The internet fails to reach millions of women in the small towns and villages of India, so Internet Saathi, the joint program of Alphabet, Inc., Google and local philanthropy Tata Trusts have built an army of thousands of female trainers and sent them to the far corners of the Indian subcontinent on bicycles: each bike has a box full of connected smartphones and tablets for women to try and train on. Instructors are trained in how the web works, and then are given bicycles with large boxes on the back containing internet-enabled devices running Google’s Android mobile operating system. The “saathis” — or “partners” in Hindi — then cycle from village to village providing instruction to their peers. The idea is to give people who have never even sent an email a better understanding of how being connected could improve their lives.
Here are the kinds of training they provide (videos they use with local women)