Shipping a Laptop to a Refugee Camp in Uganda - NotesByLex.com
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Shipping a Laptop to a Refugee Camp in Uganda
May 23, 2026
For the last few years, while finally earning my belated Bachelor's Degree in the University of London's World Class program, I've met some amazing people from all across the world, completing their degrees after hours while balancing work, families, and other extremely challenging circumstances.
But few have circumstances as challenging as Django’s.
Django is a Congolese refugee living in a camp in Western Uganda. He has no reliable electricity in the camp and runs his laptop on solar power; his internet access comes from Airtel minutes, which he needs to ration on a very limited income. This makes completing a remote Computer Science degree - with video lectures, assignments that need to be uploaded on time and remotely proctored exams - at times seem nearly impossible.
Recently, Django found himself in a new predicament.
His laptop's motherboard burned out after accidentally connecting a USB cable to a 12V battery output, and the next semester was set to start in a few weeks. He had tried to repair it to no avail: the laptop continued to overheat and would not turn on.
I have a few old MacBooks that are in working order, just sitting around the house. So I offered to send one to him.
Naively, I figured that I'd just go to my local post office, put it in a box with some bubble wrap, and he'd have it in a few days/weeks. However, the process turned out to be far more complicated than expected.
First attempt
I dusted off the laptop, wiped the hard drive and reinstalled macOS using Apple's instructions. I wiped the screen with a lint-free cloth wetted with only water, avoiding alcohol-based cleaning products. For the keyboard, I used standard multipurpose wipes to remove my ancient finger grime.
I asked ChatGPT how to send the laptop, and it gave me a spiel about finding a reliable freight service or courier. I asked whether it would be possible to send via Australia Post (our national mail service) anyway, since an outlet was down the road from my house. Apparently, I could, as long as the lithium battery was installed in the device.
At the post office, a friendly staff member confirmed it could be sent, helped me package it up securely, and it cost me $111.60 AUD.
I shared the tracking number with Django on April 1st. Six days later, he messaged to say it looked like the package was arriving soon.
However, a few hours later, I got a knock at my door. The package had been returned to my house after failing to be processed at the distribution centre.
Turns out Australia Post won't ship devices containing lithium batteries internationally by air, after all. I should have listened to ChatGPT.
I searched for how to actually send a laptop overseas, and a few freight services with well-tuned SEO popped up. I found a vendor called Pack & Send with an office a few km from my house.
I submitted a quote request on their website, and they called me back with a quote of $213 AUD.
I walked about 45 minutes to the office, in a neighbouring industrial suburb.
The woman at the front desk laughed at the packaging job I had done at the Post Office and said she'd repackage it properly.
This was April 9th, which was about 6 weeks into the Strait of Hormuz crisis, which had thrown global freight routes into chaos, so she told me to expect delays. She also mentioned there would be additional costs for Django in Uganda: customs fees and taxes she couldn't estimate, and that he would need a buffer of at least $50–100 on his end.
Since money was extremely tight on Django's end, I offered to send some for the buffer. Most Ugandan services accept Airtel Money, which I knew could be transferred easily via the WorldRemit app. He received the money in about 5 minutes.
Clearing Ugandan customs
Over the next few days, the package made its way through nine countries before reaching the Netherlands.
Then, on April 15th,...