The Quirks of Bangladesh Shopping

If I was going to pick a place to live in Bangladesh, I would chose the rural areas in a heartbeat so I don’t quite understand the with attracting doctors to rural areas. It is not like you are missing out on the night life in Dhaka, since there are no bars anywhere in the country. The closest thing Bangalis have to bars are their tea shops, which are everywhere, even in the most remote village. And there is usually a decently sized market a couple of kilometres from you, no matter where you are in the country.

After walking through some of the big markets in Dhaka, you realise that there are at most only about 10 types of stores in Bangaldesh: mens clothes, womens clothes, jewellery, leather accessories (belts, wallets), grocery store / tea shop, electronics store, appliance store, tailor, barber shop, fruit / fish market. After that, every big bazaar is just those ten stores selling the exact same products ten times over.

There are some other stores, but they are not so much for the individual consumer more for other businesses, they are still identical wherever you are in the country though. There is the metal rod shop, the metal bed frame shop, furniture shop (they make some very nice hardwood furniture!), the bamboo pole shop (used for scaffolding and stilts to hold buildings up!), the plumping pipe shop, and the mechanic / tyre shop (they pop a lot of tyres here). I think it might be written in the Qur’an that you can only sleep in bed on a silver, red or black bed frame since those appear to be the only bed frames sold here.

We went to Bashundara City Mall, in Dhaka last week. It is the largest mall in south Asia! It was 8 or 9 floors tall and each floor was fairly big as well but the best part was the way they organised the mall. They are not as commercialized as North America, so stores were grouped by product. The high end stuff was split between the ground floor and the top floor next to the Cinema. These two floors where were most of the people were too. The other floors are organised by product: sports accessories, mens clothing, womens clothing (2 floors), music, jewellery, etc.

In North America we organise malls so that you have to do the maximum amount of walking past the maximum number of window displays to get between the two stores that you want. In Bangladesh there is one floor that has everything you want. Much more to my liking, and when you ask one store for something the owner will take you around to other stores if he does not have what you are looking for!

Cheers,

Mike

PS – I have a couple posts from our weekend trip to Srimongal and the Tea Estates, but I will save those for tomorrow!

Grameen Fisheries

So on our trip to Bogra, we visited Grameen Danone, Grameen Healthcare Services, and the monastery on Tuesday and then that night we drive to the fisheries rest house an slept there. The next morning we got a tour around the fisheries.

Our cute little rest houses, covered in flowers

Catching fish to sell in the market

The fisheries have a hatchery, and then a series of different sized man made ponds where they raise the fish. The fish slowly graduate through the different ponds as they get bigger, until they are in an adult pond like the one in the picture above.

The ponds are looked after by the community and each family who helps with the fish gets a share of the profits that they make when they sell them. I forget exactly the names of the types of fish, but I think one of the more common ones, and higher quality is called Rui. I think I tried it once, in a curry and it was definitely very yummy, apparently it also has fewer bones, but I still spent a lot of time picking out the bones.

They trap some of the fish in a small section and then sort them by size and type, in the background you can see fishes jumping to escape the net, some actually make it over.

Proudly showing off the biggest fish from todays catch

Off to the Market!

The take the fish still alive to the market in little buckets and barrels of water. I guess they want to be able to prove that the fish a really fresh and have not been sitting around for long. The fish markets that we have visited have the fish still flopping around on the display.

The Hatchery

To grow the fish they have a separate pond for females and then they bring them into the hatchery and give them hormone. Then they squeeze the eggs out and do the same with the males to fertilize the eggs. The eggs hatch in about 3 days in the hatchery, before they are transported to nursery ponds. They spend a couple weeks (3 I think) in the nursery pond before they are moved to an intermediate pond where they spend 6 months. Finally they are moved to the adult pond for another 6 months or so before they will be caught and taken to be sold in the market.

Three day old baby fish!

5 Tourist Attractions walking through a old Buddhist Monastery

After visiting the Grameen Hospital we drove to the ruins of an old Buddhist Monastery and walked around. But we quickly realized that we had become the tourist attraction.

Julian and Me with Two Kids 

Dave, Nisha and Julian (in the back) at the Monastery

One of the most awkward moments ever.

