Software Developer Visits Africa, Blogs
About Ideas for Fighting Poverty with the Internet
After returning from Africa, software developer and blogger
Rob Walling published an article discussing the use of the internet
and high-technology in fighting poverty in Africa titled Using
Technology to Fight Poverty.
(PRWEB) September 15, 2005 -- After returning from Africa,
software developer Rob Walling published an article discussing the
use of the internet and high-technology in fighting poverty in
Africa titled Using Technology to Fight Poverty. The article is
located on Rob's "Software by Rob"
blog:
http://www.softwarebyrob.com/articles/Using_Technology_to_Fight_Poverty.aspx
Here
is an excerpt:
"I recently returned from a three week stay in
Ghana, West Africa, where I trained several non-profit organizations
how to build websites. Over and over again I was reminded how much
we in the West take our wealth for granted.
The federal
minimum wage in the United States is $5.15 per hour which, while
nice pocket change for a high school student, is not enough to keep
a family above the poverty line. However, someone making $5.15 would
live quite nicely in Ghana where the minimum wage is $.18 per hour
and the per capita Gross National Income (GNI) for Ghana is $320
compared to $37,610 for the US (according to the World Bank,
2003).
Before my trip to Africa, whenever I saw figures like
the ones given above, I always reasoned that goods are cheaper in
countries like Ghana. Shouldn't it all just even out?
The
short answer is no. The long answer is that it's because life in
Ghana is further complicated by the following factors not present in
the U.S.:
- Unemployment is around 20% and under-employment
is suspected to be higher. After six months without a job, $.18 an
hour must feel like winning the lottery.
- Inflation is around
14%, which means each paycheck buys less and less and any money you
manage to save becomes worthless within a few years.
- Although
many Ghanaians survive on $.18 per hour, which covers the expense of
one meal a day and a few other basic needs, no one earning that wage
is in a position to participate in the global economy.
These
are all major problems in dire need of a solution, but it's the
third point that hit me the hardest.
One person I spoke with
wanted to learn to build websites but couldn't afford the $15 book.
He works 40 hours a week at an IT training facility and can't afford
a lousy 15 dollar book. He's not starving. He's not living in a mud
hut on the side of the road scraping to feed his family. But at 83
times the minimum wage this book would cost $427 in the
U.S.
Does this seem wrong to anyone else?"
Rob goes on
to discuss why we should be concerned with this discrepancy and
offers several concrete options for getting involved.
It's an
interesting read for all those who believe that "One does evil
enough when one does nothing good."
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/9/prweb285022.htm |
|
|
| |