working with businesses because we think it's a rapid path towards economic development. We're playing up corporate responsibility (and featuring projects like helping.org) because we think it's important that tech corporations step up and take responsibility for bridging the digital divide... and because we're supported exclusively by individual and industry funds. But we certainly appreciate the work other groups are doing - including IESC and Global Techcorps, both of whom we work with. I'll make sure the next version of the site does a better job of featuring organizations like APC and ISOC.

Re:A Little More Background Research?

[Anomynous Coward]

Thanks for the response.

I think that on the whole both sides would agree that the interplay between NGO-style activity and business development is a critical one.

When affected people can directly see the benefit to their quality of life (nourishment, political situation, etc) through activist networked communication, it doesn't take much to gain an enthusiasm to apply it further for sustainable business uses.

Conversely, having a profitable networked business and the skills to use and build it allows a quality of life that can afford to use those skills in other socially constructive ways.

It could be mutually benefical for geekcorps to work more closely with such groups than linking to web pages.

.anom

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[Andreas Rueckert]

Take a look at
Small Linux: http://smalllinux.netpedia.net
Vector Linux: http://metalab.unc.edu/vectorlinux/
Green Frog Linux: http://members.linuxstart.com/~aus tin/GreenFrog/
muLinux: http://sunsite.auc.dk/mulinux/
ThinLinux: http://www.ThinLinux.org/
But there's at least one additional project to provide a Linux distro to the 3rd world. If I could only recall the name right now... (oldering sucks)

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[Andreas Rueckert]

Is there a way to provide some help from home? Maybe customize OSS for free? For startups that cannot afford payed programmers? Or provide online knowhow in certain fields?

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[k13]

thanks a lot.

Re:Can't Geekcorps work in places like Australia t

[ivi]

For those who want more info on Australia's dealings with aboriginals, by way of understanding why there is good reason to put some time & energy into Reconciliation work, e.g. in the form of a SlashDot-clone for relavent discussions and suggestions towards improvement...

I would recomend having a read of Mick Dodson's analysis (from this past weekend's Corroboree 2000 presentation) at:

www.austlii.edu.au/au/orgs/car/media/C2K%20updates .htm#Mdodson

Other speakers' words are there as well, apparently in reverse-order of presentation (so that the Governor General's words come first...? if so, monarchy still rules here... which would explain both unresponsiveness in government -and- some of the censorship that we've been talking about down under... but I digress...).

Anyone interested in helping to mount such a SlashDot-clone (preferably in, but - why not? - maybe even outside Australia) can send e-mail to:

reconcile@ara.cx

Re:Peacecorps does tech stuff to!

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually I asked them about this at a street fair last year in San Francisco where they had a booth. The guy got all righteous and harrumph-ish at me and said no, their needs and programs were far more basic and critical than that and that the people they helped had a long way to go before they could start to worry about Internet connections. I was rather surprised and disappointed at his attitude and decided to look elsewhere for this kind of program...

Re:Can't Geekcorps work in places like Australia t

[Anomynous Coward]

Check out c2o.apc.org - Australia's new APC affiliate (after peg.apc.org crashed, burned, and became part of Microplex then Optus).

.anom

Re:What we're all wanting to know.....

[Andreas Rueckert]

Forgot one important distro.
Tiny Linux:
http://tiny.seul.org/en/

Re:Peacecorps does tech stuff to!

[geekcorps]

Actually, that's the intention behind Geekcorps. If you qualify to be one of our volunteers, we pay planefare, living expenses and a small stipend. We can't cover your apartment while you're overseas, but you can always sublet, right?

This means that we can't accept a ton of volunteers at once, since we've got to provide a substantial amount of money for each volunteer to go overseas... but we hope that funding won't prevent anyone from joining Geekcorps.

Cynical

[Hard_Code]

I'm sort of cynical about bringing/forcing the internet on a totally unaware population. The internet is not some panacea. It won't feed people or make them content. A Kalihari bushman doesn't need a goddamn laptop. In fact the internet is a homogenizing force now that business has discovered it. Think what it could do to other cultures. Remember the Prime Directive ;)

I think we are so caught up in our wonderful palm-pilot-toting, cell-phone-ringing, pager-vibrating, glazed-over-CRT-staring, technological world, that we arrogantly assume that everybody wants or needs it or that it can help everybody in some way. The internet brings all sorts of problems that developing countries don't need to have to deal with. First of all they need to stop being exploited by first-world countries. They need to be self-sufficient, in whatever their interpretation of that means (in many cases that doesn't mean exploiting natural resources for export so you can import that latest first-world Pokemon products). They need to be self-determining...not supported by stupid puppet regimes that the West patronizingly thinks will be the best for them.

There's a whole hell of a lot of more real problems that these countries face than the mythical problem of not having "enough" technology. If you're so concerned, join the Peace Corps, donate money (to an unconditional charity preferrably). Don't insist you know what's best and go in and institute your own changes. Help people help themselves. They need helping hands, not expensive crutches.

You may not have to put up so much money

[ClmbrMike]

If you ask your volunteers to find sponsors (like for AIDS walk or the like), then a lot of those costs could be avoided. This is commonplace for overseas ministry. Something this noble should be real easy to fund. I have 5 friends going to Ghana this summer, and they raised $20k in two and a half months. Be creative!