That's a pretty neat story. Beside the opportunities of hope and positive changes that blockchains and other new technologies will bring as @biasnarrative mentioned, this video also touches on how crowdfunding is making a difference and how we as individuals can make a true difference in peoples lives where there is such a great difference between economies.
I work with a lot of people in impoverished countries through Upwork, and I have had similar occurrences such as with my coworker and friend Bilal in Pakistan. He offered me a 50/50 split if I could figure out a way to help him create a profitable business trading products between his country and mine (the US). I've looked into a lot of products that are created in Pakistan for very little that could have a much higher resell value in the US, but what I learned was that the shipping cost is so high that it makes this idea not very feasible. For example, I looked into furniture thinking it would be cheap in Pakistan but could earn a decent profit in the US, but even to ship just a 40lb table could cost $800 or more. So I am now trying to find items with high value that have little weight to keep shipping cost to a minimum, but I have not found anything that seems totally practical as of yet. If I can find such an item, it would be possible to help him to sell it to US based customers via Amazon or other marketplaces or our own ecommerce websites - so far I am still searching. So for now continuing to do web development may be the best approach (we are both developers). It seems like the shipping cost ratio is about $10-20 per pound (depending also on size) from Pakistan to the US, so something profitable would have to retail for at least twice that much to be worthwhile. If anyone has any ideas to help my friend Bilal in Pakistan I am open to input.
I love the crowdfunding angle and selfless attitude this guy had to help his new friend in Liberia.