Ruby Without Borders

Matthew Todd

Matthew Todd

1 talk

Ruby Without Borders

by Matthew Todd

In the video "Ruby Without Borders," presented by Matthew Todd at the LoneStarRuby Conf 2008, the speaker shares his journey of relocating from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Moshi, Tanzania, and the unique intersection of technology and social impact he has found there.

Key points discussed in the video include:

- Relocation to Tanzania: Matthew moved to Moshi, Tanzania, where he navigates cultural adjustments and his work. His wife Valerie runs a home for street children, which is one of Matthew's main avenues for contributing positively to the community.

- Collaborative Programming: He emphasizes the importance of connecting with local programmers and collaborating on small applications and tech-related tasks that can provide support to local organizations.

- Work with Local Organizations: Matthew describes his collaboration with various organizations, including a home for street children and a support group for porters who assist climbers on Mount Kilimanjaro. He also mentions working with local hospitals.

- Teaching and Learning Opportunities: A significant aspect of his work involves teaching local programmers coding practices such as 'fat models and skinny controllers,' illustrating a successful knowledge exchange.

- Professional Isolation and Community Engagement: He expresses feelings of professional isolation, mentioning that local cultural differences, such as a lack of appreciation for XML jokes, affect his experience. Mathew invites others to visit Tanzania and contribute their programming skills, enhancing the capacities of both local and visiting programmers.

- Appeal for Volunteers: Matthew encourages skilled individuals to join him in Moshi for a couple of weeks to work collaboratively, highlighting the need for meaningful contributions rather than traditional volunteer work like manual labor.

In conclusion, Matthew Todd's presentation underscores the potential for international collaboration in programming to create positive change. His call for volunteers emphasizes that skilled help is needed more than ever in development work. By pairing local programmers with well-experienced visitors, they can maximize their productivity and educational opportunities, ultimately fostering growth in the Tanzanian tech community.

00:00:06.240 Video equipment rental costs are paid for by Peep Code Screencasts.

00:00:19.500 My name is Matthew Todd, and here is my contact information and URLs. I have a unique idea to share with you, which is still a work in progress, which is why I’m creating my slides in TextMate.

00:00:27.180 As of November 2006, I moved from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Moshi, Tanzania. It's a tiny town at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. It's a wonderful story, and it involves a girl—my wife Valerie and I were married around that time, in November.

00:01:06.380 One of the great things about TextMate is that you can create executable slides. If this works correctly, it will take us into Google Earth. If you're prone to vertigo, please close your eyes right now as we zoom around the globe. Here is Africa, specifically Tanzania. Dar es Salaam used to be the capital; however, it was moved to Dodoma to be more centrally located, but no one lives there as it's a desert. This small island you see is Zanzibar, the birthplace of Freddie Mercury. Nearby, by Lake Victoria, is the Serengeti, famous for its Safari experiences where you can see the big animals.

00:01:40.040 On the map, that white spot at the border is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. There is an inconvenient truth about Kilimanjaro: the glaciers are melting, which is concerning. Right here is Moshi, which is where we live. It's taken some getting used to, as it's about 8,000 miles from where we are now.

00:02:12.599 Living in Tanzania has led to some interesting experiences, especially as I try to maintain a semblance of a career. I've found this delightful intersection: connecting with local groups doing good work that need computer help. They often require small applications. I've met one or two Tanzanian programmers who are still finding their footing and learning, and it’s a great opportunity for us to pair and work together. We’ve coached them not just in programming, but also in various tech-related tasks.

00:02:50.459 Some organizations we've collaborated with include a home for street children that my wife runs, and another organization provides support for porters who help climbers summit Kilimanjaro. We also work with the local hospital.

00:03:05.700 For fun, I've been pairing with this one programmer for about six months, and we had an amazing moment a couple of months ago at the whiteboard. Joakim, who typically doesn't say much, mentioned to me that my approach seemed similar to a blog post he had read. He brought up the concept of 'fat models and skinny controllers.' Moments like that make me feel like progress is being made.

00:03:42.300 That said, I feel somewhat limited in my own scaling abilities compared to a framework like Rails. Additionally, I've been feeling a bit professionally isolated there—in part because my wife doesn’t exactly find XML jokes funny. But it's a fun place. Perhaps some of you are in a position to take a few weeks off—maybe between gigs—to come and visit, climb the mountain, and pair with us on some projects. You’d be doubling my teaching capacity by collaborating with me, and it could help increase our productivity as well.

00:05:18.240 Moshi offers plenty of opportunities, including various board games if you're a fan of Settlers of Catan, and beer sold in 500 milliliter bottles for about 80 cents. If you’re interested, we aim for small teams. Probably around four people working together would be achievable. If that sounds appealing, you should plan to program with us for a couple of weeks. Thank you for considering this. Often, volunteers come to places like this and offer to dig ditches or paint, which is helpful, but what we need are people with skills that can contribute meaningfully. We likely possess higher skill levels than most local programmers, and we could use that expertise.

00:07:07.860 If you’re interested in getting involved, feel free to reach out to me. If you're even marginally interested, you can subscribe to my blog where I might post updates on this. All of this information is also available on my GitHub. Thank you!

LoneStarRuby Conf 2008