HN

Comments (160)

• Menu

  web-cowboy
  I highly recommend donating some amount of your time, expertise, or money to good causes, regardless of your financial situation. Even the smallest amounts compound to amazing results—especially over long stretches over time.When I was a student I made (very!) modest contributions to clean water projects, microfinance organizations, and the reports I now read as a mature adult are so gratifying.I also try to keep a "charity" type project in my queue - volunteering my tech skills to help fix/build things for NGOs so fun to look back on.
• Menu

  thedigitalone
  Love this, but please post the tax ID for the 501(c)(3) prominently on your website!My wife and I setup a DAF (Donor Advised Fund) so we can make quick donations when we see causes like this that we want to support. Unfortunately "Tanzania Education Project" is not found when searching via ours hosted at Schwab so we can't make a donation unless we have the tax ID and I can't find it on the website either.
• Menu

  azath92
  I will echo what others have said and say this is amazing on a personal level, but also super cool to share with others. I think especially in tech we can get a little focused on efficacy and scale instead of human impact, and some might quibble about that in the comments ill be interested to see the discourse.Your impact is undeniable, and i think quite importantly very tangible and concrete to you. Very inspiring.
• eharris733
  Adding to this thread, a lot of companies have donation matching. For the past two years, I've donated 4k a year out of my paycheck to various non profits such as a literary magazine, a native american cultural group, a refugee non-profit, and a climate change non-profit. Best money I've ever spent, because the ROI was double with the company matching.
• Menu

  thevillagechief
  This is great man. I've been on the other end of this. My annual high school fees cost $700. Couldn't afford it, and it was extremely stressful. If not for the benevolence of my high school principal, I have dropped out. It completely changed my life. You're making a massive difference.
• Menu

  awaaz
  I don't want to hijack the thread, but would like to surface another such organization which I am aware of - Yuwa [1], which operates in India.It was founded by Franz Gastler [2] when he visited India a couple of decades ago and spent time in some _really_ rural parts of the country. I'm proud to call him a friend, and have volunteered myself at the Yuwa School to teach math/CS. Through this school, girls have ended up at Harvard (!!) with scholarships, who would've never stepped out of their villages and probably ended up as child brides. I usually introduce him to my compatriots as the firangi who's done more for our country than anybody else I know![1] https://yuwa-india.org[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Gastler
• Menu

  prometheus1992
  This is amazing. I once adopted a kid's education who lived in Colombia. The organization would send me a letter with his picture every 3 months or so, giving me some updates of how the kid is doing in school etc. After about a year I asked the organization if i could say Hi to the kid on a video call (i think i was watching some show on netflix or prime, where the main plot was how seemingly non profits scamming donors or something like that). I kinda grew suspicious that how do i even know if these kids are real and if this money is actually going somewhere. The org said they can't do it, they can't arrange for the kid to say Hi to me on the video call. I decided to cancel the payment from that month's onward. I redirected that money to doctors without borders. I don't know if i did the right or not; the point is that trust is extremely important when it comes to non profit efforts and the donors need to be able to get some sense (even a teeny,tiny action) that this effort is real. Again, thank you for what you did. you sound like an amazing person.
• Menu

  helterskelter2
  Hey this sounds really cool and is giving me Bram Moolenaar vibes. Please try to get some sort of trusted source to vouch for you though, I've been around long enough to see a lot of these charities -- especially involving children from poorer countries -- turn out to be scams.
• Menu

  magicalhippo
  Some friends were involved with an aid organization which helped several rural areas across a few different countries in Africa.A key point was the organization didn't finance things. Instead they financed seminars, workshops and such. They'd pay for travel, food and accommodations, as well as renting a place and one or more speakers.They'd facilitating people learning basic accounting skills which they could use in the co-op back home to make it harder for another co-op member to embezzle money, for example.A lot of aid per buck this way.Seems like you're well on your way with something similar. Well done!
• Menu

  telesilla
  I started a small yearly scholarship at my old university 10 years ago and have seen some wonderful students graduating. It isn't much but pays for some supplies and gives them a sense of reality that someone in their field believes in them. I love the conversations we have, I make it a condition of the scholarship that we talk for a while and I hear their stories.Note - I did this because I also received such a scholarship and it was critical in building my sense of belonging. Call your alumni association, they can help you and would be delighted to hear from you.
• lukehandcool
  Thank you all for the responses. I wasn't exactly sure how this would go over here. Someone pointed out that I have a typo in my email on the site (thank you!). I'll fix that when I get home from work tonight. The correct email is tanzaniaeducationproject@gmail.com (not .org) if you want to reach out
• Menu

