The Digital Desh team encountered powerful women who were leveraging technology to improve themselves and their communities. These stories are extraordinary, considering the digital gap between men and women in India:
72% of women do not have access to a mobile phone.
114 million fewer women than men own a mobile phone.
Female mobile phone penetration is at 28%, while it is 43% for men.
A Guesthouse Cleaner
Nandu Ji is a cleaner at the Barefoot College guesthouse. She uses a feature phone and enters emojis next to names on her contact list to remember the people because she's illiterate. She lost her husband 20 years ago and has made sure her 3 children complete their Bachelor of Arts.
A Lab Techinician
Sharda Ji has an 8th grade education and suffers from polio. At Barefoot College, she has learned to use a computer and is now a trained lab technician, conducting blood and pregnancy tests for villagers. She likes staying on the Barefoot campus because she doesn't have to put on a pardah. Each morning, she exchanges WhatsApp messages with her family and deletes the old ones to save space.
Comments