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?"

Comments

Geek Corps

[Anonymous Coward]

Depending on your skill set Geek Corps might have something for you:
http://www.iesc.org/ict-and-applied-technologies.aspx
http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/58011

Volunteering is good...

[PC and Sony Fanboy]

But don't take skills away from the community. If you're going to contribute, don't replace someone who is already doing the job, and don't remove the need for the community to engage someone locally to do the job.

Going in to train others to do some sort of techincal work is good, but you have to remember that their values and yours won't really mesh, and you can't force people to learn C++ when they really want to use Basic.

Re:Volunteering is good...

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Why Africa?

[SiliconJesus]

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.

Re:Why Africa?

[Overzeetop]

Look, senior centers and schools aren't THAT bad. Just remember to wash your hand frequently, don't put anything in your mouth that hasn't been washed, and don't leave any cut or scratch uncovered.

Oh, you meant Africa. Sorry.

Re:Why Africa?

[localman57]

And money. If your true goal is to help people and not seek out a personal experience, frankly, the best thing a tech person like us can do is stay home, and work, and donate the money you make. A techie earns anywhere from $20 to $50 an hour in the US. Add to that the cost of an airline ticket and other expenses, then consider how much grain, how many solar-powered lightbulbs, vaccines, hand tools, pencils and paper, etc could be bought with your donation by a group that already has the network and infrastructure to provide those things. You donating 1 hour of income at tech rates can provide enough wages to hire an unskilled worker for a few days, which has not only the effect of the work he does, but the side effect of giving someone a job.

Additionally, you need to consider how much support you will require when you get where you are going? Are you expecting some non-profit to feed and shelter you? You need to make a donation equal or greater to their expense to offset this. I remember a Red Cross worker specifically asking people not to show up unannounced in Haiti after the earthquake to "set up tents". You end up being just one more mouth to feed.

This is a deeply unsatisfying answer, I know, but it's the truth.

Don't worry if it's "Geeky"

[sconeu]

Go ahead and volunteer outside of your comfort area. You might find that you like doing something "different". At a bare minimum you'll learn something new.

Help with Maintenance! It's what's missing!

[Anonymous Coward]

I spent three years in Africa (South Africa and Zambia) doing geek work. Here's the deal, you can't do something "important" in one or two months, so don't plan on being the knight in shining armor coming in to help. However, if you go in with an attitude of humility and a desire to learn, you can be helpful.

My suggestion, based on my experience: Most of the NGOs I worked with had crappy old donated computers running some pirated version of XP, full of viruses. You could be a great help by finding a local (i.e. Africa run, not international aid agency) NGO and helping to clean up their computers, install anti-virus, get their printers working etc etc. Good computer support is in short supply, so folks do what they can but it's not easy. If you are thinking about this, also bring along a box of CDs or DVDs with latest versions of software, because getting on the internet is either impossible or slow or really expensive, so doing on-line updates is a pain.

I tried teaching people to use Ubuntu with limited success, everyone wanted Windows with Word, because that was what everyone else was using, and that was what was "known". It's a good solution, but without support falls down like everything else.

Good luck, let us know how it all worked out.

Nigeria...

[stretch0611]

You can teach the poor downtrodden deposed ex-kings how to get through spam filters.

Engineers without borders

[fliptout]

http://www.ewb-usa.org/

I have not had the time to join the local chapter, but I'd very much like to learn more.

Re:Open-source software.

[larry bagina]

Ubuntu was founded by an African. Helping out with Ubuntu is probably the best way to help Africa. I recommend installing Ubuntu on your computer, as well as any other computers you have access to (your friends, parents, library computers, etc). And spread the word on blogs, forums, mailing lists etc.

Re:Here is an idea

[localman57]

There's nothing wrong with that. But you have to be realistic. Giving $2000 to a food shelter buys that shelter $2000 worth of food, or 1 to 1 return. Buying a $2000 plane ticket to somewhere in africa, to show up and do the equivalent of $100 worth of labor at local rates gives a 1 to 20 return. That's ok if you're considering $1900 of it to be a vacation, with a $100 donation. The $100 will still help...