  HeyLaughingBoy
  Highlight the fact that it's a 501(c)(3) on the website. Being a non-profit opens up opportunities for donations from large corporations and applying for government grants. I notice that you have a PayPal Donate button. IIRC, PayPal has a specific payment structure for nonprofits.
• Menu

  dickfickling
  Would you share your EIN? I'd like to donate through my employer to receive a match, but I can't find Tanzania Education Project Inc documented anywhere besides your website.
• Menu

  megaloblasto
  This is great. Thanks for sharing. I'm always happy to make a donation for education.Weird HN type question. On your site you mention paying $5 for hosting the site but didn't mention that here. We're you able to figure out a free way to host?
• Menu

  Ozzie_osman
  This is amazing. I'm curious how you provide oversight. I imagine with Amwirite there was a lot of trust, but how can you be ensure the money is actually being used properly as you add more students?I'd imagine that in many parts of the world where money is tight, you might encounter families who just use the money for other things or all sorts of schemes.I'd also love to learn more about the 501c3 process and how easy/hard it is.
• Menu

  assimpleaspossi
  She said that when she earns her PhD she wants to bring it back to the region but what would a degree in Language Studies bring to a region with so little?
• Menu

  Borderlessmusic
  I work with a non-profit that gives music lessons, teaches music engineering and recording and when needed, music therapy to children and displaced persons and people in conflict zones:https://musicianswithoutborders.orgThey have locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Congo, El Salvador, Palestine, Jordan, Netherlands, Ireland, Kosovo, Rwanda, North Macedonia and others.They have a special program called 88 Keys, you donate less that $100 a month and help keep their lights on and the programs running. Their website is very transparent, they are a verified Dutch non-profit / stichting. The feels are really high with these people. They could really use help right now as funding is increasingly challenging, as governments are looking at spending on war rather than peace.The current teachers in the rock school are the kids who went into the program when it's started. True success.Donations are tax deductible for Dutch and US.
• Menu

  aftbit
  I love this hyper-individualized approach. I would be way more willing to meet someone and sponsor _them_ than I would be to just give anonymous dollars.
• Menu

  criddell
  What an inspiring story!How did you end up in Ibumila? Do you ever go back there?You ask how much can a village change. Are you trying to document that in any way?
• ct520
  No questions or comments. Just glad to wake up and read this. Big fan of how the things we consider small can be life changing to someone else.
• Menu

  jacquesm
  What a fantastic thing you are doing. Thank you for making the world a bit better and my day a bit brighter. I'm not in a position to do anything for your organization right now due to other engagements but if and when those are brought to a - hopefully successful - conclusion I will re-visit this. Absolutely awesome initiative.
• lukehandcool
  Thank you to everyone who has donated. This has been a wonderful experience to see the support from you all. I was not expecting this sort of a response.Again, there is a typo on the email on the site. It should be TANZANIAEDUCATIONPROJECT@GMAIL.COM not .org. I'll change that as soon as I get home tonight. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you!!
• fady
  Very cool my friend! Keep up the great work and follow your heart. Its in the right place
• Menu

  penskymaterial
  It was revealed George Michael donated millions of pounds to charity and individuals in need during his life... and never told a single soul nor felt a need to.
• Menu

  edumucelli
  Wow, that is amazing, congratulations on making such difference on peoples lives. Btw, you can use Netlify to host your website for free and still be able to add a PayPal client button. That would save you 5$ per month that could be directed to the cause you are helping for all those years.
• Menu

  gadders
  Good on you.I often think sometimes with these diffuse mega-charities, you never know where the money ultimately ends up or what difference it makes.At least with your donations you can see for sure where the money went and the direct benefit it had.
• Menu

  laybak
  I love this energy, and love how it seems to be resonating with others too. seems a more whole and life-giving than the intellectual EA vibe
• dmje
  Super inspiring. Will likely send some $$. Nice one, very well done, great story and project :-)
• Menu

  codetiger
  Good work!!! I love what you are doing.
• igleria
  Hey, as someone born and raised in the "third world": Thanks. Must feel VERY satisfying!
• talon8635
  Well done.Relevant to the topic: https://www.cato.org/books/beautiful-tree
• Menu

  petesergeant
  This is awesome. I would note that there are similar charities (based in various Western countries) that do similar things if people like the idea but for whatever reason don't want to donate to this particular one, just a simple Google search away.
• rayoleary
  You are a decent person. Bravo.
• m4tthumphrey
  ~Scott's~ lukehandcool's Tots.Absolute kudos!
• Menu

  mykowebhn
  This is really great. Thanks for doing this!Just donated $100US
• Menu

  dyauspitr
  10 years ago, I paid a lump sum to have three roughly 5 year-old Indian girls go all the way to college and I used to get yearly updates and pictures but then I moved a couple of times. I wonder how they’re doing now. I did my due diligence at the time with the charity and saw that their overhead was less than 12% and 88% of whatever was donated went to the kids.
• Menu

