Island in the Stream

On any other Tuesday morning the women of the Grand Gaube sewing club would be swapping knitting patterns or recipes. But today the dozen Mauritian homemakers have piled into a bus fitted out with nine networked desktop computers for an introductory visit to cyberspace. Earlier tours of the cybercaravan to their small town have taught them how to use a mouse and a keyboard and navigate Windows. Now it's time to learn about the Web. Within half an hour the women are surfing sites showcasing the latest fashion designs from overseas. "We're surprised how quickly people learn," says Ahsan Ashraf, a...