I went to Gaza in the summer of 2016 and did a mini-AMA here on HN [0]. In short, it was a tremendously rewarding experience and I'd highly recommend it. The Gazans I met were driven, friendly, and very curious about what life in the states was like.<p>Happy to answer any questions not addressed on the site.<p>[0] - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11858963" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11858963</a>
Visited Palestine in 2016 - such humble people and sad to see how they are treated. This is an awesome initiative and would be awesome to help out with.
As someone who lives in the region I am delighted to see initiatives like this. I wish in the future companies and personals will create bonds across the harsh borders.
This is a cool initiative.<p>I've always been a bit bummed that as software engineers, there tend to be less overseas volunteering opportunities than other forms of engineering.<p>I'll be honest and admit that I just want to go to cool places and do work there. There's always lots of roles for civil and mechanical engineers, as well as doctors, but there's never much need for software engineers in the jungles of Cambodia or the beaches of the Solomon Islands.
Unfortunately the only reasons these "bootcamps" exist is to creater cheaper workforce for tech companies. They don't provide good education, just specialization in the areas that the tech companies decided they want.
I traveled to Gaza to mentor with Gaza Sky Geeks in December. While I was there Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the leader of Hamas decided to respond by declaring a 'Day of Rage'. My writeup of that experience here: <a href="https://medium.com/@gillianim/what-its-like-in-gaza-on-a-day-of-rage-8940ce42871" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/@gillianim/what-its-like-in-gaza-on-a-day...</a>
The TL;DR is that the majority of Palestinians are trying to live normal lives and don't care much about international political chess. As a foreigner I felt completely safe. Many Jewish people have mentored at Gaza Sky Geeks and had no issue. I traveled through the Erez checkpoint and didn't have my passport stamped, though I'm pretty sure some malware got installed on my computer when they took it away for 'screening'. Logistically, I had to apply for permits about two months in advance, and you never know whether you'll get in or not; but all in all my experience at all checkpoints and entrance/exit to Israel was straightforward. It was an incredible experience all around and I was so impressed with the Palestinian people in Gaza that I met. Happy to answer any questions for people thinking of going!
i haven't been to palestine (yet) but one of my closest friends is palestinian from west bank (and i've been following the occupation closely since i met him 10 years ago). it is astonishing to me that they're running this in gaza as well as west bank. i wish them well and wish i could support the effort somehow.
You don't need an expensive coding bootcamp. I honestly think you'll get more value from something like <a href="https://edabit.com" rel="nofollow">https://edabit.com</a> or http//codewars.com