I look back fondly to the days when jumping on a plane was synonymous with reconnecting to silence; when transoceanic flights were absent of the buzz of emails, phones and social media’s barrage of connectivity. But when United Airlines began adding in-flight WiFi this fall, I folded. No longer do I look forward to reflective, stress-free hours. For as much as I want to keep the computer in the overhead bin, I cannot help but appreciate the opportunity for a few extra hours of access.
Perhaps in-flight access will take a bit of getting used to, but connectivity has revolutionized the way Bridges to Prosperity has been able to efficiently and effectively work in some of the least developed countries around the world. Today, I have the same connectivity at 30,000 feet, half way to Rwanda, as I have in my own office. I can still write this article; I can connect to our cloud-space server to modify an engineering drawing, or check on the number of villagers who have crossed a bridge in La Tana, Guatemala within the last hour. It’s really wild.