Ask HN: Teaching programming in third-world countries? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Teaching programming in third-world countries?

5 pointsarisAlexis6 comments

For example lets say I want to have a life trip in third world countries and I would like to teach programming. Is there a way? I have only heard about school teachers or doctors without borders for example.

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There are a few initiatives going on, however they are not very productive. I live in a third world country, so let me provide some context. I am assuming here that you wish to help children who are severely disadvantaged, i.e. street children and orphans.

- The programming world requires you to read, and most children cannot. Solving this problem is of a higher priority.

- Children suffer from malnourishment. Sure, you can give them a computer, but that isn't going to keep them fed.

- Begging is better. Most poor parents have their children begging, since it does offer a good income, so you must provide funds for attending your classes. Free is not good enough. In fact, the government pays families to send their kids to school, and people still do not.

- Programming requires a proper environment. Making an application from start to finish, and then making it a successful commercial application is not easy. Training a software engineer, takes a long time, and has quite a few prerequisites, in the end, one might be lucky to have 1% of the original number remaining.

Hence, if you can solve the literacy problem, compounded with the financial and societal problems then sure, why not? But otherwise, one is merely coming here to make oneself feel good, not to do real good.

Changing the lives of the poor is a very long term process, and I for one can tell you that it might seem impossible but it isn't. It just requires a crazy amount of work.

Exactly, I was thinking of something like meta-school when they have already a foundation of reading and some basic math etc but not like a university because there is too much complication with that.

Then you are not going to be targeting very many, and most will likely be middle class. Its better to solve the harder problems than simply provide middle class children with tools to immigrate elsewhere.

I commend you for wanting to do good for the poorer parts of the world, but I suggest you bring over other technologies that will serve the people better than coding.

Let me give you an example:

Spend time researching the terrain of "Poor Area X" in "Poor Country: AAA".

Now look in your first-world country at similar terrains and see what advanced farming techniques the farmers are using in your first-world country.

Go spend time living with the farmer, learn the technology/skill and then bring that to the malnourished folks in AAA.

You'd be surprised to know that most folks throughout the world know very little about basic farming/survival skills.

Teaching these people advanced techniques to grow their own food will benefit them tenfold more than any JavaScript could (in their current state).

I know of some academics who were involved in creating a "computer lab in a box" for developing countries. They implemented it in Micronesia, and also had a pretty interesting story about connecting up the island with the lab to the main island by wi-fi so it could get internet. The box itself became the computer desk, because even the desk is something you can't take for granted on the ground. Maybe you ought to think about doing some project like this for schools in a country you care about: http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/innovations/data/0002...

You have to speak the local language(s). This is the next big problem, IMO. If you choose an anglophone country, there is still a little problem -- motivation. You'll have to charge students so that they work hard to return their investments.

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