Poor people don’t have money to spend on licenses to proprietary software. And FreeSoftware gives them additional benefits: They can learn how to code from other developers, they can join international development teams and gain experience in top projects, they can adapt the software to their local requirements, and they can be sure that future versions will be just as free as the current one.
Make sure foreign aid includes IT specialists that provide the necessary know-how that is required for the hardware and software these people get. If you have some time at hand, you might volunteer yourself for the job. ;)