When I saw AOET’s Rehaboth School “computer lab” in May of last year, the room was completely empty. In fact, there wasn’t even any glass in the windows. This isn’t such a horrible thing: most schools in Uganda are rather shabby affairs often with dirt floors and a complete and utter lack of a proper building. But AOET’s Rehaboth School is a shining example of what’s possible for one person with tons of passion. Sam Tushabe witnessed a child digging through a trash heap and took it upon himself to take the child in and care for him. After ten children, he couldn’t take in any more, but his passion to save children burned brighter than ever. Today, AOET supports hundreds of children in five African countries, providing food, medical care (for the child and the entire family), shoes, a uniform and most importantly- an education. This model also includes the empowerment of parents through skills training and education. There’s too much to write here, but AOET is on the right track to disrupt the cycle of poverty and through education seriously deter the spread of diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS.

I agree with Sam’s vision, and Sam and I also agree about the importance of Information Technology (IT) in education. Young people armed with proper IT training are much more likely to secure well-paying jobs, even if they decide to venture outside their loal rural areas to modern urban areas. Adults, too can benefit from IT training, and AOET empowers them by not only giving them training but providing them with the skills required to start and maintain their own business in IT, a field which is in high demand even in the most remote areas of the planet.

Knowing what a difference computer training has made in my own life, the sight of this empty computer lab broke my heart, and I vowed to do something about, but I was not equipped to do it on my own. But as a body of donors, we’ve done it. I present to you the Rehaboth School computer lab, made possible through donations to Hackers for Charity.

The glass in the windows, which protects the equipment in the room from the ravages of dust was purchased through financial donations, as were the 2000w power regulator, electric bars (power strips), keyboards and mice. Specifically, these donations came in the form of Shmoocon T-Shirt sales and No-Tech Hacking pre-release book sales at Shmoocon. (So yes, hackers are funding computer labs in Uganda. Cool.) The laptops themselves were a personal donation from Jethro Taylor (RustyBadger), and the mouse pads came from Proteus Technologies. Students at Rehaboth school will use this lab as a daily part of their training, and the lab will be open at night to train adults through AOET’s empowerment program.This little lab is just the beginning though. I have some really big plans for our little group, and it’s exciting to realize the potential we have when we work together as a team. I commend each and every one of you that stepped in to make this lab possible. Thank you all! I promise to keep plugging away to make your efforts even more worthwhile.

I’m blessed to be with my family during this trip, so here are some family photos!

We’ve arrived! Well, actually we’ve been here for quite a while, but this is the first chance I’ve had to land Internet access. I’m posting from the Source cafe in downtown Jinja, and I’m happy to say that all is well! Our trip here was pretty rough. A nine hour layover in London (inside the airport) left everyone wiped out, then a delay out of London and an eight hour flight really nailed us. The first night in Uganda, we thought we made a huge mistake. The younger kids were scared, and complained of stomach aches, but after mixing up the sleeping arrangements, and a “normal” restroom break, we all slept in… until noon!!! Now, everyone is well, and we’re settling in to get to work. I acquired power regulators, power strips, keyboards and mice for the computer classroom, and paid for the windows in the classroom, all from the funds we raised from book sales and donations from Shmoocon. We’ll post more when we can, but thanks for tuning in for this brief update.

I’m headed back to Uganda, and this time it’s a family affair! Although we’re calling it a vacation, designed to show our kids the country that captured our hearts, We’ll be plenty busy. We’re hauling over hundreds of pounds of bags, pens and pencils to the students at Rehaboth school, and I’m planning on installing a computer classroom using gear and funds provided by our amazing donors. Click here (or on the image above) to check out our blog of the trip. We’ll be checking in every couple of days.

Thanks to Sploitcast (for hosting the auction) and Mike Davis of HiD Corporation and Jack Daniel (for their winning bids), we’ve raised $350 in our auction of two numbered, signed pre-release copies of the No-Tech Hacking book! Thanks everyone for taking the time to participate! We’ll keep you posted on how the funds will be used.

