Kentaro Tomaya on why high technology, in and of itself, doesn’t solve the problems that lead to poverty:
Does a hundred dollars for a computer make sense when $0.50 per year, per child for de-worming pills could reduce the incidence of illness-causing parasites and increase school attendance by 25 percent?
The disparity between what donors care about and what recipients of aid might need speaks to the cultural gap between have’s and have-not’s. To make donors happily pay for the basics of enfranchisement requires that donors learn to appreciate what they have come to take for granted.
We love our computers. We want to share that love. It’s been too long since we felt a similarly strong affection for clean water and basic, universal education.