Liberian Refugee

by disciple

Posted: 13 years ago 9 replies

OFF TOPIC

Hi,

I have recently become "friends" with young man in a refugee camp in Ghana. He is Liberian and has lived in the Ghana camp for most of his life. He is 20 years old and his brother is 13 and he is raising him by himself as his parents are dead.

We became friends after he "friended" me on Facebook and in my local Meetup group. I know what you're thinking, Nigerian Scam, however, I don't believe this is the case.

I have been in contact with him for a few weeks now and he wants to learn how to start an internet business and become self sufficient. Currently the only way he makes money is by sweeping peoples yards, doing dishes, washing clothes, etc. Even in Ghana the competition is stiff and spread out among many in similar circumstances.

I have decided to help him. I have purchased the domain and set up a blog. I am gathering the initial content and will post it in the next few days. I will host the the site, do the keyword research, and drive the traffic to begin with and then have him start posting to document his life as a refugee.

I will teach him how to administer his WordPress blog and then how to monetize it. He can't use PayPal in Ghana so I will be creating a separate PayPal account for him and sending money via Western Union or whatever vehicle will be safest for him to receive the money.

Right now the only internet access he has is via a local internet cafe. He does not have a computer either so this little experiment will have it's challenges, however, I believe that I can help him and am willing to put in a little time and effort.

I am hoping that someone on this site might have an old digital camera and/or digital video camera that they might be able to donate to him. The blog and his story will be much more "real" and being able to put words into pictures will help him immensely as we drive traffic to the blog and begin to monetize it.

I would also be happy to hear any suggestions that you might have that could be used to help.

Thanks,

Rick

Martin2010 13 years ago

Man you are either very very kind or very very gulible.

I really hope it's the first

There are plenty of these sob stories about and i always dismiss them unless you have some solid proof that they are realy telling the truth.

I hope your not being taken for a ride.
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Alexa Smith Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by disciple

I will be creating a separate PayPal account for him and sending money via Western Union

I'd advise you to be extremely careful regarding PayPal's terms of service, and to check with them very carefully, and in writing, about exactly what you're proposing to do. They have the reputation for being entirely unforgiving - for life - about anything involving any possible suggestion that anyone has tried to fool them about the identity or location of an account's true beneficiary. Don't just "assume that what you're doing is ok because it doesn't expressly say that it isn't and you plan for it never to be discovered anyway": that could easily be a huge mistake, as it has been so often in the past for others under similar circumstances.

(Then there's also the consideration that possibly your laudable desire to help your new friend in this exact way may actually make him more, rather than less, dependent on others?).

The words "I will be creating a separate PayPal account for him" fill me with vicarious worry, to be honest. Call me a skepchick, but it does seem highly unlikely that this is a story that can have a happy ending.
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Martin2010 13 years ago

Alexa you are spot on and i've read so many articles of people who have been in exactly the same situation and it's always ended in tears.

I really do hope this isn't the case here but let's just wait eh?
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- pickthat apple 13 years ago
  
  Hi disciple, if you have the resources, the time and the patience to pursue your project to help this young man I think you are doing an admirable thing, in showing him "the ropes" and give him confidence.
  Just make sure that you don't give away anything in exchange for something from him.
  Regarding the camera, if he fishes in one of the landfills where they take in unused and broken goods from more developed Countries he may be able to find something.
  
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Paul Myers 13 years ago

Have him send you an email, via Yahoo or Hotmail (NOT Gmail) and check the IP's location.

Even if it is in Liberia, that doesn't mean it's not a scam, but if it's somewhere else...

By the way, how does someone who's barely feeding himself in a refugee camp afford Internet cafe access?

Paul
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- disciple 13 years ago
  
  @Paul, He has a Yahoo account an I have verified IP. The camp itself is like a mini city and as I said he supports himself by doing odd jobs.
  
  @Alexa, thank you for your thoughts, I will check PayPal carefully and perhaps need to look at another option. I hope you are wrong in how the story will end but in today's world we are all skeptical and that is a part of the reason that we don't do enough for others.
  
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  Paul Myers 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by disciple
  
  @Paul, He has a Yahoo account an I have verified IP.
  
  Locate IP Address Lookup Show on Map City
  
  Make sure you've got the originating IP and drop it in there. Being in Liberia won't prove it's legit, of course. I'd still be very, very careful. And there's no way I'd open a Paypal account for his purposes. That probably falls under the money laundering statutes. Not an area I'd cheerfully venture into...
  
  If you must do something like this, set up the business as yours, complete with company name, tax ID, and accounts, and pay him a high percentage of the revenues for work he's done as an independent contractor.
  
  Paul
  
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  Kay King 13 years ago
  
  I would follow Paul's advice. It's admirable to want to help someone and there are many bright people who need the help.
  
  But when it comes to money and paypal - don't go there. Don't take any action that could harm you financially if the venture doesn't work out.
  
  kay
  
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disciple 13 years ago

Thanks everyone, I will definitely be careful concerning the money piece.
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