suppose I parachute into mainland Africa, could I help the people with my Hacker skills?
Mystalic: I love the hypothetical and how you've asked it.But to be serious, your programming skills are going to be of almost no use to them.  Hell, go look at the Zimbabwe government's website to see how much they care - http://www.gta.gov.zw/ (prepare to cringe).What skills you DO have are compassion, finances, and the ability to get awareness up HERE.  Tons of charities need better and more functional websites that come up more often in SEO.  They need more prominent donation tabs, they need websites that better explain their mission and better recruit.  You can create a site to promote a cause, you can team up with someone and start your own charity (I intend to).There's tons you can do.  Just because you're not on location doesn't mean you're not making an impact.