Business developmentAfter spending most of Friday on the buses to Colombo and to the capital´s airport, I picked up the sixth member of our group, Olivia. The way back to Moraketiara was slightly more comfortable and definitely very interesting as we took the train to Matara: more than five hours of beautiful landscape and a lot of new acquaintances, helped by the fact that we were the only Westerners on the whole train; lottery tickets, pineapple slices, unidentifiable fried things and a lot more were offered to us.
Today, I talked to Ishan about how he wants to promote his Internet business. One important plan is to visit the hotels in and around the village to introduce tourists as new potential customers. Moreover, proper signage is in the making so that it will be easy for everybody to find Ishan´s place.
So far, helping him to set up his own business has been a very good idea. On the one hand, the village has gained access to the web, meaning that it has taken a huge step towards a modern communications infrastructure. On the other hand, Ishan is providing computer classes for different age groups, introducing them to technical knowledge that is necessary for an ever-increasing number of jobs.