BY HAMISH MCNICOL
Last updated 12/03/2013
Last updated 05:00 12/03/2013
CONTRIBUTING DIRECTLY: Some the Wellington group off to
Cambodia to be part of the Good for Nothing challenge. Front, Stefan
Korn, and from left, Shadoe Stone, Danielle Wills, Charlotte Lewis and
Sarah Beaumont.
A "good for nothing" group of local entrepreneurs is headed to
Cambodia next month to exchange ideas and boost resources for needy
charitable organisations.
The team of 14, predominantly from Wellington, will head to Phnom
Penh in April to assist non-government organisations with five
technology projects.
Working to the mantra of British-based organisation Good for
Nothing, the help given during the six-day intensive schedule will be
provided for nothing.
Stefan Korn, one of the trip organisers, said the idea was born following a start-up weekend in Cambodia last year.
"We started with this idea of an exchange of local entrepreneurs to the developing world.
"A lot of us entrepreneurs feel quite strongly about contributing
directly, and so we came up with this concept where we said, well, can
we come up with this format that distributes it directly to the NGO."
Group member Josh Vial suggested they approach the British
organisation Good for Nothing to set up a Wellington-based chapter.
Good for Nothing organises events and challenges for people to collaborate towards achieving various goals.
Projects include redesigning a website for Child Helpline Cambodia,
as well as building education software to help combat a massive domestic
teacher shortage. Cambodia is a least-developed country according to
the United Nations, with more than 30 per cent of the population living
in abject poverty.
Korn said the organisers asked each of the travelling party for five
skills they could bring, which would then be matched to the needs of
the NGOs.
The most difficult part of the process had been been deciding which
NGOs to work with, as well as what work could be completed in just a
week.
"You have to be quite careful about who you work with, unless we
know their policies and have an in-depth insight into what they're
doing. We don't have that with some of the NGOs that approached us, so
it is risky for us to say we will help them without knowing what they
actually do."
Korn said the event was far from being a "geekfest", but would run similar to a start-up weekend.
"Each group will work individually, help each other (as) needs be,
and at the end we will have a big presentation of what we achieved."
Although most of the travelling party had expertise in information
technology, Korn said being joined by a social worker and community
manager would help provide a good mix.
The transferability of IT skills meant any success would provide a
good barometer for the format's potential overall, which may be rolled
out to other regions.
"What we need to look at is how achievable is completing a project in a week and then how sustainable is the whole thing."
Korn was confident they would complete the specific challenges
within the week, but was less sure if the answer they provided would be
exactly what the Cambodian NGOs sought. "If we didn't think we had any
chance of doing anything we wouldn't be doing it."
Anyone interested in learning more about the not-for-profit Good for Nothing challenge can visit gfnchallenge.org.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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