Published January 2002

Program empowers groups in developing countries

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

While Charles Brennick was living in Costa Rica some years back, he saw the power of the Internet firsthand.

During his internship there, in which he worked to market sustainable development projects on the Internet, the Lake Stevens native came into contact with a couple of small eco-tourism organizations, groups that in the past had relied on big travel agencies to send people their way, usually without much success. So Brennick decided to develop Web sites for the groups, sites that were, in his own words, “basic, static HTML.”

Soon, those groups began to see the number of people taking their tours increase significantly and the economies of their surrounding communities improve as well.

“With the Web site, they were able to empower themselves,” Brennick said. “They were able to have their own kind of marketing abilities. They were able to be more sustainable, and a small-scale tourism operation was able to be more locally beneficial.”

All thanks to those “basic” Web sites that they couldn’t have afforded to create themselves.

The experience gave Brennick an idea.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN Since its founding more than three years ago, InterConnection has helped nonprofit groups in dozens of developing countries gain a Web presence, founder Charles Brennick said. “It’s amazing ... we produce probably about three to four Web sites per month.”

“I thought that I could take it to a different level and help out more groups,” he said, enabling them to inform others about their accomplishments, needs and mission.

And when he came back home, he did.

In early 1999, he and urban planner Jed Truett founded InterConnection, a nonprofit organization that provides no-cost and low-cost Web sites and technical assistance to nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations in developing countries.

Acting as a volunteer clearinghouse, InterConnection matches volunteers who have Web experience with organizations that need Web sites, Brennick said. Once a Web site is created, InterConnection then hosts it for free or for a minimal cost.

“It’s virtual volunteering: all the volunteering is done online,” he said. “We have volunteers from all over the world: Canada, South America, Europe.”

Since its inception, InterConnection volunteers, now numbering about 150, have donated almost 80 Web sites to organizations in 30 countries, Brennick said, organizations such as Habitat for Humanity Belize, the Tropical Rainforest Foundation in Guatemala and the Association for Child Health in Nigeria.

“It’s a nice kind of tangible experience for the volunteer, who is able to learn about the cultures of different countries, brush up on their language skills, improve their Web-site design skills,” he said. “... They’re also able to do good, do international development work, without having to leave their home.”

Every day, InterConnection’s Web site receives about 10,000 “hits” and a couple of requests for Web-site development, Brennick said.

“It’s amazing ... we produce probably about three to four Web sites per month,” he said.

Along with linking nonprofits to “virtual volunteers,” InterConnection also acts as a clearinghouse for computer donation requests, Brennick said, with an electronic bulletin board set up for nonprofit groups in developing countries to list their equipment needs.

Most of the funding for InterConnection comes from contributions made by its founders and board members, Brennick said. All the work by the board and administrative staff is done on a volunteer basis.

Brennick is looking for other funding sources to help pay for another InterConnection program now in the works, a program that would enable volunteers to travel to a developing country and offer computer and Web training to nonprofits there.

For more information on InterConnection, send e-mail to info@interconnection.org, or visit the group’s Web site, www.interconnection.org.

Back to the top/January 2003 Main Menu