Get Involved!
We want to plug you into what we’re doing and our goal is to fully engage you in our life-saving mission. So we offer a few creative funding options. You can join Informer, buy link space in our donor cloud, fund a computer classroom, donate computer hardware and electronics for use in our training centers, or support Johnny and his family directly.
Join the Cloud.
Yes. It’s on every single one of our pages, in the right-hand column. The larger your donation, the larger your link. For as little as $9, you can purchase space in our donor cloud for 30 days and support our work. More importantly, your donation goes directly to our food program in East Africa. A single $9 donation feeds one child for an entire month! Sign up using the form in the right-hand column.
Donate Hardware.
If this page took less than five seconds to load, you’re in good shape, technologically speaking. That means you’ve probably got an upgrade trail of gear that’s fallen by the wayside as you climbed the ever lengthening path to technical Nirvana. Your upgrade leftovers are like gold in underdeveloped countries.
Send it to us. You pay shipping to a drop-off that’s local to you, and we take care of the rest. We’ll either use or sell the gear to fund our classrooms and other training projects. Contact us for more information.
Fund a computer classroom.
“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, you feed him for life.”
-Chinese Proverb
In the developed world, Information Technology (IT) is a booming business, providing sustainable income for millions. Most people don’t realize that IT is also a booming business in most underdeveloped countries as well. Simple services such as word processing, photo editing, CD copying and printing are in great demand and entrepreneurs are using these skills to generate income that not only sustains them, but their entire extended family as well.
As communication systems spread like wildfire and the cost of computer equipment drops, the market for computer skills in underdeveloped countries is set to explode.
However, computer training is expensive–far out of reach of those that need it the most. By building computer labs in schools and community centers in the poorest areas of the world, we aim to educate the world’s most vulnerable citizens, providing them skills that they can use to proactively lift themselves out of poverty.
Our computer classrooms are joint ventures. Corporations, individual members of the community and anonymous donors have joined together to build each and every one of our classrooms. We invite financial and equipment donations of any size and are actively seeking donations from corporations which are interested in branding opportunities. A typical seat in one of our classrooms costs approximately $300US and consists of brand-new, cutting edge-equipment engineered to last for years. Contact us for more information.
Join the Informer.
The Informer is a fund raising effort run by Hackers For Charity. It is designed to give subscribers a “backstage pass” to the world of Information Security.
Informer is for Subscribers.
For $54 per year, subscribers get early, exclusive access to all sorts of goodies donated by the top names in the INFOSEC world. The industry’s most recognized names will post blog entries here before they even post them to their own sites.
Our bookshelf features Internet exclusive pre-release chapters to some of the industry’s hottest selling books. You’ll also get access to pre-releases of tools and papers from the biggest names in the industry.
Informer is for Contributors.
People notice what you do. You’re already having fun, adding to the community and all that. But your work can do so much more. Your work can literally save lives, and we’re all about helping you do that.
The more subscriptions we get, the more children we feed. Your presence as a contributor will bring in more subscribers. It’s that simple.
So how does it work? When you’re ready to go public with something, big or small, you time delay it a bit (an hour, a day, a week, whatever you’re comfortable with) and email us a leaked copy, which is auto-posted to our site.
You keep doing what you’re already doing, but by partnering with us, your work will save lives. Contact us if you’re interested in contributing.
Informer is for children.
AOET does an amazing job empowering East Africa’s most vulnerable citizens through education, medical care, vocational training and child sponsorship. However, many children awaiting sponsorship are dying of AIDS and malaria despite having access to the medication that can save them because the medication will not take hold without a nutritious diet.
The Informer service is designed to stand in the gap for these children. All (100%) of the base subscription and $54 of each higher level subscription goes directly to feeding children in East Africa through our food program.
$54 is no random number. It costs $9 to feed a child for an entire month in Webuye, Kenya. $54 feeds six children for six months and gives each of them a garden that will produce vegetables for years, allowing them to remain healthy and tolerate life-saving medication. The children that work to maintain their gardens will continue to receive food and gardening materials. The AOET staff call this the “Food for Work” program.
Want to do more?
Hackers For Charity didn’t just appear out of the blue. It’s been a many-year process that began with Johnny and Jen Long’s various trips to Africa in 2006 through 2008. Over time, their passion for the plight of the vulnerable in East Africa demanded that they either back away from the work or embrace it fully. The decision was obvious: they would take the next step in the path laid before them. That’s why, starting on June 15, 2009, Johnny, his wife and four children are relocating to Jinja, Uganda for one year to partner with AOET. Their goals are to:
- Clarify the vision of HFC and discover how to best leverage the talents and gifts of the hacker community for lasting, life-saving change
- Learn the culture and listen to the needs of vulnerable East Africans to learn how to best serve them long-term
- Build HFC-funded computer classrooms in Uganda and Western Kenya to help give job skills to vulnerable children and adults.
- Scout and screen new locations for corporately-funded classrooms
- Maintain and repair existing classrooms and computer systems
- Train computer repair and maintenance technicians in-country
- Host four quarterly HFC “field-trips” to connect hackers and technologists to the life-changing work on the ground in East Africa
But they’re really out on a limb of faith–so much so that Johnny is currently unemployed (thanks to his insane passion for Africa) and a bit unsure about where the money will come from to support this endeavor. In the past, the hacker community has come together and fully funded trips like this one.
The hope is that private donations and speaking gigs will fully fund the trip, which will cost approximately $17,000 in one-time expenses ($9,620 for 4×4 Vehicle, $1,425 for furnishing, $431 for a washing machine, $3,880 for home schooling materials, $500 for Kenyan Visas, $250 for Ugandan Visas and $750 for Health Insurance) and $2,252 a month (Rent: $600.00, Guard $145, Car insurance: $20, House help including cooking, market shopping, language services: $72, Electricity: $120, Water: $50, Gas: $145, Food: $200, Health Insurance (US): $900).
As a supporter, you will be connected to the work in Africa. You’ll receive access to behind-the-scenes photo, video and blog sections of this site outlining exactly how the work is progressing and what your funding is supporting.
Thank you for your support of the “Long Journey to Africa!”
