tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36005510048524140522024-03-26T04:47:10.196-04:00Stories from the GrameenAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-33176633867798596792012-04-24T15:43:00.002-04:002012-04-24T15:43:21.633-04:00PreconceptionsApparently, I work in the "rough" east end of London. I don't just work there, it is in fact my job to promote the Old East Village! When ever I tell someone from London that I work there, the first thing I get asked is "Isn't that a bad part of town?"<br />
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Most of these people are students, often at Western University, who have never even been down to that part of the city. This preconception of the neighbourhood is likely formed by things they hear from their professors, classmates, the media and friends.<br />
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I guess I haven't quite been able to figure out how best to respond. All I know is that many of my favourite restaurants, stores and venues are all down there. And there is nowhere better to be on a Saturday morning than at the Western Fair Market. Part of it is what I mentioned in a previous <a href="http://storiesfromthegrameen.blogspot.ca/2011/08/attitude-of-development.html">post</a>, it all depends on what you want to look for. If you go there for the unique tea shop or antiques and collectables, then you will certainly find them. But if you go looking for people loitering and vacant buildings then you will also see that. It is all up to you!<br />
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In the future ill go with:<br />
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"Have you been down there to see for yourself? Because you need to check where you get your information."<br />
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Also, check out my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2973615873622.2113824.1658550133&type=1&l=e07ba9d9ed" target="_blank">instagram picture album</a>, I try and feature some of the neat things in London, many of which are in the Old East Village!<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-35435221046640718472011-11-10T22:52:00.001-05:002011-11-10T23:04:34.020-05:00Yes You Can!It does not matter what others say, the truth is yes you can!<br />
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I am going to keep this short and sweet, because you have better and more important things to do than listen to other people telling you what to do. If you have read the title and these first three sentences then you have read enough, the rest is just me explaining myself.<br />
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I went to the <a href="http://citysymposium.com/">City Symposium</a> today and that was a slap in the face to re-awaken me. It reminded me of all the things that <a href="http://ecomythsmith.blogspot.com/">Graham Smith</a> had been telling me the last two years in his classes. Enough with the pessimism, enough with the fighting between each other. Lets be optimistic, lets work together, lets help each other out.<br />
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I know I am just some idealistic kid who is ranting on his blog, but someone somewhere might read this and actually be motivated to do it. So if I give just a tiny push to get them on their way then I will be happy.<br />
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In light of some of the battles I heard about today at the Symposium mine seem like minor disturbances however my point still stands. I have fought through different organisations where we were told no we can't and why would you even suggest that. I work in a neighbourhood which has been told that no they can't. But at the end of the day we did get what wanted in a different way, but we got it. And good things are going on where I work.<br />
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Its all about the attitude you have. Have an open mind, be innovative, the more we share, the more we have. You can do it!<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-69953272712027269482011-10-23T16:56:00.001-04:002011-10-24T19:41:58.694-04:00The Occupy Movement, Systems and Arts and CultureCouple Questions:<br />
<br />
I have been busy lately and have not had much time to put together a coherent post. But there are a couple things I am struggling with right now:<br />
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<b>The occupy movement</b>: I get it, 99% vs 1%, but what is camping outside of banks going to do? There are more productive ways to get things done. This leads in to my second issue:<br />
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<b>Systems</b>: A mentor to me made the point that systems are great at collecting resources to keep the system going, and they are good at protecting themselves from losing those resources. The people who have the resources that the system needs to continue benefit, while those who do not have the resources, are pushed aside.<br />
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I know that one person benefiting does not mean that others are being pushed down, but no attempt is being made to help them start to benefit more. We need to create new systems, which represent and collect resources for those who are currently excluded. They need to be able to sustain themselves, while supporting those who need it, and still be able to rival the existing systems. It is a big ask, and I don't know how to do it. the resources of the 1% might be immense, but so are the resources of the 99%. So there needs to be a way to pool all that, and create a significant impact.<br />
