Shipping a Laptop to a Refugee Camp in Uganda

(notesbylex.com)

58 points | by lexandstuff 1 hour ago

5 comments

  • nxobject 48 minutes ago
    So many characters worthy of an epic story. The last one would be the Good Samaritan, or some sort of elderly sage...

    > Before leaving, I asked him whether he even knew what was inside the package. He answered very casually that he had no idea and that he did not need to know.

    > I then asked whether he at least knew which company had entrusted him with the delivery. He replied that it was simply "a friend" who had asked him to temporarily keep the box until someone came to collect it.

    > I switched it on briefly, and that was actually the moment when the hardware shop owner himself suddenly became excited[...] Seeing the Apple logo appear on the screen, he immediately smiled and said something along the lines of, "Ah… a MacBook is a MacBook. Apple is still Apple."

    • benatkin 20 minutes ago
      The goodness of the people in the chain make me think that the rider would have had a much greater than 50% chance of following through properly. But it's good that Django decided to further increase the odds by taking matters into his own hands.
  • prepend 19 minutes ago
    The most amazing thing about my travels in Africa, specifically Uganda, is that things I would never expect to work, work. The people are so innovative and resourceful that I think things that would be scams (handing a laptop to a stranger to hold) are pretty common and work.

    Also makes me grateful to live in a developed nation where we can take shipping for granted.

  • robocat 1 hour ago
    I admire people that just get shit done: especially in an environment of misdirection.

    There's a lot of luck and bad luck in the story.

    • dullcrisp 21 minutes ago
      I’m glad it basically worked out but damn do we take free next-day delivery for granted.
  • sulam 6 minutes ago
    Django has strong honey badger energy!
  • 217 42 minutes ago
    reading this article while listening to billie eilish made me feel something i've never felt before, what a blogpost