Comments on: What can technologists do for the poor?

What can technologists do for the poor? Tell us what you have done or would like to do.

[the1kingarthur]

King Arthur and the Cyber Knights

The original Mission of King Arthur and the Cyber Knights was assisting in the locating and return of lost and abducted children. A mission in which we found that we could do as much as ten times faster than any police agency in some cases simply because of the lack of paper work, and politics. This was accomplished by learning the possible destinations of the abductor, and then e-mail photos to that area where volunteers printed and distributed photos of the abducted children.

Although we were successful in many cases, in the end we failed miserably for lack of support, and growth. When the Ambler alert came into existence, we sent all the information we had available to them. We feel that the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Amber Alert System http://www.missingkids.com/ is one of, if not the greatest organizations on earth. We ask all who reads this to support them in any way possible.

Our second goal was education, promotion, and safe guarding of the free use of computers, and the Internet. A goal we continue today. We have never asked for funding, nor do we promote our self?s in the belief that it?s the right thing to do, and that it would be wrong to prosper for doing something so right. We are the dumpster divers, and the garbage pickers who collect computers, hardware and software and then refurbish it as required and either sell it at cost, or give it away free. All the recycling systems in the world are not able to recover the thousands upon thousands of systems in the waste stream.

If in the future, if funds become available, we would like to travel to some of the real trouble spots across the United States to teach, and provide computers, hardware and software. Trouble spots being defined as high poverty areas that have very little access to computers, hardware and software.

[scott_wilder]

The most important thing is to pass it on.

The vicious circle that poor people get caught in is since they can't afford luxuries like computers; they don't acquire skills useful in the market place. So they can't afford computers.......I volunteer my Saturdays at an inner city cafe that has an "Ask anything Saturday". The local residents (who are almost exclusively black and poor. Can come in get some coffee or a meal very cheaply and get acquire some useful skills. The cafe also offers free computer and internet access to anyone who comes in. http://www.ubcafe.com for more info.

[perfectblue97]

One word KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid. Don't lumber the poor with complicated devices that drink electricity or chew through batteries or which need constant servicing.

Better yet, find more effective ways for people to use the resources that they already have. For example, don't give them laptops, give them smokeless cooking fuel made from local XYZ, or teach them about more efficient forms of irrigation and crop rotation.

Technology doesn't have to be about putting a microchip on everything.

[indychristian]

New Avenue for Friendship & Access to the Most Important Information

In the information explosion, the gap widens between the have's and the havenot's. The poor will most certainly always be those who lack access to friends and important information. In today's world, the internet is the ubiquitous highway of information -- those who LACK ACCESS can't play.

But even among those who DO have ACCESS, during an information deluge, too often lack access to the most IMPORTANT information... ie, they need a GUIDE.

All this begs the question, what IS the most important information on the information highway, and who are the best guides to it?

Try these important questions on for size: "How did I get here? What is the meaning of life? What's next after this? How can I know?"

Surely this is the starting point, and after that, everything else gets prioritized according to one's life-view. So let me suggest that the best tech guides are technologists who have a firm grip on life-view and who are willing to go help others get access/skills to information about life-view and the subsequent priorities in order to lead a productive life according to that scale.

So go help the information-poor gain access and answers to their most important questions. Become their friends. Learn from them too -- they have great life-lessons to share as well. You'll find many other ways to help along the way... such as help with job-hunting, employment references, etc.

Here in Indy, one way we do this via a great little (wireless now) cafe in the heart of the inner-city... and are now developing Ask Anything Saturday (.com) as a wiki of important questions & answers.

[cparker6]

Get Off Your A...

I am the CEO of a small web development company in Illinois and after spending some time in a slum in Kenya I started GOYA Ministries. We've been working on numerous projects in the Mitumba Slum in Nairobi. The greatest problem we have found is finding the right resources. For example, our we have a water source, a containment system and distribution model setup for a water program, but we can't seem to find an economical filtration system that will work without power (or solar power). Plus once we do filter the water we need a way to keep it from becoming recontaminated once it's in the homes of the slum-dwellers.

Some sort of nerds-turned-philanthropists network would be of great benefit to the growing community of geeks serving the underdeveloped parts of the world.

Does anyone know of such a resource?

[cparker6]

By the way

Our website address is www.goyaministries.org for those interested in learning more.

[tutormentor]

Connect those who can help with those who need help

We all know that there are many people in the world suffering because of economic, social and/or environmental issues. In addition, we know that many people are volunteering time and donors to support organizations working for social good.

However, if you read the research on the challenges facing non profits (see http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/TMLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/8/rrscid/96/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/Default.aspx )you'll understand that the current way non profits get resources is not supportive of doing good work for many years, in many places.

I think technologists can change this and I'm demonstrating ways to do that. In the Program Locator at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org you can see maps of Chicago showing where poverty and poorly performing schools are most concentrated. In other sections of the web site you can find poverty and crime maps, that further illustrate that poverty is the affliction that we need to help people overcome.

In the Program Locator I also maintain a database of organizations in the Chicago region who offer various forms of volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring in non-school hours. You can search by zip code, age group, type of program, and time of day, to find contact information for programs in specific parts of the city.

Using this, anyone who wants to support tutoring/mentoring, as a volunteer, leader, donor, etc. can shop the Program Locator to choose what neighborhood they want to support, what age group, what type of program, etc.

They'll then have a few, or no choices, of where they put their time and money.

If other technologists facilitate this process, they can teach community based organizations to take advantage of this system, and they can teach businesses, colleges, hospitals and universities to use it to make descisions on where and how they get involved.

They can also teach elected officials to use this and provide leadership, so that every neighborhood in the Chicago region has a full range of well structured, constantly improving programs.

While I apply this to one service category in Chicago, and need help from many technologists to keep improving this, the concept can be applied to any city in the world, and to other causes beyond tutoring/mentoring.

In this role, a network of technologists becomes the intermediary that connects people who can help, with places where help is needed. By providing this service on an on-going basis, and for many years, technologists can change the flow of resources, create a better distribution to more places, and generate progress toward solving problems in many places of the world.

I'm already doing this and welcome help. However, I'm also coaching and mentoring others who want to apply these concepts in other places. If you know of others already applying these concepts, please introduce us.

[RHPT]

PDF Download

is there a link to download this series in PDF?

[refusalspam]

$100 Laptop

Giving laptops to kids in a severely economically depressed country is social lunacy. Supposed they became brilliant software engineers and programmers, does anyone expect them to find high tech jobs in their country? Do you want them to move out and contribute to the "brain drain" of Africa? They need real education that they can use to build up their country like the more traditional engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, chemical). I'm saying this and I am a software engineer. Besides, we can't forget that some of these kids have to go home to help earn more money for their families. Every hour you teach them something they'll never need is another hour they could be earning for food.

[twotall610]

Education

Give them the tools to learn so they can make their own choices on
where they want to go in life. They need the same chances that our
children get.

[pinkhawaii]

OLPC

Charity starts at home, I always thought. What happened to our poor children and estpecially our certified deaf, blind and handicapped population??? Must we rely on ASL and Brail, only used by the minority??? Such a $100 laptop would put us into the job market. Why help our future enimies and let education in USA go further down the drain. [e-mail]