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<b>Arts and Culture</b>: The Arts and Culture community is, almost by definition, incredibly varied. That is its greatest asset and also its greatest weakness. No one wants bands who all sounds the same, or artists which paint the same picture. However, this differences also mean that every creative person has different ideas, different priorities, different audiences and different needs. This makes it almost impossible for arts and culture to pool their collective influence and importance so that they can have a stronger voice.<br />
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I was at a meeting recently where a group from the arts and culture community were talking about what they think needs to be done to grow the arts community. The discussion struggled with how we reach to people who are not currently coming out to our events. Primarily this focussed on the lack of youth at the meeting and at their events.<br />
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Tom Borrup discusses <a href="http://wayback.archive-it.org/2077/20100903220152/http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2003/04/toward_assetbas.php">here</a> about how people are most engaged when they are respected for who they are, what they believe, and what they bring to the table. I think currently the youth and their artistic interests do not feel respected and therefore they are not going to be engaged with the culture of, as they perceive it, the older generation. There needs to be a shift, as Borrup indicates, towards practicing the idea of cultural equality and not privileging one group or form over another.<br />
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Too often it is thought that the youth, or any other group which is not participating in the established culture, needs to be educated about the importance of the arts. Once they are educated then they will come, we just need to tell them why to come.This superiority attitude needs to change, or else that art which people are fighting so hard to keep alive is going to be lost for good. Someone needs to remember the youth when we talk to the community, they may not be the current community leaders, but they are the future leaders.<br />
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Instead I think we need to be looking at what these other groups are doing and looking for new creative to combine their different creative interests. Creative ways where all forms of art are treated equally. Globalization and technology are making it easier and easier for different cultures and different ideas to come together, so why don't we embrace that? Have a little respect for each other and together we can do so much more.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-85176489862151432992011-08-25T22:01:00.000-04:002011-08-25T22:01:03.821-04:00The Attitude of DevelopmentIn every community I have been to which is trying to redevelop itself or get through a hard time there has been one overriding commonality in the way they think, and it is something a lot of people don't get. <br />
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They don't need other people to feel sorry for them, or tell them what is wrong and how to fix it, they just need other people to listen to them. They live in their community everyday, they don't need to be reminded what is wrong with it. This is something that everyone has trouble getting over when they go to a new place.<br />
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<b>Think about it another way.</b><br />
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If there is something you think is really bad, then there must be a ton of things that are really good for the local residents to still want to live there! Those are the important things that should be focused on and built on. They may not be things that you can see right away. You can easily see crumbling buildings, or vandalism, but you can't immediately see a strong supporting community, friendly neighbours, cheap rent or diverse opinions and ideas. It is not until you start talking to people and actually listening to what they say that you can begin to see those things. Too often people come in to a community, take a quick look and do too much talking and not enough listening.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJqxE0qNyZ9HdYkNmoJp88Sgh2g7B2GI2YuxZNlKslX061jknJ9U637hbXR2FTI_YVR1DpSr34WbRsmKI_oSksr0jQdOrJu9AzxV1E2XZLWs39a2VkUDPEQ4Qz8Ymd4aIrFB-82OFvLLe/s1600/2011-08-08+Dundas+Corridor+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJqxE0qNyZ9HdYkNmoJp88Sgh2g7B2GI2YuxZNlKslX061jknJ9U637hbXR2FTI_YVR1DpSr34WbRsmKI_oSksr0jQdOrJu9AzxV1E2XZLWs39a2VkUDPEQ4Qz8Ymd4aIrFB-82OFvLLe/s320/2011-08-08+Dundas+Corridor+011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What do you like best about your community? What do you want to see happen?</div><br />
The reason this is so important is because everyone is taught the Type-A solutions to problems. We are taught the status quo, the prevailing thoughts, the consensus in school and university. Now if a community appears to be struggling it is probably because the prevailing ideas are not working, and a change is needed. Be dynamic! Innovative ideas are needed which you can only discover by talking and listening to what different people have to say. Only then will you broaden your perspective.<br />
