blog « Hackers For Charity

We fed about 75 people last night thanks to donations from folks JUST LIKE YOU! Thank you!

First we have the makeshift tent Calvary set up for some of the families. This serves as a temporary basecamp as we hand out the “meal ticket” bracelets.

The pile of belongings in this one photo represents all of the belongings of two large families.

Also shown are several of the volunteers and of course the food which was poshu (made of corn flour), sweet potatoes and beans with tomato onion and seasoning.

Thanks to everyone who has donated already. We have a small number of donors making rather large donations. So don’t be afraid to make a small donation. We have a lot more to do and we aren’t out of the woods yet.

Here’s a local news article about the fire. The proper name of the village is “Loco village” but most people refer to the place as “Works” because the property is owned by the Ministry of Works.

There a bit of a backstory about this land. It seems the residents were served an eviction notice to clear out by December 24th of last year. The eviction was extended (until April 1st).

The fire occurred on February 17. After the fire, it turned out that the eviction was falsified. There are two clubs (restaurants / drinking establishments) in close proximity to Loco. The owner of one of the clubs works for the Ministry of Works and he forged the eviction documents to reduce competition against his club.

The is no evidence that the fire was related to this underhanded behavior and the Ministry worker has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

For those that missed the links to the fire videos, you can catch them here and here. We’re doing our best to try to help the 26 households that lost everything in these terrible fires.

Thanks to a few folks who donated yesterday, we were able to help out by feeding approximately 60 people last night. Many of those affected by the fire were not around last night (many are seeking jobs) so only about half of the victims were around. So many of the victims are just in shock.. They seem so far away.. dazed.. and I can’t say I blame them.

I’m going to share some photos so you can see what we did last night. Thank you so much for your support, and if you haven’t already, please DONATE. We’re trying to run the food program through the week so we can get a longer-term plan in place. Jess at Calvary was moving around to some building supply places today and I’ll get an update from him tonight as we pull together another meal for the victims. Thanks also to the Pierce, Peterson and Rich family for their help and support last night!

For those of you that haven’t read about the fire that occurred practically in our own back yard, please check out my Facebook page. I’ll cross post when power and Internet is back (I’m posting from my phone right now).

The comments on Facebook have encouraged us to get involved helping the 26 households and the approximately 130 people displaced by the fire.

So I spent the morning drafting a plan for a relief effort. After a few meetings it seemed best to coordinate with Calvary Chapel, our friends closest to the scene who are already trying to reach out to the community.

Most of the families have lost everything and many haven’t eaten since the fire (Friday night!) so the first order of business is feeding them. So we’re planning on providing a meal a day for the next few days as we coordinate a longer-term plan.

Calvary has large cooking pots and charcoal stoves. I’m hoping HFC will provide the rest to sustain this food program and hopefully make a difference in the longer term.

To get started we will need to buy plates and cups which we can use each time we serve food. 12 dozen will cost approx $75. Cups will cost $20 for ten dozen.

Total: About $95

Each evening’s food portion breaks down to:

Rice: $54 for 30kg
Beans: $23 for 50kg
Onions: $2 for 2kg
Tomato: $5.50 for 5kg
Royko seasoning: $2.50
Cooking oil: $11 for 5L

Total: About $100 for 130 people per day, or only 77¢ per person per meal per day!

Longer term, we are talking to local building material companies to see if we can get discounts on materials for rebuilding homes, then perhaps equipping the homes with basic necessities (soap, pots, plates, washbasins, utensils, etc) for somewhere around $50 per household.

If you’re interested in donating, please include the terms “Jinja fire relief” in the comments field or your donation.

Thanks so much for the support and for jumping in to take care of these folks that have lost everything.

I’d like to take a moment to thank some folks who helped make Shmoocon 2012 a great event for us.

First, I’d like to send a HUGE thank you and shout out to SANS who once again graciously offered to pay for my airfare so I could attend the conference. These guys do this without any expectation of publicity, but I can’t help but publicly thank them every chance I get. Without their support, it’s too expensive for me to come to the conference.

Dragorn contacted metageek who graciously donated two SUPER SWEET Wi-Spy units! Together, this was a $1200 donation! We auctioned one and will auction the other at a future con. These things really are pretty amazing and I encourage anyone who is serious about wireless to check out their products.

Myles Conley was kind enough to donate his personal PwnPlug to the auction.

PwnieExpress donated two PwnPlugs for the auction, but we decided to hold these to prevent people from bargain shopping. We’ll release these plugs at the next couple of cons, so keep an eye out! We love.. PwnieExpress’ products. Be sure to check them out.

The crew at Hak5 donated their brand-spanking new Pineapple Mark IV. This was a limited edition pre-release and did very well in the auction. Hak5 has always been good to us, and if you remember, they donated the first-ever pineapple at Shmoocon 2009. Since the overwhelming response to that auction, Hak5 began selling the pineapples through their retail outlet. We’re proud to have played a small part in the release of this cool device!

