Don't forget 2-3X that for customs duties, bribes, man-hours running across town for paperwork, etc. And that assumes it arrives at the final destination unstolen.

In my travels through poorer countries (and their aduanas) I've noticed an almost overt hostility to importing the very tools that might allow productivity to increase. They seem to perceive computers as luxury goods when assigning duties. It's hard to imagine a public policy that is more self-defeating.

Yep. As I stated "I would actually be more worried about corrupt customs officials stealing the hardware." and "Someone who has a Facebook account (I don't) could ask the guy about shipping and customs issues in Ghana". It would probably make sense to expect some extra customs and shipping fees. That said, Ghana is definitely less screwy than many other countries in Africa.

how will they power it? the biggest problem is not cheap hardware but cheap/consistent power (both of which are problems - power is very expensive and very sparse and very unreliable).

You may be right, but in the interview the teacher does not seem to share your concern:

I've read in news reports that you've received an outpouring of help from foreigners who want to donate computers to your school. Is that actually happening?

No, they are showing interest but nothing has been brought to the school. We are praying that they are able to organize themselves and present us with computers.

if i gave you a lambo with no gas in sight would you turn it down?

A Lamborghini would be pretty useless in most contexts, but if you gave someone a 1940s jeep they could definitely make use of it.

Ah, but they could sell it!

Ok, who can make this happen? Let’s show them we are not useless.

So a small solar + battery system to go with.

a 40w solar panel plus battery plus charge controller is not cheap (nor small). i knew some people that put those together but all told they were about $500 with locally sourced parts.

Just for interests sake, solar panels in the DR Congo are about a dollar a watt. However, getting durable batteries is a different story.

I seriously doubt getting power is an issue. Usually when power is an issue in developing countries you borrow a generator and fuel it, which is not expensive at all, since people are getting around on motorbikes anyway. Power draw from this category of hardware is almost nothing, so a tiny generator will suffice. We could even send one, cheaper end is about RMB250 (USD$40).

I would actually be more worried about corrupt customs officials stealing the hardware.

Someone who has a Facebook account (I don't) could ask the guy about shipping and customs issues in Ghana and for an address, then we just need to buy and ship. I am happy to proxy that. Email me (address in profile) if you want to donate a machine. I will photograph everything shipped for transparency and publish the waybill number. Usually it's cheapest to ship with China Post surface but it takes up to three months to arrive. We could look at pricier options or maybe someone here can pull strings with Fedex or UPS for a free delivery.

>I seriously doubt getting power is an issue

you have no idea what you're talking about. the average salary of a teacher in subsaharan africa is 100$/month. a kwh in uganda is ~ $0.17. a liter of gas is ~$1.50. only the wealthiest schools have generators and they save them for powering lights during exam prep periods. people aren't getting around on motorbikes - moto taxis exist and people pay for them but only wealthy people own them outright. nm the cost of even a small generator (north of probably $300).

OK well if they've got power, assuming your prices, let's say a KwH is about what an hour class would use.

So USD$0.17/class, one class per day, 20 classes per month, 20 * USD$0.17 = USD$3.4/month.

The teacher won't be the one paying, the community will gather money if required.

A small generator is USD$40 to buy here in China as I stated, not USD$300.

You are making a mountain out of a molehill.

(Edit in response to below: Please, enough personal attacks. I see solutions. You see problems. Fine. Logically, while poverty is real, using your figures USD$3-4/month spread across a community is clearly a non-issue if teachers are on USD$100/month. I don't need to physically visit Ghana to validate that, and if it really is an issue I am sure we can find it amongst those donating hardware to contribute a few dollars annually.)

(Further edit: Maybe you are confusing Uganda's situation for Ghana's. Uganda is way poorer than Ghana. "Ghana's rapid growth accelerated poverty reduction, cutting the poverty rate from 52.6% to 21.4% between 1991 and 2012. In 2012, Ghana's poverty rate was less than half the African average of 43%. Extreme poverty declined even more, dropping from 37.6% in 1991 to 9.6% in 2013." versus "With a per capita income of under US$170, Uganda today is one of the poorest countries in the world")

>The teacher won't be the one paying, the community will gather money if required.

you are beyond clueless. any school that has a computer is a private school. public schools have zero money. there is no community doing fundraising - you're talking about people who absolutely literally live on <1$ a day and have never seen a computer before in their lives (let alone are willing to contribute money to power one).

