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235 points ChrisArchitect | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.263s | source
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kuwze ◴[] No.16850840[source]
There is a huge history of how much aid has hurt African countries[0].

After doing a bit of research, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to help poor people is to give away phones. I think it would really help people keep in contact with friends and family as well as help bootstrap innumerous businesses and really help the GDP of these countries. Sadly I have yet to find a service that lets me send new (cheap) smartphones to people in need.

Although I do not like a tiered internet, I do like the premise of Zuckerberg's Internet.org project. I think that access to Wikipedia in particular should be a right these days. For some reason I always idolize it (along with Kindles) as being the path towards creating a Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy for everyone.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Aid-Working-Better-Africa/dp/037...

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1. memossy ◴[] No.16857797[source]
At www.symmitree.com we will be giving 1m refugees free, decent quality, biometric smartphones and access to key apps/dapps next year with a plan of making these phones free for anyone who wants them a few years after. We will be announcing full details of the mechanisms behind this in June.