Hi Hidden Techers, Do you know of anyone who would consider donating laptops to two colleagues in Africa? One is in Dakar, Senegal and one is in Bukavu, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Samba in Dakar works as an expert djembe drummaker and small businessperson and he needs to talk regularly to colleagues and businesspeople, both here in the US and in Africa. He uses Skype regularly and could really use a laptop for better viewing and capabilities, instead of his cell phone he is using now. Vianney in Bukavu graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Law, and is looking for work, and needs a laptop for internet access and Skype as well as word processing capabilities. He is also currently using a cellphone. In both cases electricity and internet connections are available intermittently, and both need to use the internet access strategically. If they had laptops, not only could they go online, but they could use a Word program to create documents offline, ready to transmit when online. These men don't need or expect laptops with any special bells and whistles. They will be grateful to get what they can. They need working laptops with power cords (not sure if same voltage as here), that have operating systems that will be compatible with internet browsers for at least a year (I would say). Cosmetic challenges are fine, as long as laptops function fine. Apple or PC is fine. PLEASE NOTE: I have just heard that the colleague who would be transporting the laptop to Samba is flying out on Tuesday, so I should get the laptop to him by Monday at the latest. If you would like to consider donating a laptop to either man, I can personally vouch for their need and the gratitude with which they would receive them. Thanks for any leads you have, and if you have questions or input, feel free to contact me. I could also provide email addresses for both men as well as Facebook account info. (But again, there could be delays in response due to internet connectivity; in Samba's case, the heavy annual rain is just now receding and is the main cause of the power outages.) Thanks, Deb