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Its the difference between "you should do this" and "what can I do for you?" or "what do you think of this?" It is something that everyone struggles with when entering a new community, but I think the faster you can change that mindset the greater the impact you can have and the more help you can provide.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
Michael<br />
<span id="goog_6264086"></span><span id="goog_6264087"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-3634252310810759452011-08-22T21:17:00.001-04:002011-08-22T21:28:44.325-04:00Creating Culture to Create DevelopmentRight now I am interested in how arts and culture relate to community development. How can it be used to stimulate local economic development, create employment and build a community?<br />
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So often the things I have been reading have been about how thriving arts and culture scenes make those cities the need-to-be places. Or how important arts and culture is to a city for attracting businesses and people to want to locate in the city. Recently in my spare time I have been reading Richard Florida's <i>The Rise of the Creative Class. </i>This is his first, widely cited and hugely influential book on the development of many cities. In it he develops a Creativity Index which is based on three indexes: a Bohemian Index, a Gay Index and an Diversity Index. These are used to predict a cities standing in the creative economy. Essentially the cities with the highest concentrations of the super creative bohemians - artists, writers, musicians, designers; strong LGBT communities; and open to new immigrants are the cities that will be the most creative.<br />
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It all makes sense that cities and neighbourhoods with more people from different backgrounds with different perspectives will come up with innovative new ideas that wouldn't develop in a more homogeneous environment. I also realise that creative people like local musicians or artists attract people who want to walk past a mural painted by their neighbour be able to go to their local bar and hear the guys down the street play.<br />
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I get all that but then so what? What am I supposed to do with that?<br />
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It seems that we are too busy talking about the importance of Arts and Culture, rather than looking at how to create, foster, and grow it. There seems to be very little on this. Florida's indexes show where creative cities are, but what came first? The creative economy or their or the gay bohemian immigrant? From my experience so far, politicians and planners and great at saying 'Oh look! We have a cool arts scene. We need to use it to promote our city.' It seems like something that cities stumble upon, rather than consciously build themselves.<br />
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Florida an member of the creative class who says that "We want a place that is not done". Creative types don't want something that is already done, they want to be able to create it and shape the area that they live in. That is part of who they are.<br />
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To me the conclusion should be that cities need to realise that they can't force a vibrant arts and culture district to happen. It has to be created by the creative people who are in it. If I had the answer I would write a book and travel around giving speeches, but I don't unfortunately.<br />
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In the long term I think it starts in schools and with kids. There needs to be more effort to encourage students to be creative and come up with innovative projects, answers and solutions. Right now the focus is on getting "the right" answer. Beyond that I think the most can be done at the community level by community leaders. For example: adaptive uses of schools and other public facilities in off hours to allow arts/ cultural groups access to space.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-81557201580192243402011-08-15T00:03:00.000-04:002011-08-15T00:03:42.170-04:00Population DensitiesI just drove the two and a half hour drive from Toronto to London, Canada and a couple weeks ago for the Canada day weekend I drove all the way to Ottawa. These trips reminded me just how vast, and sparsely populated Canada is.<br />
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Consider these two trips: <b>A) Toronto to London, Canada</b> and <b>B) Dhaka to Tangail District, Bangladesh</b>.<br />
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A) Toronto to London is 200km approximately and it takes about 2 hours 30 minutes.<br />
B) Dhaka to Tangail is about 85km, and it takes between 4 and 5 hours.<br />
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Part of the difference here is traffic, part is the state of the road and cars. Traffic is horrendous in Bangladesh, almost all the time, while in Toronto is only bad at certain times. The traffic problems are based purely on the number of people.<br />
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A) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_Ontario">South-Western Ontario</a> has a population of<b> 2.5 million</b> and an area of 37 thousand km squared.<br />
B) Meanwhile, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_Division">Dhaka Division</a> (which both Dhaka and Tangail are located within) is roughly the same size, at 31 thousand km squared but has a massive population of <b>46.7 million</b>!!<br />
