There's a massive resource out there which shows how things can be made/fixed and it's called YouTube.

Not as a good as a 1-2-1 with an experienced "fixer", perhaps, but you could check out a few videos and pass them on to your kith and kin. If you're interested in doing work of guitars, for example, or some aspect of work with wood or metal, there's loads of stuff out there - and lots of ideas.

Just a thought.