Straight up, I’m not a soft touch for humanitarian appeals. But listening to Amrit’s podcast with Johnny Long, founder of Hackers for Charity struck a very sympathetic chord with me.
What caught my attention was Johnny’s eyewitness description of the impact his work was having on the lives of people who have found themselves on the wrong end of life’s lottery. Let me cite a couple of examples Johnny mentioned. Setting up a wireless network inside an office in Uganda has enabled a charitable organization to double the number of child sponsorships it can process and manage. Similarly, creating a secure website for the organization has given them an Internet storefront from which they can receive donations from anywhere in the world.
Something else riveted my attention. Johnny describes how he walked away from conventional success and renown in corporate IT to redirect his talents for the benefit of the less fortunate. I admire this intensely despite or because I realize that I do not have it in me to do anything remotely similar. Johnny is a hero, and heroes distinguish themselves by doing things the majority of humans cannot.