AOET (aoet.org) had a website that hadn’t been updated for years. The volunteer that set up the system was hard working and talented, but real life crept in and before long, AOET had no way to communicate their growth and the details of their mission to the connected world. That’s where HFC stepped in. Our first order of business was to give them a voice (quickly) within the limitations of their existing web host. Eugene pointed us towards Simple PHP blog, which was a perfect solution for portable no-frills blog software that didn’t rely on a back-end database. Before jumping in with a bit of unknown and possibly insecure software, we ran it through it’s paces. AJ Dexter performed a beginning-to-end app test of the blog software and found that it was secure enough for our use. He documented the post-login vulnerabilities he uncovered and reported them to the developer and we installed the blog as a bolt-on front-end for their existing site. AOET was thrilled to have a voice, and they began posting immediately, but the blog looked piecemeal, especially when visitors wandered beyond the blog page to the older site behind it. (See the contrast in the photos below.)

Our next goal was to take the site to the next level. That meant three things: the system needed a unified look, AOET needed to be able to update any part of the site easily, and we had to get the site moved to a more open, less restrictive server (our own). WordPress satisfied our first two requirements. Installation was a snap, but moving the old web site’s content into our server’s WordPress install would take a bit of work. Nandeyanen volunteered to do the work and moved over all the content within a couple of days (!) giving us a really nice rendition of the site in WordPress. I found and applied a decent looking theme (feather pen 10), and Blake Watson smashed many of the bugs Internet Explorer caused in the rendering of the theme. I nearly missed Blake’s email responses because his work was completed so quickly! AOET.org didn’t look half bad transferred to WordPress, but it took a few more theme adjustments and the cformsII plugin to handle the contact forms to round out the presentation.

I’ve glazed over the fact that we even had a test server. This is a Big Deal(TM), requiring not only hardware and bandwidth, but also rack space and tech support, all of which is generously donated by Malcolm Mead and Pat Myrto over at meadgroup.com (our permanent hosting partner).

We’re not done yet. Email services (Google Mail for Domains), a professional web redesign (to be applied over the WordPress backend), and an online child sponsorship system are next in the pipe, all of which will be built on the solid foundation provided by Eugene, AJ, Nandeyanen, Blake, Malcolm, Pat and all the others who volunteered their time to make this happen. Whether they meant to or not, their efforts have created a legacy that will outlive them. Because for the desperate children that find sponsors as a result of this work, it’s about more than a web site.

Although all the attention wigs me out personally, it turns out that Sunday’s (front page) Baltimore Sun article is creating quite a bit of buzz about us, and that’s not a bad thing. Here is the first link (to the online article), and a second link to Christopher’s blog about the photo session. Click the images for the full-size version.

I’m proud to announce the release of No Tech Hacking from Syngress Publishing! I’m even more happy to announce that 100% of the proceeds will be going to charity. In fact, each purchase through this Amazon link will feed an African child for one month!

What’s the story with the proceeds?
It’s simple, really. My proceeds from this book are going to AOET (aoet.org), an organization that provides food, education and medical care to children left in the wake of Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. More than an aid organization, AOET aims to disrupt the cycle of poverty and hopelessness in sub-Saharan Africa through empowerment programs and job training, enabling children and adults to be self-sustaining, restoring not only their health but their pride and hope for a brighter future. A single book purchase made through my Amazon associates account (linked from any of my websites, or though http://tiniuri.com/f/Xpc) will generate enough income for AOET to feed a child for an entire month. Other retail purchases (which generate half as much income) will provide either medical services or educational supplies and funding for a single child through a donation pool set aside for those purposes. Why bother? Because I am called to “look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27), and I know from personal experience how mutually transformative it can be to take that calling seriously. Hamlet was onto something when he wondered, “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.”

Shmoocon is coming, and we’ll be well represented. I will be speaking on the closing plenary panel (tentatively titled “hackers for good”), we will be a recipient of proceeds from the T-Shirt sale (along with the EFF and OLPC), and we’ll have a drop-off for our “Swag for Charity” campaign right next to the registration desk. So if you, or someone you know is attending Shmoocon, load them up with swag (especially pens, pencils and bags) so we can get them to kids tha need them. Thanks forall your support!