A family came up to us asking for a photo so I sat down on the wall next to the daughter and the wife, but then the husband told his wife to get up so it was just me and the daughter. The daughter didn't say anything the whole time, or even really look at me while her dad was taking our picture. 

At the Top of the Wall (Left to right, Me, Ross, Dave, Nisha)

Walking along the wall.

And the surrounding picturesque rice paddies

Grameen Healthcare Services – Eye Hospital

Our next visit was right next door at the eye care clinic. The facilities they had were quite impressive. Everything was spotless and clean, and they equipment was the same as what you would see in North America or anywhere else in the developed world.

The Grameen Healthcare Services Hospital

They mostly provide cataract surgeries at the hospital to the poor who live in the region around the hospital. They have several locations where they have a travelling camp on a regular basis. Nurses and DMFs (Physician Assistants) travel to villages and advertise and assess whether or not people need surgery.

Most of the patients from these villages are poor and therefore they do not pay for their surgeries. They will have everything provided free of charge, including transportation and accommodation for two nights while they are at the hospital. In the past this has been one of the major limitations of providing healthcare to poor rural areas – they cannot afford to get to the cities where the services are provided.

Nurses at the Hospital

Despite offering free services to the poorest patients, they still do cover all of their costs by charging other patients for surgeries. We thought this would mean that it would be more expensive for wealthier patients. The manager of the hospital said that it was actually still cheaper for these people to get their surgeries done here than somewhere else. Once again though, their limitation of the number of surgeries was a lack of patients, which seems like another massive failure of Grameen marketing.

Alfonso found out he needs glasses

The hospital had 4 doctors, who rotated working days at the hospital. Presumably the other days of the week they are working in Dhaka or another city. This is another major limitation for rural health provision. Grameen Kalyan provides rural health insurance and basic health provision to the borrowers of the Grameen Bank. Their main limitation was an inability to attract doctors to practice in the rural areas. Despite offering twice the salary and a free motorcycle it was still hard to get doctors.

I think this hospital has some deal worked out with a hospital in Dhaka or some other city where they get a doctor for the day. Then the next day a different doctor is sent. This way no one doctor is forced to endure the quiet, picturesque, relatively pollution free countryside for more than a day or two at one time! And they don't have to pay the salary of a full time doctor, which helps them save costs. 

It was difficult to see how they are able to cut costs so much without sacrificing quality, but hopefully back in Dhaka I can take a look at their balance sheets and income statements to find out more. 

Cheers,

Mike

Grameen Danone

Grameen Danone is a social business that produces nutritious yogurt for children in rural areas around Bogra and in urban areas around Dhaka. They did a study of the diets of children in Bangaldesh and identified a number of areas where the children were not getting enough nutrients. The yogurt was designed to ensure that the children get those nutrients that they are missing, be tasty so that the kids like it, and be affordable.

I don't know about the kids, but Ross loved it!

The result of this study and plan was in 2006 construction began on the plant and but February 2007, it started operating. At the plant they collect milk from micro cow farmers who are borrowers from the Grameen Bank, and they also collect from the Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Project.

The Grameen Danone Factory

The milk is collected at a couple remote locations that have a automated machine which measures and tests the milk. The farmers are paid 20 to 30 taka for the milk depending on the quality. In 2008 they started with 234 farmers and they now have 400, each with 3-4 cows. 90% of the milk is collected this way, and most of the remaining 10% is collected from the Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Project. They have to offer the farms a competitive price because the farmers can sell their milk in the local markets as well.

The milk is then brought to the factory to be processed. The factory has solar panels heating the water, and a rain collection system as well in an attempt to reduce their energy and water consumption. We were not allowed to see much of the factory actually, because they are concerned about keeping it clean. So we could really just sit in the office and talk to the manager.

The yogurt is then sold through yogurt ladies, who are borrowers from the Grameen Bank, in rural areas. The women get a 1 taka commission when they sell them, so that the final price consumers pay is 6 taka (less than 10 cents) for a 60 gram cup. They have a mango flavour which is 7 taka, and both are more expensive in Dhaka because of the transportation costs.

A Cup of the Shaktidoi Yogurt

The factory has 100 marketing and sales employees and 500 yogurt ladies. Each lady sells approximately 70-80 cups per day, and on the whole they sell 100,000 cups per day. The factory provides the yogurt to the ladies on credit, and they repay it the next time they buy more yogurt from the factory.

