Hi all

This may seem like an odd topic. I'm looking for suggestions for good ways that a geek (in particular, a software engineer such as myself) can use their knowledge and skills to help the world out. I'm talking large scale disasters (eg. Pakistan floods or Haiti earthquake) as well as community contribution (eg. SPCA, Salvation Army)...

My motivation for asking: I want to help when I hear about disasters like Pakistan. I can (and do) donate money, but I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination so I can't afford to give much. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't feel like I have the money to make as much of a difference as I would like. What I do have is time, skills and knowledge that some people consider valuable. Is there a way that I can put these things to use for a good cause?

Now before you suggest contributing to an open source software project, let me just say that I fully accept that is potentially a really good option. I'm looking for specific things that I can do, so if there is a specific project that you can recommend then by all means let me know about it. I am not looking for just any old project though. I'm looking for something that can make a potentially life saving/changing difference *in people's lives*.

Looking forward to your suggestions and comments...