In my childhood, adolescence and beyond I enjoyed spending times in the woods and fields around the family farm where I was raised. I've often listed "hiking" among my interests and activities. Sometimes people ask if I like camping as well, and the answer is a definite "no." Though I camped out a few times with friends when I was a kid and once as an adult went on a men's retreat in the Colorado mountains, I really don't care for camping. I love to spend an entire day in the woods, but when evening comes I want a hot shower and a comfortable bed. The same underlying concept applied to my missionary activity as well.
The year before I went on my first mission trip to Brazil I heard some young ladies at the Bible college talk about their experience in rural Ukraine. They had been there for the summer as mission interns, and amenities we take for granted were somewhat lacking. They learned to wash their clothes with a washboard, and they had to take their own toilet paper into the country with them (remember, this was rural Ukraine in the mid-1990's). I heard similar stories from folks who had been to the continent of Africa and elsewhere. For a person who appreciates a hot shower and a comfortable bed, those kinds of mission trips didn't sound terribly appealing.
Yes, I know, I am not very adventurous. You go ahead and eat beetles and wipe with rough leaves, I'll take a different route!
When I signed up for a mission internship through Christian Missionary Fellowship, the country at the top of my "Where I'd Rather Go" list was Brazil. Fortunately for me, I got it. I knew (unlike many Americans) that Brazil is a lot more than rain forests, and that I would be going into an intensely urban area. It would be a sharp change of pace from anything I had ever experienced before, but it most definitely wasn't a jungle.
Late last year I shared in a post some of observations Jeremy Allison made from attending Ontario Linux Fest regarding Linux in developing countries. Of specific interest is what he shared about a keynote talk presented by Jon “Maddog” Hall:
Jon is a wonderfully entertaining speaker, and not afraid of controversy. Showing a picture of a child in the African bush holding a “One Laptop per Child” laptop he said, “I don’t care about this kid.” The audience drew a shocked breath. “He’s screwed,” continued Jon. “Five hundred miles of bush behind him, five hundred miles of bush in front of him. There’s nothing I can do to help here”. Jon flipped the slide to show a Brazilian “favela”, or slum city, with an incredibly dense population, seeming to cling to the side of a nearby hill. He said, “This is where I can help. These kids have electricity. They can get a network connection. I can do something with Open Source and Free Software here”.
While the language used here is obviously excessive to some extent, the point is valid. What "a child in the African bush" needs isn't a laptop, but medical care and a solid education, among other basic concerns. He or she can have a bright future, although likely not in the field of computer science. Teachers, engineers and medical professionals have quite a task ahead of them in Africa. Perhaps in the cities there programmers and other tech geeks can find a way to help, but not so much out in the countryside.Just as Brazil isn't just the Amazon (that's a mistaken notion that frustrates everyone who knows and loves Brazil) it is also not all favela (slum). It is a poor, developing country where 86% of the population is urban. I've actually never been in a favela, and I don't recommend you try to enter one either. They are dangerous places for outsiders, usually under the command of local drug lords. If you go to Rio de Janeiro you can see the favelas climbing inexplicably high up the majestic mountains that punctuate the city. Admire them from a distance, and take note of the fact pointed out by Maddog in his controversial comments: they are wired. By hook or by crook, when a Brazilian slum pops up it also obtains water and electricity pretty soon after.
Now, if a techie wants to do some good, where else can he do more than in a developing country where the majority of the people live in cities, and the cities are nearly 100% wired? There are young people in all parts of Brazil who could benefit from in depth computer training.
Remember that programming languages depend on English. Yes, there is software available in Portuguese, but not as much as there is in English, and one way or the other the human language factor can be a first major obstacle for learning one's way around computers. To do more than merely run some software, to actually become a programmer or a system administrator, someone needs to move these kids beyond the first hurdle, while carrying them along over the next few as well.
What I'm saying is that there's more to computer science than learning how to use a web browser, word processor and an e-mail client. Most kids in Brazil never get far beyond those three, lacking training and technical resources, but not intelligence or initiative.
For two and a half years I taught English and did mission work (two separate activities) in Brazil. Sometimes I've wondered how I might ever return there, if only for short periods. My desire to help hasn't diminished, although my perspective has changed in many fundamental ways from what I held in former days.
Brazil is someplace wired, someplace I can go and provide real assistance. Whether on short visits, through establishing an NGO and/or eventually relocating there. It's something I'm mulling over, a possibility and perhaps responsibility I am taking very seriously.
See Also:
Slides from "Sustainable Computing" presentation by Jon 'Maddog' Hall - see esp. pp 22-25 (Ontario Linux Fest)
Challenges and Uses for Linux in Developing Countries (Igneous Quill)
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