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Internet Extends Reach Of Bangladeshi Villagers
Mahbubul Ambia, who started an Internet center in the town of Charkhai, has helped customers find doctors, make Internet phone calls and communicate by video conference.
(Kevin Sullivan - Twp)
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The only other option would have been to take a bumpy bus to Sylhet, a city about 20 miles down the road, to make the call from an Internet cafe there. She said rutted roads and ancient buses making frequent stops often turned that into an all-day errand that would cost her nearly $3.
As Aleya spoke on the phone, Komoruddin, 50, was waiting to make a call to his son, an electrician living in Saudi Arabia. Komoruddin said he and his other son and five daughters live largely on the money his son sends home.
"I used to have to make a plan and spend a whole day to make a call. Now I can just come in here and relax," he said. "I never thought I'd see anything like this here. Some people still don't believe it."
Cyber Vows
Ambia, a lanky 26-year-old, said he was running a small shop doing cellphone repairs when he heard about GrameenPhone's plan to create hundreds of village Internet centers.
"I love browsing the Internet, but I used to have to go to Sylhet to do it," he said. "When I saw the opportunity to combine browsing and business, I took it."
He said his business is growing fast, fueled by villagers' delight at being able to connect with a world beyond theirs. Ambia also sells cellphones in his shop, and each month he signs up about 500 new customers, who pay about $4 to activate a phone.
Ambia said Internet access is a logical next step in Charkhai's digital evolution. In recent months, he noted, local people have been making long walks through the fields and crossing wide rivers to log into cyberspace.
Before, getting a passport application could take weeks, or would require a bus trip to Sylhet. News of overseas job opportunities used to come by word of mouth. But now people browse online employment bulletin boards, then use the center's scanner to submit completed applications for jobs that before they might never have known about.
Students cram into the two-room center to use computers to check results of their standardized exams, instead of walking miles or taking a bus ride to get them.
Ambia has created a database of land and houses for sale around Charkhai, which better-off Bangladeshis in London or the Middle East use to browse for investments in their homeland.
He is working on databases listing doctors and other basic services. He said a program would soon begin to allow local doctors and their patients to hold video conferences to consult with specialists in Dhaka.
"People are just beginning to know about this," he said. "They are excited to get this kind of information."
