When I come across something that I feel is shaping our future, or is simply interesting, I put it here..

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Yes, I do have potatos!

Grameen phone in Bangladesh has a successful Village Phone program. From there web site "The program facilitates women borrowers of Grameen Bank to the GSM technology through the village phones. They become effectively mobile public call offices. This not only provides rural poor with new, exciting income-generating opportunities, but it also helps to enhance the social status of women from poor rural households."
Mobile phone has allowed these village people to feel more empowered. For example, in my home town of Panipat in India, a street vendor who would earlier come and stop at almost every door and shout to indicate his arrival and wait for people to come out and buy vegetables, often wasting his valuable time and still missing out on many potential customers, now just gets a call from each house that is interested in the vegetables that he has on that perticular day, comes stops on those houses first and then, if he is left with anything, would go on usual route.
Saves so much time for the vendor! Because time saved is money!

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