Young people receive training at a computer training center in the town Franschhoek in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, which provides free computer access to people who would otherwise never be able to afford it.

At this shop in Langa on the Cape Flats outside of Cape Town, a South African entrepreneur offers typing, faxing and e-mailing services. Otherwise people would only have access to these services if they travel to the city center, about 20 km away.

Hunger for knowledge: kids in Langa visit their local library. But libraries in the townships are few and far between because the previous apartheid government built most in white areas.

A man uses a Vodacom container booth to make a phone call from the Langa township in Cape Town. Read more about Vodacom's phone containers at http://www.vodacom.net/aboutus/communityser.asp

The tremendous increase in cell phone use in South Africa has opened up a new market. This man started a cell phone repair shop in Langa. He also rents videos from his small container shop.

Because of South Africa's housing shortage, many people live in shacks. A personal computer is not within their reach.

South Africa's 1999 October Household Survey data indicated that just 7.3% of African households in non-urban areas have a phone.

Coming back from school…most children realize that education is their ticket to a better life. Many are keen to develop their IT skills, but they struggle to gain access to a computer.

No space for an office here…This entrepreneur might use a computer resource center for bookkeeping.

Making a living selling scrap metal: for many people living in the townships, modern day ICTs remain a mystery.

A food vendor sells his fair on a street corner.

In the US, e-mail is fast replacing the traditional mail system. In Klein Drakenstein in the Western Cape of South Africa people still have to use the traditional system.

Patients waiting to be treated at a community health center in Nyanga near Cape Town, watch a video on HIV/AIDS prevention.