>A small generator is USD$40 to buy here in China as I stated, not USD$300.

how much do you think it costs to ship? how high do you think import tariffs are? do you plan on holding every generator that every school needs on your lap on a flight over? i had to buy a socket wrench once - it cost me 30$ because it was imported.

>You are making a mountain out of a molehill.

i lived in rural uganda for two years and taught high school. i know exactly what i'm making into a mountain. these people can't afford toilet paper and soap. they shit into shallow holes in the ground. teachers read aloud from textbooks and students copy verbatim into trash notebooks (made out of discarded newspaper) because they can't afford textbooks. they eat boiled corn flour every day for their entire lives - a soda is a treat. just no clue man. how about this: spend the $1000 on a plane ticket and go see for yourself rather than sending rpis that no one will ever use and learn about what it's really like so you can then go on to educate others.

> I see solutions. You see problems.

lol. go ahead. do it. report back to us in a year how you've found the silver bullet the NGO community has been looking for for 40 years.

I think you're confusing helping out this class with helping solving all of Africas problems.

no i'm not. i'm just responding to the guy that thinks power isn't a problem and if it is then solving it is easy-peasy.

why are you so triggered. stop attacking the guy

What do you think of http://one.laptop.org/ ?

africa doesn't need computers. it needs clean water, soap, anti-malarals, and nutritious food. cover those things and then worry about computers.

Can you just stick to Ghana or something more specific? There's various countries which are absolutely not in need of any of those things. For example, more than 10 million people in Tunisia living on a PPP gdp/capita of $1k a month who aren't worrying about soap. Or Egypt, a country of about 100 million people living on $12k PPP gdp/capita, if Tunisia was too small.

I'm not trying to say here that North-Africa is representative for all of Africa. But I am tired of people making the opposite claim.

Arguably what they need is the infrastructure to produce and distribute all those things. And the economic activity for people to afford them. Except as an emergency measure, aid tends to destroy all that. But a prerequisite is education, of course. And aren't computers a key part of modern education?

This is somewhat patronizing. Have you tried asking rural African schoolteachers what they most need?

Empirically, many people all over the developing world are prioritizing communication devices over those other things you listed.

>Have you tried asking rural African schoolteachers what they most need?

yes. many times.

How about: Each computer comes with a bar of soap, and with the skills learned you can compete in the world and afford all the soap you will ever need? I don’t see it as either/or.

When computers are used properly many can lift themselves from poverty.

I know because that’s what I did.

My man! Let them have soap!

Fastest/safest way to give them the hardware they need? Cash! Why try to reinvent the wheel solve many hard problems that people have already been working on for years ie. corrupt customs, transportation, language barriers... When you can just give cash and let them buy whatever computer they need or buy food if that happens to be why those former problems exist in the first place, but not sexy enough for npr to cover.

Bring on the downvotes.

Why not just send him $100?

It's significantly cheaper to buy hardware in China.

Why would he buy hardware at all?

Because he's a computer teacher and obviously enjoys it, and since his identity is known if he cuts and runs he's basically throwing away his livelihood and community good will for a small short term gain. Whereas, if he uses it well and posts images of kids learning, then there's a real chance he could become an ambassador for similar projects elsewhere and lead a fulfilling and respected life of meaning? I dunno, sometimes you can trust and help people instead of being a bitter internet troll and it works out well for everyone. Sometimes not, but I'd prefer to believe in people :)

I'm not trolling at all. I'm not talking about cutting and running.

I'm saying it's arrogant and out of touch to think that if you're teaching Microsoft Word on a chalkboard the best use of $100 is buying a computer. Maybe he'd rather buy some medicine or a water purifier or even a lamp so he could teach at night as well.

Rigorous studies have demonstrated that direct giving is by far the best way to help someone in an impoverished environment.[1] Anything else is a declaration that you know better than they do and it enforces an idea that their situation is entirely their fault.

[1] https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/131/4/1973/246...

I was with you until the last sentence...

Perhaps a bit too hyperbolic, heh.