Investing in poor communities through remote work
Thoughts on how remote work can be used to reduce poverty in poor communities
Walking along the streets here in Recife, people keep asking for food to take home. They aren’t even begging for money, just food. The guy living in the hostel I am staying at was telling me about the economic situation here. So I decided to look up some numbers. 40% of the people in Recife live in poverty. Going out to the state level, 44% of Pernambuco are in poverty and 18.7% live in extreme poverty. I cannot even put into words all the emotions this brings up.
How remote work can help
The best way to improve this situation is through job skills and entrepreneurship. I have seen several organizations teaching people how to sell the products they produce. Which is great for people to learn to use their skills. In the remote villages where there aren’t many jobs and even in the cities where so many live in poverty, there isn’t enough people with money to by these products.
By finding ways for people to work remote we can bring money into these poor communities. This isn’t a simple project, but instead I am leading a lifestyle of helping bring remote work through technology literacy. Giving people guidance and training on things they can do using their smartphones. Providing an example to people of what remote work can be, as well as working through some of the logistical issues myself. That is why am a digital nomad traveling and spending time in the poor communities.
Living the Mission
What I see constantly described in the Bible is to care for the poor and needy. That is an entire blog post I am working on, so more on that to come. For me, I know what it is like struggling to make ends meet. I also saw first hand how someone who was basically bed-ridden could develop an online community and build a business. Through that community my wife was helping to support the working poor. The business gave my wife a way to make money to put toward her work, and it gave her something to keep her mind off of the struggle of living with chronic illness. Giving people an opportunity. That is why I am here in Brazil.