Here’s the announcement for the T-Shirt sale:

You’ve got your share of con shirts, but how many of your con shirts have made a difference in the world? The Shmoocon T-shirt drive lets you do just that. Pay your money, get your shirt and toss a chip to the charity of your choice. On Sunday we convert the chips back into Hamiltons, and three great causes find out we’ve got their back. This year we’re supporting One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the EFF, and Hackers For Charity. OLPC aims to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves through the use of low-cost (”$100″) laptops. EFF (http://eff.org) is the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world. Hackers For Charity (http://ihackcharities.org) provides hackers with job experience while leveraging their skills for charities that need those skills.

So whether or not you care about being all altruistic, stop by and grab a cool shirt. Your kind nature can be our little secret.

AOET has had a lousy site for quite a while. The original site was nice enough, but it hasn’t been maintained, and now the mail server’s getting flaky, and oh, by the way, other than the blog (that we installed!) they’ve had no way to update the site.

This is an interesting request. It’s not technically difficult, but it requires basic WordPress experience (not too hard, really) and a tad of HTML. This is going to be like data entry, or cutting and pasting, combined with a little bit of reorganization.

We’re migrating them to WordPress. Why WordPress? It’s simple to maintain, easy to use and configurable enough that they can take over complete administration with little trouble.

Right now, the main AOET site (http://aoet.org) forwards to http://aoet.org/blog, which is our simple blog. The original site, available from various links, can be seen at http://aoet.org/icomission.php. All of AOET’s info is sitting here, and I’ve started to create a WordPress site to replace it, and have even put together a site that shows a suggested organization here: <link kept private>. This site, hosted on my server temporarily, is what their new site might look like. It includes an active front-page blog, and all the info from the old site, all in one place. This would be the starting place for your work, and you could build upon that.

This work is a critical last step in getting them away from their quickly deteriorating web site and getting them onto a stable platform that will help them spread their message.

If you are interested in helping out, please email me directly at johnny@ihackcharities.org.

It’s taken a ton of planning and much more logistics than I counted on, but our first shipment of “swag for charity” is headed to AOET in Uganda, Africa to help AIDS orphans under their care. This is quite a cool story, and many players were involved in making this happen.

Before I get into details, let me first say that this shipment would not have been possible without the help of Matt Wagenknecht, who provided us with deeply discounted shipping through FedEX. Without his help, this package would not have been sent and we would have been without a shipping mechanism meaning NO packages would be sent! Thanks Matt! Also, Dalien Talbot (http://daltonic.blogspot.com) and his supporters from SecondLife make a $L22,000 (Linden Dollar) donation, which will be used to offset the shipping charges. Thanks, guys!

	First, there’s the USB drives from CelleBrite. These kind folks were kind enough to donate nearly 50 (!) of these drives (all 64MB) to our cause in order to replace the floppy drives being used in the offices, the clinic and (later) the school lab. These will be so much nicer and infinitely more durable than the floppies that are in use now.
	Next, there’s 500 (of the 1,000) pencils donated by Jim Kelly. Each of these round wooden pencils sports the URL www.AOET.org. What a great, practical donation for the kids!
	Then we have two older Kodak digital cameras which were donated by Jethro Taylor as part of a large donation that included several laptops (covered in this post). These are perfect cameras for Uganda because they take great pictures, they use standard AA batteries, they are very durable, and they don’t look too expensive (which makes them less of a target for theft). The only problem was that I didn’t have cards or cables for them. So instead of buying cards and cables, I put out an APB to the volunteer list, and several people (Brian Smith-Sweeney, Tom Stripling and Eugene Kogan) stepped up and donated Compact Flash Cards and/or USB Multicard readers to go along with the cameras. What a great team effort!
	Brian Bourne over at Sector.ca donated twenty of these awesome cooler bags to our cause, and two of them made it into this shipment. These are really high-quality bags, and although they’re perfect for a six-pack of bottles, they’ll serve all sorts of more practical purposes in Uganda. They can be used for food, medicine, all sorts of things. What a cool donation!

Along with all this, we also sent 50 pens (38 standard and 12 premium), five zippered totes, three SD card readers, two aluminum flashlights (and no partridges in a pear tree) all donated through the Swag For Charity campaign.

I’m so excited about this shipment not only because it’s our first, but because it was a real team effort that paves the way for doing more good. This is a small, tangible example of what our community can do when we give of our time and effort. Together, we are helping children a world away lead better more empowered lives! Thanks to everyone for your continued support!