Like most Bangali managers, he did not have much idea about the financial state of his business. He kept saying it was hard to be sure. He said that the plan was still losing money - apparently the plan was to be profitable by the end of 2011, which still gives them time to reach that target. However their original plan was definitely more ambitious.

Posing with the Shaktidoi Lion!

 One of the interns had done a project on Grameen Danone, and they were supposed to already have a second plant and have begun constructing a third. However it sounds like they have had issues with production a couple times which have set them back. On the whole though, it was a very interesting trip.

 It seems like once again the major limitation is the demand for the product. Like with the water at Veolia, they are having trouble convincing people that their product is worth spending 6 taka on. The people in the rural villages are used to making their own yogurt, and not paying anything. But apparently the yogurt that can be bought in the markets is more expensive and not as nutritious. You would think with that kind of competitive advantage on their side they would find it easier to sell the yogurt. I am beginning to question Grameen marketing campaigns. They say that the way they promote most social businesses is through centre meetings, or travelling salesmen.

That was our trip to Grameen Danone, which was right next to the eye care hospital, but that is a whole new post!

Cheers,

Mike

Grameen Knitwear

Today we had a trip to the Grameen Knitwear factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. It was a very interesting trip to see to conditions that people were working in and everything that goes into making that shirt that you pick up from your favourite clothing store.

The factory was quite big and it was also located in the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) which is basically a higher security area where many foreign companies have located and good there are produced to be exported. The Grameen Knitwear factory was one of the few wholly Bangali owned factories located in the EPZ. The only other name I recognised was an Avery factory, but we only drove though a small portion.

Inside the Factory

Generally the working conditions in the EPZ are better than in other factories outside. The environment is better for the workers, not as hot, fewer fumes, higher safety standards etc. The pay is also better, the Grameen Knitwear factory paid their unskilled workers 3,800 taka per month ($55), compared to 3,000 outside. However this wage rate does not include some extras including a food / lunch allowance, and a bus service to pick up and drop off workers at their homes. They have found that one major advantage of these bonuses was that they had very low turnover compared to other garment factories.

The Factory was split into main 3 sections: Knitting, Dyeing, Garment – which was further split into cutting, sewing, and finishing / packing. Finishing included numerous quality checks and ironing, before it was packaged and put in boxes to be shipped out.

Knitting Section- all automated

The factory was opened in 1999 and employed 900 people then and was 1 storey tall. Now they employ 2,700 skilled and unskilled workers, in a 4 storey building. Grameen had also just purchased some nearby land which was going to be used for a couple of social businesses and a second garment factory. On a side note – one of the social businesses being built will be an Adidas factory where they are producing specially designed and affordable shoes for children in impoverished families.

A couple knitting machines

They exported most of their clothing to Germany, most of the rest to other parts of Europe and a small portion to North America. They imported yarn from India and specialised in athletic wear which is higher quality than the surrounding garment factories outside the EPZ produce.

Fabric waiting to be dried after the dyeing stage

It was very interesting to see all the work and the whole process that goes into making each t-shirt that you try on at the mall. The manager said that the cost for different shirts varied, but on average they sold each for $2.50 to the distributor, and he then had heard that they sold those for 4 to 5 times the price. Then add in another mark-up by the retailer and that is what you and I are paying.

Cutting Stage - they stack 30 sheets at least before cutting

 Plus in a factory of 2,700 Bangali workers, at the end of the process they wrap the shirt in plastic and throw in a cardboard picture of a white German girl with blond hair and blues eyes. I have never properly appreciated the number of people that go into making each t-shirt, and the only thing I think about when deciding which to buy is the picture of how it looks.

The Sewing Section

The manager mentioned that energy was a major problem for the plant. When the electricity went off, he had to pay 4 to 5 times as much to get electricity from a gas powered generator. In one of our other meetings they had talked about designing factories so that they will need less air-conditioning and fans and be all around more energy efficient. It is unfortunate that solar power is not feasible yet, since Bangladesh has such a huge power shortage (supply is only half of demand) and they get a lot of sun here.

