Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
encounter and to join civil society and work with
government agencies.
and have become frequent users. Many students
come on the daily basis to use computers, access
the Internet, take digital photos, download music
and various application forms, e.g. for admission
to academic institutions and passports, and to
check national secondary and higher-secondary
results. The teachers come to GPCIC to prepare
lectures. Through the center, Mrs. Toslim earned
respect from many community members and has
become successful in this community.
GPCIC PROJECT
In this section, we present a number of stories told
by the GPCIC users from their perspectives of ICT
led development. According to Dart and Davies
(2003), there are five advantages to using stories
for evaluation type of research: engagement,
insight, sense-making, memory and discussing
hard messages. We used stories because they give
greater insight than hard data in understanding
the benefits that have emerged from the GPCIC
project.
Story 02: Economic Progress
through Information
Born in the village of Jamalpur, the 34 year-old
Mrs Aman is a farmer, living with her husband
and 5 children. Her husband was also a farmer, but
due to an accident, he cannot walk properly. So,
Mrs. Aman has to look after the agricultural and
all other responsibilities related to their business.
A few years ago Mrs. Aman thought about plant-
ing Boroi (trees that grow some kind of berries)
and improve her income by selling Boroi berries
at the market. No one in Baira Union had Boroi
trees. She was the first one to think about it, so
she was very excited about doing this quickly
and properly. She told the chairman of her union
about her plans and he considered it an excellent
idea and was eager to see the Boroi Trees in Mrs.
Aman's field. The Chairman and the villagers
helped her in realizing her plans.
The Boroi trees seemed to be growing nicely
but in 2008 the trees started to die, as a result of
insects destroying the leaves. “Most of the trees
were infected and dying quickly and they were
not in good shape at all” said Mrs. Aman. She was
looking for a solution all over her village, asking
anyone who might know anything about Boroi
trees. The Chairman was also unable to provide
any information that could solve the problem.
Mrs. Aman then came to GPCIC to look for
information about the problem and find a pos-
sible solution. Mrs. Toslim, manager of GPCIC,
visited Mrs. Aman's Boroi plants and took notes
Story 01: A Successful Female
Social Entrepreneur
Jamalpur village (at the center of GPCIC) is known
by farmers and local buyers. Some farmers buy
goods from the Bazaar (local market) and stock
them in their backyard, waiting until the market
price is at a satisfactory level for them to sell their
products to anyone willing to pay right away. They
have been doing this for generations. The local
buyers do not face as many challenges as a farmer
does. The farmer has to do much more hard work
in order to bring fresh and quality goods in the
market (Bazaar). Mrs. Toslim (34 years of old) was
born in this village area. She has the equivalent
of an intermediate certificate; but obtained other
skills and knowledge by volunteering in different
businesses, learning about photography, comput-
ers, web browsing, e-mail, fax, letter writing etc.
After graduation one of her relatives informed
her about GPCIC. She then went to Dhaka and met
with Grammen phone and GPCIC officials. They
agreed to franchise Mrs. Toslim to run GPCIC in
her village. She discussed with local villagers,
including students, teachers, and farmers the
benefits they can derive from the GPCIC. They
were very excited or hopeful about this project
Search WWH ::




Custom Search