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Ask Slashdot: Geeky Volunteer Work?
An anonymous reader writes "I plan to be in-between jobs for 1-2 months later this year and use part of this time to do some volunteer work in Africa. My naive question: what to do and where to go? Is it possible to make good use of the skill-set of a typical geek? Any interesting projects worth supporting on-site?"
There are plenty of good projects wherever you happen to be right now. Schools (public and private), libraries, senior centers are all always looking for volunteers to help make their environments better places for those who use their services. Sure its not as impressive as going overseas to do some work, but it also has many headaches that the overseas visit will not.
Clinton made me a Republican. Bush made me a Libertarian. Trump is making me question reality.
The best work I ever did in Africa (Kenya, Ghana, Zambia) and Haiti was to train local staff to do the job I was being asked to do. When it comes down to it, a system that can't be maintained shouldn't be set up in the first place. Whatever you do, train someone there to keep it up.