  MattCruikshank
  So, this was a horrible idea I had back in 2012..."Save A Kid"It costs $100 to buy the game, and it's $15 per month to play.When you pick a character, you get to pick a Country of origin, and then an age and a sex. Then you get to start customizing, by looking for a character that has a given race or religion, if you care about that. For newbies, I'd definitely recommend picking a character that speaks a language you can speak fluently. And if you're an Expert, you can play a character that has different Disadvantages. It doesn't give you any bonus attributes, but you get bragging rights for playing one of them well. There's like, Orphan and Kid-With-AIDS, and then there are harder ones like "Scarred by War" where the kids have missing limbs, etc. Anyway, newbies should probably avoid those at first.So, anyway, it's kind of like The Sims, or a Tamagotchi, or Farm Town, or something.You log on every day, and depending on the character you picked, you either get an email, or maybe a voice mail or a video mail. The character tells you about how much it appreciates the new computer and the food. The first couple levels, it's all about gaining Health Points. You can totally nerf your character by spending some of your monthly allotment of extra gold points on buffing the kid's parents, if he has them. The parents start generating more gold points on their own, which makes it a lot easier to play. Some people even buy buffs online, which I think is cheating, but for a newbie, it's an easy way to keep your kid alive.Anyway, you and your friends can make a clan, and all play characters in the same village. I've even heard that some really crazy rich players can buy buffs for the whole village, like a potable water and electricity system.There are Events in the game, where like the country the kid is in goes into War. That sucks, because sometimes you lose your character, and the game is perma-death, which is lame. They do a really good job making the game realistic, because sometimes you even see in the news that the real country is in war. Most of the time, they just make stuff up though, because most of the wars never show up on TV, but your character won't shut up about them.Anyway, it's a sandbox game, which some people don't like. But the AI is incredible. Your character will like ask you how they can keep their food from spoiling, and if you look it up online, and explain to them how to do it, they can save some of their food. Or like, how they can build a windmill from scrap metal.Anyway, you play the same character as long as you want to, but most people get bored after the kid has a job and their own family, and they start over at level one. Restarting costs another $100 though.The game developers say if too many people play the game, they might even run out of characters to play. I don't buy it. They'll always make up some new War, or some world-shattering Disaster like a typhoon or something, and then a bunch of new characters will open up. Expansion packs, and all that.A lot of people play this game like 40 hours a week, or something ridiculous. Some people say that playing this game has changed their lives or whatever, and they give up their jobs and play it full time.Anyway, I guess you can already play most of those mini-games in other forms, but until they package it up in a nice box that you can buy at Best Buy, and they set up some dedicated servers, and set up a scoring ladder (good grades in school, etc.) and maybe some achievements ("high school diploma", "got a job," etc.), oh and a nice technical support line to answer questions and give advice, I don't think the game will really take off.
• moralestapia
  Is there a site where you can find a list of projects like that one?Or similarly, a single fund someone can contribute to where the money goes to high-impact charities like this one.Btw, this tip-toes on ideas behind the now-infamous "Effective Altruism" crap, and I'd like to stay away from that as much as possible.
• Menu

  charcircuit
  Why not fund Americans' educations instead?
• Menu

  kingkongjaffa
  Funding child education up to 18 seems like a great and noble cause. How does it work beyond that though, with university?Could you fund a scholarship or a specific department or something with the universities instead of sponsoring an individual person?
• anon
  undefined
• Menu

