Life without Internet access

In many regions of the United States, people live without regular Internet access, or lack equipment and training to get online and benefit from the vast array of opportunities that the Internet provides.

InternetforEveryone.org is on a mission to tell the stories of people on the other side of the digital divide. One place is North Carolina where over 5 million residents don't have high-speed Internet, according to InternetforEveryone.org.

Take the Lumbee tribe of Pembroke, NC. Rhonda Locklear is one of many people in Pembroke who have been priced out of high-speed Internet access.

"Recently, her 12-year-old son came home from school with a seemingly easy assignment: research census information for the tri-county area. But their dial-up connection turned a simple assignment into hours of aggravation. 'It's discouraging, it's hurtful,' Rhonda says. 'It's hard to watch him go through so many emotions and try to keep him calm.' ...

'I think some of our tribal members feel that maybe we're just not worthy,' Rhonda says. 'When is our time going to come? When are we going to be able to access and get what we need? When are we going to be able to rise above? When are we going to rise above where we're at right now and overcome?'"

Or consider Layten Davis of Spring Creek, NC. Layten was born in Spring Creek in the late 1930s and remembers when it got electricity - one of the last places in the state:

"I remember what an exciting day it was when we were able to turn the lights on in the house that we had wired a year-and-a-half earlier. All the technology was there. We could turn the switches on and nothing would happen. It's pretty much the same thing now knowing that the technology exists but we can't turn the switch on to get the [broadband] turned on.

I would encourage [the Obama administration] to move as quickly as possible to get us the basics that we need here for high-speed Internet. I would tell [Obama], 'Let's get this done yesterday if we can, because every day that is delayed is one more day lost.'"

Hardships still exist in very tangible ways in many parts of America. The economic stimulus bill recognized that and the funding created for broadband deployment and adoption incentives will help underserved areas like the Smoky Mountains and Pembroke, NC.

Five Days on the Digital Dirt Road (Internet for Everyone)

Day 3: Weaverville, NC (Internet for Everyone)

Day 4: Spring Creek, NC (Internet for Everyone)