tldr; Won the birth lottery, currently in Ukraine doing some soul searching, arrived at same conclusion that I want to give back but don't know how. I can't de

tldr; Won the birth lottery, currently in Ukraine doing some soul searching, arrived at same conclusion that I want to give back but don't know how. I can't deny I did well in birth lottery, and due to similar circumstances I wound up a programmer with an amazing job and even more amazing opportunities. That's not the point of this post however. I am currently on holidays in Europe and am spending a month in Ukraine. I can't even begin to describe how the people I've met and the conversions I've had with them have changed me. To sum it up briefly, Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Kiev looks like a modern European capital, and there is obviously money around judging by the number of luxury SUVs on the road. Yet $400/month is considered a good wage, unless one has the appropriate connections. In short, European costs of living coupled with developing world wages. The post's ending about somehow giving back is what resonated most to me. When I was a student I was fortunate enough to have free time and the money to explore my outside interests; fast forward 4 years and I have taught myself Japanese to fluency and have lived in the country on 3 separate occasions. I've met a student here that who I see a lot of my self in, she gets top grades and has an inexplicable interest in Japan. It is her dream to work there and she studies the language in her spare time. The only difference is that she works a full time job to pay for her studies (unrelated to Japanese) which are also full time. The reality is that she doesn't have the free time I did to learn Japanese, let alone the funds to visit independently. It kills me inside knowing that two weeks of my salary would give her a year of free time and the same opportunity I had to pursue my interest in Japan. There are a lot of posts below about how education could be a silver bullet. I know what has affected my life most, however, was the ability to pursue my own interests. Competencies in any area will open doors, maybe not doors as wide as those available to programmers, but doors to better places none the less. In her case Japanese language competency would make her eligible for the MEXT scholarships paid for by the Japanese government. Honestly, I have debated offering to loan her a year's salary to be paid back if and when it is ever convenient for her. My conclusion is that the same could also be used to sponsor a child through to high school, and something else tells me its just not the right thing to do. Yet I arrive at the same internal conflict that you do, how to give back after winning the lottery. For the record there are no romantic interests at stake here.