I feel like I keep getting drawn off onto tangents, but this was an interesting thing I read in my book talking about adapting technology for the bottom of the pyramid markets. Here in places like Bangladesh, especially in rural places, you cannot just plug in your curling iron or blow dryer, because there are blackouts, and when the power is on there are numerous power surges. So anything that runs off electricity has to be able to handle a range of voltages. The technology has to be more advanced and developed to work here than in the developed world! That is just one example of the many adaptations needed that I would not have thought of before.

So, that was my trip to a garment factory. The factory has expanded quite rapidly, from 900 employees in 1999 to 2,700 in 2010, but they need to keep expanding. Firstly it is profitable, and it is also providing valuable, high quality jobs and economic growth to the area. For example if you build more factories then there are more workers who need houses to rent, and more income for nearby rural families who are renting a room out to the workers.

Cheers,

Mike

Lalbag Fort

Today it seemed that most people were just relaxing at the hotel. I did not plan on doing that so I went down to the front desk and they directed me to Lalbag Fort. I don't know too much about it, except that it was a Moghul fortress built about 350 years ago.

The Central Tomb 

It is quite funny actually when you are walking around, you will see groups of kids who will dare one of them to come up and talk to you. Or there is one kid who wants to show off to his friends that he can speak English. A couple times I got approached by people who just wanted to ask what my name was, my country and what I thought of Bangladesh. You can see that the thing they hammer home first is the conversation "Hello," "Hello," "how are you", "Fine, thank you." After that usually all you get are keywords, a point at me and "name?" or "country?" and "married?"

Twice now today, I had people ask me to take a picture of them. I thought they wanted me to use their camera, but no, they wanted me to take a picture of them with my camera!

A young couple

The fortress grounds seemed to be the place to be for a romantic date with the girl you fancied. There were countless couples sitting on the grass hidden under their umbrella or a bush (For example in the first photo of the central tomb, on the left side you can see a guy in red sitting under a bush with his girlfriend - most of the girls did not have nose piercings which indicate that they are married). I think bringing a girl here was probably also a way to show off for the guys since it was 50 taka entrance fee (but 100 taka for white people!). Still it was well worth the not even $1.50 I spent!

On the Second Floor of the Fort

I was quite happy to wander around myself, but when I went into the actual fort this very nice man insisted on taking me around and explaining everything they had in the little museum. Bangali hospitality is amazing, infact sometimes I find it a little too much, but it is always appreciated. He also never missed a chance to take a picture of me! I could not under stand much of what he was saying, often the only words I could make out were Moghul and China, 300, Shia and Sunni. They had a ton of gold and silver coins, and some Persian ceramics, some Moghul Rugs, and Moghul weaponry. They also had a lot of Arabic and Farsi caligraphy as well as the Qur'an written on paper will gold borders and designs. It was all quite impressive.

The Tomb and Fort and the Surrounding Gardens

I thought about spending some more time in the surrounding markets, but I did not really fancy walking around the crowded streets on my own. Definitely better than spending a day in the hotel.

Cheers,
Mike

A New Social Business Idea

While we are here in Bangladesh we are planning on visiting a number of social businesses. Social businesses are profitable businesses that are self sustaining without donations, but are not concerned with making huge profits. Instead they just want to cover costs and provide the most benefit to their customers.

I have mentioned a couple on the blog, but some examples are Grameen Knitwear which provides more comfortable working conditions to its employees, Grameen Veolia which provides arsenic free drinking water to rural communities, and Grameen Fund which provides venture capital to struggling entrepreneurs who need bigger loans than what Grameen Bank provides and can’t go to a commercial bank.

If these businesses make a profit, then that money is reinvested back into the business so that they can expand, it is not paid out in bonuses to the directors or anything. It goes back to the people who need it the most.

The branch we stayed at on our overnight village trip was located at a local bus stop, and there was a fairly big market there. They had a number of buildings with stalls set up for people to sell good from, or produce something in. When we interview a number of micro-enterprise loan borrowers from the Grameen Bank it was apparent that none of them had used their loans to buy the building. They had all inherited it from their father or some other family member.

The Mustard Oil and Rice Mill Factory! Inherited from his father

No one seemed able to make that step up from the rural villages around the market, to actually owning a building in the market. My idea is that a social business would build new buildings, or they could buy existing ones, and then offer to lease-to-own them to the borrowers of the Grameen Bank. For example someone who was currently operating a grocery store or a tailoring business could move that business to the bigger, more popular market.