  codeforafrica
  After 15 years in China I moved to Africa 4 years ago. First to Uganda and since more than two years now I live in Tanzania. I have been sponsoring multiple students in Uganda but once I left it became difficult to continue because I could not ensure that the money got to the right people. Already careful, I usually paid school fees directly to the schools. But I also helped them to buy things they need for school. One time a child told me that the money I sent for her was taken by her older siblings. In another case I sent several hundred dollars at once to pay for a child to get into secondary school. I already knew the family and the situation in person, and had been supporting her for a while, but as I wasn't there any more I had to trust someone else to deliver the money. I gave it to a school director from the primary school this child just graduated from. I had been supporting 3 children in that school, and I trusted the director as he was very generous with the children, allowing them to be behind on school fees. That is not common. Many schools will refuse children if the fees are not paid. Unfortunately the payments didn't go as planned. The director claimed different school fees than the school actually asked for, and even those were not fully paid. As a result the child dropped out of school and I have no way to get her back in to school as there is no one I can trust to handle the money.I don't know what happened to the money. Ostensibly the director used it to support children in his own school. As such the money has likely not been wasted, but the trust is broken because people don't take being honest seriously.This is unfortunately not an isolated case. I heard from another organization that is supporting orphans in Uganda that at some point they found out that some of the children were not really orphans. It wasn't their fault. The orphanage they worked with wasn't straight forward in their communication. It may even have been an innocent translation error, or misunderstanding. It is not uncommon that families send their children to orphanages temporarily while they can not afford to care for them.The point is, that it is very difficult to verify what the real truth is. And it takes time to establish trust. The main problem is the stark difference in income. Even to middle class locals, as a middle class westerner I appear insanely rich to them. They have no idea that I am struggling just as much to find work, and that I can't afford to help them pay for what even I consider luxuries. The TV has many shows about the life of more well off people or from other countries giving people a false impression of what is a normal life in other countries.I can only tell you this because I actually came to Africa to see the reality on the ground for myself. With my children I could live at home semi-comfortably with government child support and unemployment benefits (as a single parent with young children taking a full-time job is out of the question). Instead I have to get by with finding online work, which is getting increasingly harder. Or I have to rely on sponsors to support my work.I didn't come to Africa with big goals. Especially not with the idea that I could actually make a difference. I came here to learn, and to teach my children about the reality of the world. I also try to work with students and young developers to give them work experience in software development. Currently I guide the software team in a company that is producing electronic learning kits for robotics, physics, etc for schools.It hasn't been easy. I had a stable client when I came here paying me enough to cover the life here. But after a year I lost that customer and two years later my savings were used up. The move from Uganda to Tanzania was actually cost driven because living in Uganda was a lot more expensive. I am now struggling to get by and I don't know how much longer I can afford to stay here. I would like to dedicate more time to helping students but the struggle to find work is taking most of my focus.Besides software development, one thing I would like to do is to audit the work NGOs are doing here on behalf of the people who donate to them. I could travel and produce independent reports on what the results are from the money you donate.I do hope that I will get over this struggle and that I'll be able to live here for several more years.
• Menu

  Simulacra
  This is beautiful. Bravo. You created an opportunity for someone to thrive and grow. There are few higher callings to humanity than that, IMHO.I also did something sort of similar: I had a close friend in Brazil (former roommate when he eas in the US; self deported) who was going through a very difficult time. As an experiment..I gave him $100/month, no strings attached. Blow it on food and games, rent, whatever he wants.Tl;dr it went very well, his life significantly improved, I did it because he was my friend, I had the money, and wanted to see what would happen.We Skyped after his shift ended one night and he was very depressed. With a VPN and a credit card I ordered him Dominos to cheer him up. I sent a feast that.. only cost me $10.[1]Realizing the exchange rate benefit, I got the idea of giving him $100 each month as an experiment; $500 Brazilian Reals.I wanted to know if the extra money would help and if I could use the exchange rate to help my friend get to a better place in life. Sort of a UBI but not quite.Now, $100 to me is a bit of money, but 500 BR to him was a crazy amount of money to be given.Over six months, it allowed him to quit his job at McDonald's, get out of a financially unstable roommate situation, move closer to his family in his own place, and find a better job. He started dating again.I told him I would commit to a year, but he actually said at the 6.5 month mark that he's doing so well that I don't have to keep giving him money.Three years later he's still doing great. I have concluded from this that more money in our pocket always helps, but there is a certain responsibility (maybe in general) needed when a gift like that lands in our laps. It can be easy to blow it [2] but just as easy to use it to move life forward.It has certainly made me more ..aware/appreciative of my privilege and (sometimes fragile) security.[1]. Two medium four topping pizzas, two 2-litre bottles of soda, breadsticks, and chicken nuggets.[2]. I was once given a generous stipend from the Student Government of $140 which I did not use for school supplies, rent, or even groceries. Nope. I bought alcohol.
• likelybot
  [dead]
• kleiba2
  [dead]
• fleroviumna
  [dead]
• Menu

  avazhi
  And this is on Hacker News... why?