The Beneficiaries

Besides helping to eliminate the digital divide and thanks to its distributed nature, Labdoo can also help remove other types of social barriers. One example is the barriers and stereotypes that may exist between beneficiaries and the benefactors. In traditional aid systems, usually the rich helps the poor, the north helps the south, the adults help the youngest ones. In the Labdoo network, however, everyone can benefit from the project and everyone can make a contribution. The project aims at covering needs and mobilizing excess resources wherever they may be, regardless of their location and their size. For instance, in the Labdoo network, aid can originate from the developing world and be received by the developed world. Also, not only adults can participate with the tasks of sanitizing a laptop, but also young students. Real examples found in the Labdoo network illustrating this concept are a Labdoo hub created in Mexico City sanitizing laptops and a School in Silicon Valley receiving laptops for students coming from low income families.

In the Labdoo network there are no benefactors; instead, everyone is a beneficiary. Those who receive the technology benefit from it by having a better access to education while those that dedicate a moment of their time to bring technology to the needy ones benefit from the experience of participating in a global project, learning about the social and environmental issues the world faces, making new friends, and the joy of seeing a happy face at the end of their mini-mission.