A Medicine Shop, also inherited from his father

Some issues might be that in order to get the repayment instalments small enough for the borrowers to be able to afford the term would probably have to be at least 5 years, if not more. When these borrowers are used to dealing with 1 year loans, this might seem like an extra long loan, and a much greater chance that something could go wrong, like a death or a flood. Also once a villager has an established business and farmland in the village, she may not even want to move her business to the local market. Also having such a long payback might make it hard for the social business to grow fast enough to make a real impact.

It would also allow borrowers to expand on some businesses, there were some people that had rice mills and processed rice. If they had a stall in the market, they would be able to do this on a much larger scale and buy rice paddy from more farmers which they could then process and sell to wholesalers. The same would be true of grocery store and tailoring businesses.

Cheers,

Mike

Update to My Plans

So apparently there is a slight breeze coming off the Indian ocean. They even named it, Cyclone Laila! ... so suffice to say we are postponing our trip to the beach for now. We may head up to the Tea Estates however in the north of Bangladesh. On a brighter note, my application for my visa went well, but I still only find out on the 26th if I will get a Visa or not. The guy said it would be pretty likely, but not a hundred percent sure.

The Indian embassy is a huge joke though. No where on their website does it say that they are only open for 2 hours a day, 10am-12pm. The only advice that their website gives foreign nationals in Bangladesh is to go home and get a visa. Then their application form on the website tells you to bring only about half of the stuff that you need to bring - they just don't tell you the other half until you get there. At which point you have to go either back to your hotel, which was a 45 minute drive away, or wander around until you find a Internet Cafe. And don't even bother calling them, their phones seem to always be down.

Basically if they made any attempt to communicate with people it be so much easier. They only give out short term Visas, no single entry no multiple entry ones, another fact they do not mention until they reject you.

So my day went like this. I got to the embassy at 9:30, had to wait till it opened at 10. My visa officer told me that I needed proof of my internship with the Grameen Bank. So I walked to Gulshan-2, the big roundabout in the area, and found a internet cafe and printed it - I had tried to do this back at the hotel but apparently their printer is closed until 10am. I went back to the embassy, and my visa officer started asking questions about Grameen, what I actually did there, what I was learning. He then told me that they were a lie and that microfinance banks were a ruse to kidnap women from villages, and then it was a huge controversy that Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Prize. I then had to wait all the way until noon when he said ok, took my passport and my money and told me to come back on the 26th to find out if I can go to India on the 27th.

Interestingly the branch managers we have talked to said that convincing people that their borrowers will not "vanish" is one of their biggest obstacles in expanding into new villages. I'm not sure where this rumor came from, but I would imagine it was started by loan sharks trying to hold on to their customers.

So that is my rant for the blog. Basically the lesson to be learned is if you are going to the area, get all the visas for the countries that you are even just considering going to. This week long struggle in Dhaka could have been in one afternoon trip to downtown Toronto, with someone who spoke fluent English and when it is not 42 degrees outside.

Cheers,
Mike

Plans for the Next Two Weeks

A quick update on what I have done:

Yesterday we went on a boat cruise on the Buringanga River in Dhaka, which was a very cool experience. It was very picturesque since we went around sunset, but it was a little sobering to see the state of the water and then see people swimming, bathing and washing in it. I found it odd that in the middle of all this was a immaculately kept mosque. On the other side were continuous ship yards, salvaging scrap from ships and repairing others.
and I have a very busy two weeks planned now:

Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning I am going to call the Indian Embassy, and figure out what I need, and then head there bright and early and apply for a tourist visa. Then hopefully I will be able to make it back to the Grameen Bank by 11am to meet with Grameen Fund. Grameen Fund provides larger loans which are outside the scope of what Grameen Bank provides to people. Then in the afternoon we are meeting with Grameen Capital Management, it is going to be our finance day.

Thursday - Sunday a group of 10 of us are renting a micro-bus for the weekend and driving 10 hours to Cox Bazar, which will come to a grand total of 16,500 taka, or about $25 each for the 4 days! Cox Bazar is the world's longest naturally occurring continuous beach! We will also be stopping in to see the Grameen Veolia plant - they are building water treatment facilities across India to provide clean, arsenic free, water to rural communities. They have only been operational for 8 months, so we are going to go see their first plant on the way to Cox Bazar. We come back Sunday night, and then Monday morning we head out again.

