After a solid year of trying to figure out a way to get gear to Africa, I’m excited to say we finally have a shipping process ironed out! That means that your excess gear can be re-used here in Africa in our training centers to help some of the world’s most desperate people learn skills to lift them out of poverty.

We’ve already gotten two large shipments already, but our window of opportunity is closing really fast. In January 2010, a moratorium is being placed on all used equipment coming into Uganda. We only have a few short months to get gear over here, so I’m asking for your help.

The classrooms we build cost between $225 and $300 per student depending on the monitor options we use. This is a five-headed CPU (five monitors, keyboards, mice and remote desktop sessions on one PC) running Windows XP, built almost entirely out of locally purchased equipment which I can not import for less. This is a decent price, considering that we’re installing new, locally serviceable, waranteed equipment, but we need to offer a solution to schools and charities that can not afford this price tag. That’s where used equipment comes in.

We installed used, donated, P4 laptops in our latest school. After cargo shipping, handling, taxes, accessories, power, etc our price per student dropped to JUST UNDER $50!

Here’s what we REALLY need:

  • Pentium4 or newer laptops
  • New or refurbished netbooks (we can sell these for profit or at cost to staff)
  • OLPC’s… We have 100, but they are slated for the AOET programs. We want some in the community center.
  • G4 or newer Mac laptops
  • BOOKS (technical, for our community center library)
  • Training materials (DVD’s, CD’s curriculums, certificate programs, etc) THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT for our community center!
  • Tools (good quality crimpers, cable testers, strippers, pliers, scissors, anti-stat stuff, etc even small kits like these: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=27PC-TOOLKIT&cpc=SCH)
  • Software w/licenses, especially OS, architectural (AutoCAD, 3d Home Maker, ArchCard), accounting (QuickBooks, Quicken, Tally, Pastel) , graphics (Photoshop, Corel, Illustrator, Serif), publishing (MS Publisher, Pagemaker), web design (Dreamweaver, etc), video (Sony Vegas, Media Maker), Adobe anything, Serif anything, educational, support, classroom automation, imaging, Apple Mac anything, etc.. hrmmm… OK. Every imaginable business or educational software. =)
  • Wireless equipment (routers, hubs, adapters, boosters, antennas)
  • Network gear (routers, 8-port or larger switches and hubs, firewalls, IDS-type systems)
  • Cleaning kits (LCD screen brushes, rags, vacuums like http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=M0216SPC&cpc=GFT)

And some other things we’d like to have:

  • Desktop Systems (2 years or newer, 2GHz+, 1GB+)
  • LCD Projectors (or bulb projectors with lots of extra bulbs)
  • Digital cameras (3MP or higher preferred) and memory cards (128MB+)
  • Digital camcorders (Flash, Hard Drive, MiniDV)
  • Working cell phones (tri or quad-band, prefer unlocked: IMEI must start with a one (“1”)
  • Working quad-band BlackBerry phones (we can resell these for profit)
  • External Storage devices (Firewire, USB 200GB or larger)
  • USB flash Drives (128MB or larger),
  • High-end video cards (256MB or higher, especially dual-head cards)
  • Motherboards w/CPU (2 years old or newer, working)
  • Game consoles and games / ISO collections (XBOX360, PS3, Wii) for a cyber cafe we’re thinking of building to make money off tourists
  • E-book readers (uhm.. this is for me and my family. Books are SO HARD to find here.. and we’ll share with others, too.=)

So consider helping us out. Your used gear can go a long way! Send me an email (johnny .at. hackersforcharity .dot. org) with what you have, and I’ll let you know what we’re interested in. I’ll supply a US mailing address for our shipping team and ask that you pay shipping to that address.

Spread the word, and thanks for your continued support! These shipments have really breathed new life into our work in Africa!

Johnny