Phat32 donated two VERY COOL GPS tracking devices. We put one up at Shmoocon, and the second will release at a future auction.

Wonko donated a cool netbook and a tablet PC. A few folks tried to sneak in a bargain basement bid, but were outdone in the final moments of the auction.

No Starch Press again donated several books from their amazing library. They are frequent supporters and donate oohs at just about every con.

Several folks donated challenge coins from various government agencies. These are always best sellers, and I won’t mention the donors for obvious reasons.

Irongeek donated a handmade, really cool (and really scary) necronomicon kindle cover.

The folks at HackFortress inserted an element in to their challenge where players had to make a donation to HFC. This raised around $120!

GMark stopped by again this year to drop off some of his HAXO(RED) T-Shirts. These seem to be a hit with a lot of attendees and GMark was kind enough to split the proceeds with us!

I’d also like to take a moment to thank a few folks who went above and beyond in their personal donations to HFC.

Eric and Seth at Parts-Express.com sent us a box of gear we needed from their web site at cost. Thanks to eighty of Dual Core fame for making the connection and sharing booth space with us at the con!

Also, my good friends at 304Geeks and long-time volunteer and friend Glenn Eccard took a lot of time pulling together care packages for me to take back to Uganda. The packages contained everything from tools to candy and just about every cool geeky thing in between. It was obvious that they spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into the packages, and I just want to thank each of them for this. It really meant a lot to me.

I’d also like to thank Bruce and Heidi for putting on yet another awesome con. The T-Shirt fund was a huge success, and our placement in the Chillout Room was a pleasant surprise. We had plenty of room to spread out and we were able to have lots of conversations with lots of attendees.

I’d like to thank Glenn, Sam, JP and Rob who once again dedicated an entire weekend (and then some) to manning the booth and planning and executing another great con for us. We couldn’t do it without you guys.

Last, and certainly not least, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to stop by the booth, chat with us, participate in the auction or buy a T-Shirt. Your support is what keeps us going.

Thanks again everyone, and see you.. next year!

One more item for Shmoocon! Handmade iPhone cases! These cases fit iPhone 3, 4 and 4S. Each one is unique, hand stitched with Velcro fasteners and two loops on the back for attaching to belts or straps. Again, quantities will be limited. Come by the booth early!

I’m bringing something new to Shmoocon this year and I think it’s something that will appeal to the grrlz even more than the guys.

These are handmade iPad/iPad 2 cases and laptop cases. The cases are hand stitched and quilted and are lined with fabric to keep your electronics safe and sound. Each case is different and all are made from African fabrics. Some are made with a water resistant core that’s also pretty unique: A Jinja Pure Cane Sugar bag! The cases close with either a button and hoop or with Velcro strips.

Quantities are rather limited so come by the booth early if you want to grab one of these cool cases!

Here’s a preview of the new run of shirts, first available at Shmoocon. We’ll be selling a version of this through the year alongside our custom con shirts. Quantities will be limited. Don’t adjust your sets. They aren’t black! =O

As I plan to hop the flight for Shmoocon, I’m starting to make a list of things we need in Uganda. Some inexpensive creature comforts I’ll be able to get from the CVS around the corner from the con. Other things are either too expensive or too hard to get a hold of. So, as always, we’re looking for some oddball donations. Every little bit helps, so if you have something on the list and you’re either coming to the con or know someone who is, would you consider donating it to us? Thanks in advance!

Motorcycle gear: We’re traveling a lot more by motorcycle because of the ridiculous fuel costs. However, Uganda isn’t the safest place for bikes, so we’re trying to do our best to stay safe. Motorcycle protective wear is very expensive, so we’re looking for some donated gear. We’re looking for: lightweight reinforced bike jacket (M/L), helmets (of all sizes for men, women or teens), gloves, trousers and boots. If you have anything bring it along. If it doesn’t fit, we can exchange it for gear that fits.

Oddball cables and connectors: We’re looking for oddball stuff (some from Radio Shack) including 3.5mm mini-stereo-to-RCA cables, mono or stereo 1/4″ female to 1/4″ female adapters, decent RCA cables, iPhone/iPod/iPad data cables, Mac power supplies and cords, iPhone chargers (the little white bricks).

Tools: Decent RJ45 crimpers, micro tool kits (all those oddball teeny drivers).

Thanks for anything you guys can offer. I really appreciate it.

Thanks to the generosity of SANS, who is again paying for my flight, I’ll be joining the HFC crew at Shmoocon 2012 in Washington DC. We’re less than a week away from the show, so I’ll be posting a few teasers and some updates that have been sitting in my drafts queue for WAY too long. For our first teaser, here’s a mockup of the new Shmoocon shirt. This shirt will only be available at the con (no online sales) so if you want one and can’t make the show, be sure to tap a friend to hook you up.