A Macroloan of Hospitality

Today we were extremely fortunate that the family connections (Randy) were able to secure us a very last minute visit with Grameen Bank. Winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Grameen provides micro loans (starting at 5,000 takka or about $60) to Bangladeshi families to help them start up businesses, build or improve homes, and pay for higher education. The bank is organized in regional branches who are scored based on the rate at which members pay back their loans and meet a 16 point goal plan. The goals are primarily socially based to reenforce repayment of loans but include other public health/social welfare aspects such as maintaining a safe water supply, sanitary latrines, and planting trees and gardens.

We met our highly esteemable guide, Shameen, at the bank's headquarters then made the drive out to a nearby village area still in Dhaka region but just north of Bhawal National Park. There, we met with the branch manager and Shameen explained the organizational structure, loan programs, and savings programs available at the bank. Although the basic loan (used for business start ups) have a high interest rate of 20%, this has not been an obstacle to repayment as the bank has a repayment rate of just over 98%. Additionally, there is no interest accrued on the education loans for children of bank members-- just a mere 5% service fee and the student is given a one year grace period after graduation to begin repayments on the loan, that is, enough time to start a business or find a job in order to begin repayments. Also, the interest earned in the various savings programs, including a pension program, are well over average interest rates offered by US banks (all between 8-12%).

Shameen explained that the branch members are made up of 12 groups of borrowers, each group averaging about 5 members each. In each group, there is an elected group leader who collects loan repayments from the other members and vouches for the group members whenever one has a new loan proposal. The groups are made up of neighbors so that they really know one another and can attest to each other's character and make sure that the money is being spent as proposed. Probably most fascinating for me was the fact that almost all borrowers/members of the bank are women. Shameen explained that this is the case for two reasons: 1) the bank has found that women are more likely to repay the loans and insist on repayment and 2) because the women are not the ones working in the fields or in the businesses, they are the ones who can come to weekly meetings with the branch manager. So although the money borrowed is ultimately given to their husbands to build businesses, the bank seems to provide an opportunity for women to not only socialize with one another but to give them real leadership opportunities in shaping the economic futures of their villages.

After our tutorial in Grameen Bank structure and organization, we then walked out to the village for their weekly meeting with the branch manager at which money for repayments are collected and borrowers make proposals for new loans (pictured above). However, the only part of the meeting that we got to witness was focused on us: Shameen asked the women questions on our behalf so that we could learn about what kinds of businesses they have started and how the bank has affected them and their families. It was very impressive to watch the entrepreneurial spirit materialize before us: women talked about how they initially borrowed 5000 takka to buy a single cow and over the years, have been able to earn money from milk sold at market to open their own grocery store and buy property which they now rent to others. Other businesses included a woman who weaves clothing sold to her neighbors, a family who runs a large (by Bangladeshi standards-- not Wisconsin standards!) dairy of at least a dozen cows, and even a woman who collects dust from the roads which is then sold to companies to make mosquito coils. One woman talked about how when she first borrowed money from the bank, the men in the village tried to scare her off saying that the bank would take away her children if she couldn't pay back the loan or would try to convert her to Christianity-- now those men and their children regularly borrow money from the bank as well!

The tables were then turned and the women had an opportunity to ask us questions. The women seemed to instantly relax and became more conversational, and the questions started pouring forth since apparently they've never had any Westerners visit them before. We answered in the affirmative that we're married, described what kind of schooling we've had and answered in the negative that we don't have children yet. The women clucked over this saying that we should have at least a 3 year old and a 2 year old by now. They all wanted us to visit their homes, but when Shameen explained that we did not have time to visit all of them, they insisted we come back to their village again-- with children!

We did have time to visit one member's home. We strolled our way through the village until we arrived at the large dairy. Our hostess was the wife of perhaps the longest standing borrower in the village. Her home consisted of maybe 4 buildings built of mud and tin roofs surrounding a courtyard. Thanks to Grameen, her family has earned enough money to provide clean water and electricity to the homes. Indeed, in the small but comfortable building that appeared to serve as both the master bedroom and family living space, they managed to have a large television, DVD player, and a shelf of DVDs. Her family offered us cola, bananas, biscuits, and jack fruit (pictured left). The jack fruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh, and indeed, John has been clamouring to try it. I'm not sure what the fruit looks like when cut open as they did this out of site, but what is ultimately eaten are small orange colored balls of fruity flesh surrounding largish pits-- kind of like lychee nuts in size but the flesh is softer. It's a bit stickier-- kind of like okra, but very sweet-- I think it tasted like bubble gum, while John thinks it kind of tasted like mango. In any case, it is very filling. I could only eat three pieces all the while fearing that this looked rude to our hostess until Shameen confirmed for me that it is very filling and not consumed in large quantities. Nonetheless, John ate a whole plate full but does not seemed to be suffering any consequences-- he even went on to eat the full lunch of PB&J sandwiches and pretzels that Anne-- our ever consummate hostess-- had packed for us.

They then provided water and oil for us to wash the sticky fruit juices from our fingers and we posed for one final goodbye. We left once again feeling both humbled by the amazing ingenuity and generous hopsitality and warmth of the Bangladeshi people. Many many many thanks are in order to Shameen, Randy, and the women of this village!