Monday - Tuesday we are heading to Bogra region to visit Grameen Healthcare - providing affordable eye treatment, Grameen Danone - providing affordable nutritious yogurt, and Grameen Fisheries - which i don't know too much about yet. We will also be able to see a Buddhist Monastery while we are there!

Wednesday we will hopefully be able to go see the Grameen Knitwear factory - they are building a bunch of factories and this is the first. The factories will provide well paying jobs, in much improved conditions using innovative building designs to reduce energy consumption from things like air conditioning.

And then Wednesday or Thursday  we will hopefully get a chance to meet Muhammad Yunus!!

Then Thursday afternoon I fly out to India - assuming I get my visa with no problems (I know a couple people who have been rejected). In India the plan is to fly in to Kolkata, then immediately take a train to Varanasi and spend a couple days. Then take an overnight train to Agra and see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, before taking a train the same night to Jaipur. Spend a couple days there before taking another train to Delhi to fly home. The Flights are only going to be $175 apparently, and the trains are very cheap as well! Still gotta sort out accommodation though. Backup plan if my visa does not work is to go to Nepal with one of the guys here!

So no rest for the weary! But I'm not complaining. =)

Cheers,
Mike

Area #202 - Mirzapur

Borrowers	28,546
Active Borrowers	20,618
Groups	4,265
Centres	508
Branches	8
Staff	61
Recovery Rate	99.32%
Basic Loan (#)	19,765
Housing Loan (#)	65
Micro Enterprise Loan (#)	616
Education Loan (#)	117
Struggling Member Loans (#)	201
Struggling Member Loans (Taka)	434,750
Loans Disbursed (Taka)	238,634,253
Loans Insured (#)	27,877
Total Deposits (Taka)	513,256,490
Borrowers’ Deposits (Taka)	403,647,335
Non-Borrowers Deposits (Taka)	109,609,155
Total GPS (#)	33,128
Total GPS (Taka)	238,226,085
Polli Phone	1,115
Revenue - Jan-April 2010 (Taka)	26,931,725
Expenses - Jan-April 2010 (Taka)	24,537,797
Net Profit - Jan-April 2010 (Taka)	2,395,927

This is the “at-a-glance” stats on the Mirzapur Area, which our branch was located in.

One interesting thing from the data is the number of GPS accounts – 33,000, which is greater that the number of borrowers. This is one sign I think that people are definitely are progressing out of poverty using the bank. From looking at our branch logs a number of the borrowers had two GPS accounts and some even had three. Each account lasts for 10 years (I think there might also be a 5 year option), and at the end of the 10 years the amount of money that they receive is more than double what they deposit into the account.

The reason people have more than one account is that with each account you are fixed to depositing the same amount each month for 10 years. So if people want to save more then they must open a new account. For example people often started off depositing 200 tk each month, and then would add a 500 tk and maybe also a 1,000 tk accounts.

It seemed like the branch we went to had been established a while ago, 20 years, and branch we visited on our day trip had been around for 30 years. It would be interesting to see if it is possible to go see a branch that has been established more recently and see how people are doing there.

One thing we were concerned about was that it seemed a little redundant that the Bank had so many levels – Head Office, Zonal, Area and Branches. However, 61 staff for almost 30,000 borrowers is not too excessive. And they are profitable, so it must be effective. 

I will post data on the Branch we visited later, they gave me a list, but it is all in Bengla, and not English, so I need to get that translated.

Cheers,

Mike

The Grameen System

Before I talk more about the trip, I should describe in a little more detail the workings of the Grameen Bank. I think this is a pretty good start, but I will likely add to this later and make it a separate page on the blog, instead of just a post.

The current model of the bank is actually called Grameen II or the Grameen Generalised System. The bank switched to this new system from Grameen I – the Grameen Classic System between 2000 and 2002.

The switch to the new system was to create a better way to deal with the occurrence of natural disasters and other events which interrupted the borrowers’ repayment schedule. This change was prompted by the 1998 flood which was one of the worst, if not the worst to strike the country. Half the country was under water for ten weeks.  

