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sitting with her friend nasrin in fatemas combined bedroom kitchen , salima speaks to her husband , who works in singapore . with postal service slow , landlines unbuilt and email beyond their reach , the mobile phone is the best way for people in rural bangladesh to connect with friends and family who have moved away . dhaluarchar , bangladesh . 2000 . fatema comes from a poor family in the village of dhaluarchar , in bangladesh . in 1998 she bought a cell phone , through a nonprofit program set up by bangladeshs grameen bank , in partnership with a cellular company called grameen phone . their aim was to sell mobile phones to rural women to provide them with a business opportunity and link their neighbors to the wider world . fatima took out a loan for $400 from grameen bank , on a payback system of 400 taka a week , about $8 , over four years . she paid off the loan in one year . her income exceeds $700 a year , in a country where the annual per capita income is about $300 . today , in her mid 30s , fatema is one of dhaluarchars most prosperous residents . much of this she owes to her mobile phone . ? |
