Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

notesbylex.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 291 posts

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#241

Post by Muromec »

rcxdude wrote: post #199
petertodd wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've done some military charity work in Ukraine, getting donations from people in my community and ensuring that money gets turned into vehicles and equipment reaching soldiers that I personally know in Eastern Ukraine. Just a small "hobby" really, not on a big scale; I'm certainly not a charity professional. On multiple occasions I've shipped things with the Nova Poshta service to units very close to the front line.…

Ukraine has put a lot of effort into combating corruption, ans a war going on does tend to focus things. But it is generally true that a situation where 'by the book' doesn't work is corrosive and should generally result in some effort to bring the book and reality back into sync (Generally I think the book should be what's changed, but if bring reality into the light by putting it into the book reveals something una…

Nova Poshta is a logistical provider for the gray economy, not exactly an example of doing things by the book. They grew big on internal market in a niche where you aren't exposed to much of the bribing (no customs clearance) and expanded to international shipping when they already had a reputation.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#242

Post by kuerbel »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #226
kuerbel wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Local sellers absolutely get shafted by cheap subsidised stuff from China. It creates a fairer environment. It also discourages ultra-cheap overconsumption, reduces counterfeit and unsafe products entering the market. You might not like it but there are good reasons for it. I'm not saying it's perfect, it's not how I would have done it if I was a benevolent dictator, but there are good reasons for it.

But we don't make phone cases in EU. Neither most of the stuff actually sold by aliexpress. Our local "phone case stands" in shopping centers sell the same cheap made-in-china stuff as on aliexpress but they want 15-20euros for the same cheap case that is 1eur on aliexpress (+10-15 for the screen protector, etc). I mean sure, they have to pay rent for the space and they have to pay the worker, but they're just a midd…

We absolutely make phone cases in the EU, I looked up where I bought mine and it was a Slovenian company even: mmore.net - there are others. Can we make them for 1 euro? No, but, for example, less than 20 euros for a biodegradable phone case made in EU is an okay price with which I can support someone with a good idea and a "local", at least European business.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#243

Post by tim333 »

liotier wrote: post #174
petertodd wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've done some military charity work in Ukraine, getting donations from people in my community and ensuring that money gets turned into vehicles and equipment reaching soldiers that I personally know in Eastern Ukraine. Just a small "hobby" really, not on a big scale; I'm certainly not a charity professional. On multiple occasions I've shipped things with the Nova Poshta service to units very close to the front line.…

Technology isn't the problem - African developers produce apps just fine. It isn't even local logistics - addresses are being deployed in major cities, and alternative processes work fine elsewhere. The problem is rule of law, or lack thereof. Rule of law is critical infrastructure. Also, South Africa isn't sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa is in Africa and south of the Sahara and usually qualifies.

Culturally it's a mix. There are a bunch of people from black African areas who are culturally African and then a bunch originating from Holland and England who are culturally European. It's changed a bit as to which lot run different things.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#244

Post by doxeddaily »

liotier wrote: post #150

This is not how it works. My partner is Ugandan, we live in France - I'm used to ship to various countries in Africa. Never use the "regular" post - it is just as OP described. Don't use high-end couriers (DHL, Fedex etc.) either - very expensive for scant value added. Do what every local does: use one of the innumerable grey market freight forwarders. One way or the other (for a typical "line haul" example, they ent…

This all sounds like really good reasons not to have anything to do with the place.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#245

Post by nekzn »

doxeddaily wrote: post #244
liotier wrote: post #150

This is not how it works. My partner is Ugandan, we live in France - I'm used to ship to various countries in Africa. Never use the "regular" post - it is just as OP described. Don't use high-end couriers (DHL, Fedex etc.) either - very expensive for scant value added. Do what every local does: use one of the innumerable grey market freight forwarders. One way or the other (for a typical "line haul" example, they ent…

This all sounds like really good reasons not to have anything to do with the place.

The best part is how, as per the comment, they are bringing this to the first world.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#246

Post by jeromegv »

harvey9 wrote: post #200
gizajob wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No idea who wrote this, especially now that Royal Mail has been privatised. A while ago I sent a book in the post to Finland from Britain. The book got stuck for 4 weeks in LOS ANGELES. Then I had to watch as the tracking bounced it around between depots on the west coast of America. Then somehow it got flown to Finland where it got stuck again due to post-Brexit customs issues. International shipping, even to countr…

The fact Royal Mail is privatised seems irrelevant since whoever you shipped with in Finland decides how it will get to the UK. I order things like band merch from Europe and have never had a problem receiving in the UK.

> since whoever you shipped with in

They used Royal Mail for shipping, on the way out Royal Mail are the ones handing it to the next country. In that case it seems to be a Royal Mail fuckup. It didn't touch the Finland carrier until it reached Finland.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#247

Post by anthk »

noduerme wrote: post #183
anthk wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, Northern Spaniards as me would have a longass trip to Andorra to get tax-free devices. And some people in the Castilles/Galicia did the same... in Portugal.

I've never been to Andorra but it seems very strange, like a few streets shopping mall / free trade zone?? I've heard from Spaniards about going there and they said it's not a good place to go on vacation lol

It was a place to get cheap electronics, tobaco and alcohol because of being a tax haven. OFC it was forbidden to get an amount of goods over an X quantity because you could have been fined as a smuggler.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#248

Post by brador »

Aachen wrote: post #224
brador wrote: post #138

What is appropriate compensation for someone handling a bar of gold? Some could argue corruption is an attempt to equalise on that.

Might as well ask how to equalise the cost of letting someone live instead of taking their possessions The price should be whatever it costs you when including all cost factors¹. A competitive market is an attempt at a system (no central control) to approach that lower bound value. It's really hard to incorporate the million dependencies in a true cost price, so people are instead free to set a price and consumers ar…

Crime is a fundamental part of the free market. Costs for it are currently passed to the collective instead of the individual.

Corruption (tolling, rent seeking, bribery) is part of the free market.

If the sender doesn't like the risk profile of the route to market they should pay a premium and route around it at certain cost or get insurance, else pay up if it is the financially optimal path.

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#249

Post by Muromec »

owebmaster wrote: post #212
imtringued wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>after having their country looted for centuries (ongoing). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orania >The town was founded with the goal of creating a white ethnostate for the Afrikaner minority group, the Afrikaans language and the Afrikaner culture through the creation of an Afrikaner state known as a Volkstaat. >All jobs, from management to manual labour, are done by Afrikaners; non-Afrikaner people are not allowed to…

What your opinion about the reverse colonization - immigration?

My opinion is that whoever uses this term is a fash

Re: Shipping a laptop to a refugee camp in Uganda

#250

Post by virgil_disgr4ce »

user_7832 wrote: post #130
madradavid wrote: post #126

I am Ugandan. I've shipped electronics and Laptops for Work quite a bit, and OP is right, the system is broken, it stays this way because a lot of corrupt individuals benefit from this mess. However, OP showed a degree of Hubris here, a mistake lots of us make when dealing with foreign countries, just because it works this way here, so it should work that way in XYZ. OP would have saved themselves lots of time and mo…

For better or worse, "person from 1st world country does what they think helps, based on their worldview - but never asks 3rd world recipient" is unfortunately a very common troupe. (I'm from a 3rd world country and have seen it over and over again.)

From another comment, the author did ask the recipient, who also did not know the best way to ship the laptop
Post reply on HN