Paved roads and mail deliveries are similarly alien concepts. Cans of Coke, packs of Marlboros and other ubiquitous global brands are nowhere to be found. But lately, the villagers have been doing some unusual things. They make friends with children in other cities without leaving town. Women weave silk scarves that are sold in far-off countries.
Men now make a year's wage in a month working on a new pig farm.
But it is changing our lives. Backers of such endeavors say the Internet, which has revolutionized commerce and communication in the industrialized world, also has the power to change traditional patterns of development in the Third World, giving isolated people access to markets and information that could leapfrog them out of poverty. It can have a real impact on people's lives. In the long yellow schoolhouse, with its concrete floors and splintering wooden desks, pupils now take a three-month course aimed at teaching them the basics of how to send electronic mail and browse Web sites. They know how to cruise to a Web site in Germany to view pictures of Angkor Wat, the ancient collection of temples in their country that they cannot afford to visit in person.