Your tech cast-offs could benefit new project in Tanzania

This is the time of year when most of us start grasping around for tax-break ideas, such as capital investments or donations to non-profit organizations. Plus, it's almost Thanksgiving here in the United States, when it is even more insanely cool than ever to think about other people. In that vein, I just wanted to share that I have heard about a new organization called Smallbean, which is seeking used and new technologies for a program called Citizen Archivist Project, or CAP.

The CAP initiative is centered on three public schools in Karatu, Tanzania, and it is focused on collecting and distributing electronics and technologies that could be used for both the learning process and for a community history project. The latter is seen as a way of helping share information about the Tanzania culture and build empathy for emerging nations in other parts of the developed and developing world.

The sorts of technologies that the organization seeks to collect include computers, digital cameras, audio recorders and solar charging suitcases. Smalbean also plans to work on the creation of solar-powered computer centers in the areas it has targeted. But it's early days, so no progress to report at this time.

Check them out, regardless.