suppose I parachute into mainland Africa, could I help the people with my Hacker skills?
subwindow: I had been considering doing something similar in Ghana.  I thought about it for a few weeks and kept coming back to teaching.  Teaching programming in particular probably wouldn't be very useful, but teaching basic computer skills definitely would be.If you worked with a small town (provided they had access to reliable power), you could probably have a measurable impact on the local economy.  That is really the only way I could sustain myself in such a situation- by being able to see the good I'm doing to a whole community.