I volunteered with Geekcorps in Africa
on
Volunteer Work Abroad?
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· Score: 3, Informative
I spent three months in Ghana, volunteering with Geekcorps. It's a good organization, providing support both for the volunteers and the community in which they operate.
If you're looking to offer your geek skills and want to push yourself to make a difference in a challenging environment, I recommend you look into Geekcorps. Believe me, it's no walk in the park, and if you come out of the experience having made a positive difference in the lives of the people (and businesses) with whom you work, you'll have a real sense of accomplishment. Besides, there's nothing like immersion in a different culture to expand your horizons.
Some people put forth an argument that goes something like this: Why help people with technology if they can't find food to eat? Frankly, I think this is an oversimplification. High tech skills philanthrophy is not mutually exclusive with food and medical aid. There's plenty of need for both in the developing world, and you have to choose how you can best contribute.
If your strongest skills are in high tech, then you can make a real, positive impact on other people's lives, simply by sharing your knowledge. In Ghana, for example, a single employed individual is often responsible for supporting five, ten, even twenty other people who have trouble paying for their daily bread. If you can help one, two, three, or more people find gainful employment in a budding high tech industry, you're not only helping them improve their own lot in life, but you're indirectly helping everyone else in their family network.
There's millions of dollars of aid going all over the world to help pay for food and medicine. How much effort is going to help working people rise up from menial jobs into the middle class? This is where high tech skills transfer can make a real difference. Check out Geekcorps at www.geekcorps.org. Take it from this former Geekcorps volunteer.
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I spent three months in Ghana, volunteering with Geekcorps. It's a good organization, providing support both for the volunteers and the community in which they operate.
If you're looking to offer your geek skills and want to push yourself to make a difference in a challenging environment, I recommend you look into Geekcorps. Believe me, it's no walk in the park, and if you come out of the experience having made a positive difference in the lives of the people (and businesses) with whom you work, you'll have a real sense of accomplishment. Besides, there's nothing like immersion in a different culture to expand your horizons.
Some people put forth an argument that goes something like this: Why help people with technology if they can't find food to eat? Frankly, I think this is an oversimplification. High tech skills philanthrophy is not mutually exclusive with food and medical aid. There's plenty of need for both in the developing world, and you have to choose how you can best contribute.
If your strongest skills are in high tech, then you can make a real, positive impact on other people's lives, simply by sharing your knowledge. In Ghana, for example, a single employed individual is often responsible for supporting five, ten, even twenty other people who have trouble paying for their daily bread. If you can help one, two, three, or more people find gainful employment in a budding high tech industry, you're not only helping them improve their own lot in life, but you're indirectly helping everyone else in their family network.
There's millions of dollars of aid going all over the world to help pay for food and medicine. How much effort is going to help working people rise up from menial jobs into the middle class? This is where high tech skills transfer can make a real difference. Check out Geekcorps at www.geekcorps.org. Take it from this former Geekcorps volunteer.