By Gayane Azizyan
Published: April 11, 2016
“The interesting thing for me with TeachSurfing was having this opportunity to connect with locals, and have a context in which I was teaching and I was learning. I didn’t actually feel like a teacher, but more like a presenter, and there was learning on both sides.” – Jeffrey Andreoni, freelance writer living in Greece
“The attendees – myself included – were very impressed with the amazing things going on in our planet.” – Kibrom Tadesse, TeachSurfing host in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Jeffrey Andreoni is a freelance writer, researcher, and activist. Originally from the U.S., he has spent over 17 years living in and travelling across Europe and is now living in Greece. Jeff is known on the internet by his nickname “Bezdomny,” which is both a reference to Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” and a subtle tribute to the nomadic lifestyle of a frequent traveller (“Bezdomny” means “homeless” in Russian.)
Jeff writes articles for Shareable.net while also co-authoring a book on collaborative economy and conducting research on DIY wireless networking for the MAZI project. Jeff is also very active in the Options FoodLab, which is a training center, co-working space, and kitchen with a focus on food-related workshops aimed towards refugees living in Greece. The FoodLab is a community of people with different backgrounds – a hybrid nomadic homeland where people teach and learn from each other. The topic of food covers many aspects – political, historical, economical – and cooking together is a great way to bring people closer together and to experience community growth.
Jeff first came across TeachSurfing while writing an article on alternate ways to travel. Shortly afterwards, Jeff travelled to Ethiopia with an acquaintance from FoodLab who was visiting her family there. This presented a great opportunity to try out TeachSurfing. Given the limited timeframe, Jeff used the TeachSurfing platform to get in touch with Kibrom Tadesse – the hub manager for xHub Addis, which is a tech innovation hub located in Addis Ababa. After a brief initial meeting, they discussed possible topics and organized a brief TeachSurfing session. xHub is an open collaborative space used mostly by tech-minded young people, so Jeff put together some content on the latest technological trends by reaching out to the OuiShare community, of which he is a Connector.
Jeff’s presentation lasted around three hours in total and covered hot topics such as 3d printing, Open Source Ecology, biohacking, and other cutting-edge advances in technology. The session was attended by eight young people, who were very impressed with and curious about the presented topics and active in asking questions. In the context of the sensitive topic of internet censorship, Jeff mentioned technologies such the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) software, which can run on a small computer such as a Raspberry Pi and detect censorship and traffic manipulation, as well as PGP data encryption and the Hyperboria community of privacy-friendly networks. It was rewarding to touch upon such subjects, particularly because many locals are unaware that other countries are also facing similar issues.
Several of the attendees kept in touch with Jeff after the TeachSurfing session to ask more about blockchain technology, bitcoins, and similar topics, and Jeff was happy to offer further guidance by putting them in touch with experts in Europe. Kibrom in turn shared Jeff’s presentation among the xHub network.
Even though Jeff’s TeachSurfing session was a short one, it opened up a window into the everyday life of young Ethiopians. They share similar interests and work on the same kinds of projects as young people in Europe, but they face very different challenges. When the opportunity arises, Jeff would like to explore TeachSurfing options in Asia – for example, teaching kids topics in IT or film editing.