the goose

‘Giving back’ as the American’s call it seems to be all the rage these days.  Perhaps a latent guilt for money/success drives people to try and rebalance the scales a little.  Of course they’re bloody unlikely to much of an impact.  95% of the worlds population live in vast pools of poverty.  A relentless focus on profit and money is perhaps wearing on the soul after a while.

Let us be clear about this however.  I’m pretty sure there is no such thing as an altruistic act.  When I take part in some kind of charitable activity I’m in it to make myself feel better the next time I meet someone working with drug addicts or rehabilitating abandoned quadriplegics.  One group that I’ve been keeping an eye on from afar is Connect Ethiopia.

The basic idea of the group is to try and improve the conditions in Ethiopia by trade rather than charity.  This fits well with my world view and the theory is good.  It was started by a bunch of coffee and sandwich entrepreneurs  - for whome I admire a lot.

Pat Walsh went over there this year to train locals up on how to use the internet to transact with Western companies via eLance.  As far as memory serves, Pat did well for himself selling accounting software but decided that running Sky Business Centres was a far easier way of making a buck.  Here is how it works …

1. If we can give these guys small pieces of work it will help to provide sustainable income for they and their families. Ethiopia is the 7^th poorest country in the world. Believe me their conditions make our recession look like a mega mega boom. By giving them small basic jobs they can build feedback and then go for bigger projects.
2. This is NOT a charity, they are 100% clear that they must deliver. If you are not happy with their work – do not pay.
3. Broadband is extremely slow in Ethiopia. Less than 1mbs. So large file transfers are not recommended
4. This is a slideshare with some pictures of the Connect Ethiopia October mission and Elance Workshops trip:  http://www.slideshare.net/secret/saxJw0T0DPdyy
5. We have also setup a LinkedIn group. See Elance Ethiopia
6. Sample starter jobs that our Elance Ethiopians can do include (but not limited to):  Setup your business on twitter and facebook, Update your business facebook, twitter, blog etc on a daily basis, Simple website changes, Language translations – English–Amharic-English, Graphics Design, Data entry, Produce a report on your competitors websites, Find me a list of 10 x five star child friendly villas in France, Research a product or service via the web etc etc   i.e what tasks can you outsource remotely?

I use eLance a fair bit and I’m going to be giving some of these guys a whirl.  Here is a listing of the providers eLance Id’s along with a summary of their skills.

Go get’em.