In response to the flood the bank gave out a fresh round of loans to help people restart income generating activities. However the burden of the loan repayment instalments was too much and cause many women to avoid coming to centre meetings.

The bank realised that increasing people’s instalments by giving them more loans was not the best approach. They also knew that these poor people will repay, even if it takes longer than initially expected. So in response they introduced the flexible loan option when borrowers come in to trouble.

Morning: The Centre Leader depositing her groups instalments

If a borrower cannot follow the repayment schedule then she can move to the flexible loan with a new and easier repayment schedule – smaller instalment over a longer period of time. She will gradually work back up to the basic loan. Another option is to repay according to income. So during times of the year where her income is higher she pays bigger loans, and smaller loans at other times.

Another big change is the removal of the group savings account, there are also no group loans. Now every borrower has their own savings account and own loan. They still have the groups though, and each group elects a group leader, collects the instalments from each of the borrowers in her group. This still provides the same group setting and support system, but allows each borrower to progress and increase their loan ceiling.

A borrower withdrawing from her GPS savings account (See below)

The village still is motivated to ensure that all its borrowers repay their loans, because before a loan is approved it must be within the individual borrowers’ ceiling but also the groups’ and whole villages’ ceiling. However by having individual account, it is easier for people to withdraw money to their own reasons like sending a child to school or to do work on their house.

I got to play branch manager and hand over the money!

Below is a brief description of the different products that the bank offers, we have not had the savings and insurance products talk yet, so I may come back and add to this / correct things:

Loan Products:

• All Loans, except for struggling member and flexible loans
• 20% interest, on a declining basis, which is equivalent to a 10% effective interest
• When looking at interest rates for loans in Bangladesh, keep in mind that the inflation is around 5%, which means that the interest rates must also be that much higher
• Basic Loan
• Starts off with around a 2-10,000 Taka loan,
• Can progress up to 50-100,000 taka.
• This is the most common loan by far for most borrowers.
• Flexible lengths 4,6,12,24 months.
• Flexible Loan
• If a borrowers is having trouble meeting their weekly instalments due to illness, a death, natural disaster or some other event, then they can renegotiate their loan so that they are paying smaller instalments over a longer period of time.
• Education Loan – Loans for the children of borrowers to get an honour university level education from a public university
• Housing Loan – Loan for building a new house, or repairing an old one.
• Micro Entreprise Loan – A continuation of the basic loan but bigger, generally 100-300,000 taka
• Struggling Member (Beggar) Loan – It is for people who are begging and have absolutely nothing, there is no interest, and no required instalments – meaning they pay it back when they can, the incentive is to pay it back so that they can get a bigger loan after

 Savings Products:

•  Personal Savings Account – mandatory for all, weekly deposits based on the size of your loan, the bank gives
• Grameen Pension Savings Account (GPS) – They make monthly instalments, and it 10 years they get back more than double the sum of their instalments. Compulsory for borrowers with greater than a 8,000 taka loan.
• Double in 7 Years – They deposit a lump sum, and in 7 year they get back double

 Insurance Products:

• Loan Insurnace Savings Fund – borrower deposits a small % of loan and in case of death of the borrower or her husband, the loan is forgiven
• Cow insurance – Has not been fully explained to me, but I think it is in case of accidental death

Village Soccer!

Our first day we decided to just walk down the country road and see where it took us. We ended up walking almost 4km apparently and found a soccer field with a couple kids taking shots on a goal. It was an open field with grass which the village used to let cattle graze in. This also meant that you had to be careful to avoid the cow droppings when you were running around the field.

The Soccer Teams!

We played Eleven-a-side and even had a ref (the guy on my left in the red). Everyone was very friendly, the guy on my right, Roman, spoke a little English and we were teammates at first. It was a very cool experience though, we played barefoot, and drew out most of the village - you can see in the background of that picture the people standing on the sidelines.

Lots of bangla being spoken, it took quite a while

Eventually we lined up... and then talked some more bangla

And finally off we go! Ross is in white on the far left, I'm in white way at the back, and Alfonso is up close in the red and black.

The teams were foreigners plus some locals against the rest of the locals and in the end we won 4-2! I scored a goal and set up two as well.

Cheers,
Mike