Congrats on a great initiative. I’d love to go out there myself some time. As a regular elance user myself, I do think this is a great idea, but there are a few challenges.

1) Actually using elance is difficult. It takes a while to get used to it and you need to be reasonably technical. How about running a free training program for those who want to help by hiring the guys down there but are intimidated by the tech? There shouldn’t be a problem finding someone to donate their expertise (I’d do it for one).

2) Trusting the providers is a big issue. Although there are recommendations from previous hires, I have found that people are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know. For example, could you provide case studies of Irish people who have hired these guys and the outcome they found. A testimonial in the next newsletter along the lines of “I’m Pat Walsh and I use xxx to update my website for me. She is great”.

3) Communications is an issue. Email is fine but while working down in Argentina, I found having a local Dublin number invaluable. I’m not sure if the broadband would support this but a local number might help to find work for them.

James

Thanks for blog item about my trip.
Call me altruistic, but I do believe that global outsourcing via services like Elance.com can change the world. Every month there are 27,000 jobs posted on Elance, a total of $225m business done in three years. Why can’t developing countries get in on the action for a piece of this? Yes there are loads of problems and barriers to overcome i.e broadband speed, politics etc. But it is possible! Even a small income generated from remote work will have huge benefits for families currently surviving on $20 a month.

Best wishes
Pat