Whether the villagers want to prepare for an exam, learn more about childcare, health issues, farming or just to knit a sweater, all this and more is available when they sit down at the Internet kiosk in Fatalikand’s post office. They have free access to Internet thanks to IREX Azerbaijan’s Electronic Village project. They are using a purpose-built computer kiosk installed at the local post office last October. The manager of the post office is trained to help visitors browse the Internet and encourage them to explore the world online.
Villagers were soon registering with Facebook, Twitter, Google +, as well the Russian social networks. Young girls and women were particularly keen, and one of them, Sanubar Ahmadova said the development marks a radical change.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that as local women become increasingly aware of events beyond their small community, they feel less isolated from society. The women of Fatalikand shared their views with us.
Sanubar Ahmadova says the Internet is absorbing but hard to resist. “Our husbands complain we’ll forget to milk cows, weed seedbeds, gather potatoes and even to care for our kids!"
Fadly Mursalov teaches IT in Fatalikand and says many students have been asking about Facebook. “I helped more than 2,000 young girls and women to register. Now they contact their peers and new friends in Russia, Turkey, U.S.A, all over the world.”
High school pupil Amina Shahmanova says, “I like to know what happens in Baku and other cities. I follow all sorts of news, from the Pope’s resignation to recipes from around the world. The Internet also helps with my homework.”
IREX installed 30 kiosks under the auspices of the USAID [8]-funded Azerbaijan New Media Project [9] and with support of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies (MICT).