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The difference between those is almost incomprehensible. SW Ontario has a density of <b>6.7 people per square km</b>, while Dhaka Division has a density 22 times greater at <b>150 people per square km</b>. This is the problem that I had trying to describe the rural areas of Bangladesh. It is rural in the sense that it is mostly agriculturally based, and it is less dense that the cities. But in terms of people it is not rural by Canadian standards.<br />
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The drive to Ottawa really struck home this difference. When you turn off the 401 and head north on Highway 416, you are essentially driving through a forest for the next 75km until you reach Ottawa. Now imagine seeing 100-150 people and their homes, livestock, fields and shops at each km marker along the highway. In addition you have just left Dhaka, a city of approximately 13 million people, and are going to the <i>small </i>city of Tangail (3 million).<br />
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Why does this all matter?<br />
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All I am saying is think about this when you are about to complain about not having a highspeed railway network or that it takes too long to get between cities. We simply do not have the density of people required to support all these things. Hopefully as globalization continues there will be fewer and fewer limits on the flow of people. Canada can only benefit from having more people to bolster its economy and life in its cities and towns. People from different parts of the world, with different world views, working and living together bring about new innovative and creative ideas. Which is exactly what Canada needs to be competitive in the global economy.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-4421463234670066492011-08-07T21:25:00.002-04:002011-08-07T21:37:20.593-04:00What Recent Grads DoSo I just had a conversation with one of my friends who is going into the second year of his bachelors degree. He was asking me about the life of an upper year student, and about life after university. Which got me thinking....<br />
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Over the past couple years I have met so many people who for whatever reason were breaking out of the mould. Some had dreams of bigger places, some just had a travel itch, but all were fed up with doing what they felt they were "supposed" to do.<br />
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This is all about doing something different, something you really want, not what everyone else wants or expects. When you are applying for a job you don't want to blend in, when you are working on a project you don't want to submit the same old assignment as everyone else. Think outside the box, be creative, follow your passion and dream, expand your boundaries...<br />
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What we are "supposed" to do usually consists of something like:<br />
<ol><li>Graduate Highschool</li>
<li>Get a Bachelor's Degree and then if needed a Master's Degree</li>
<li>Get a Job</li>
<li>Get Married</li>
<li>Get a House</li>
<li>Get a Family</li>
<li>Put the kids through School and University</li>
<li>Watch the kids move out </li>
<li>AND THEN travel</li>
</ol><div>It is usually imposed on us by cultural ideas or what our parents did. But honestly, what kid wants to be exactly like their parents, or their grandparents? How about lets do the last step first!</div><div><br />
</div><div>We live in an ever more global and interconnected world. It is easier for us to travel around the world that ever before, it is easier for us to communicate with people on the opposite side of the world. Because of this our world is going to become ever more interconnected. It is so much easier it would be a shame to not take advantage of them.<br />
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One of my other friends showed me a link to <a href="http://www.wanderingearl.com/how-i-can-afford-my-life-of-constant-travel/">WanderingEarl's blog</a>:. I loved this article, <b>why don't more people know about these other options</b>? There is more than the pre-prescribed way to live your life. My friend is a huge inspiration since she had the guts to move to a new city and try to find a job, and when that didn't work, she looked somewhere else. Now in a couple days she is off to the other side of the world to teach math for a year on Mongolia!<br />
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One other thing that I don't understand is why these alternative lifestyles are often viewed as a waste of time, and escape from reality or a young innocent persons dream? As I said before - we live in an increasingly globalised world. Doesn't that imply that we need globalised people?<br />
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What happens in one part of the world (take for example the potential defaults of the US and Spain situations) affects all other parts of the world. What we need is people who are global citizens, people who know how different cultures work, and how innovative partnerships can be formed. When we collaborate we will be more successful than trying to do things on our own. Projects where the community collaborate together are the projects that are the most successful. And like it or not we are a global community now, so we need to start collaborating on a global scale. If you have a job, or are looking for a job, then the ability to bring your experience and knowledge of global examples, how to work with other cultures and people, or even your global connections to the table will make you very employable.<br />
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I couple months ago I went to a speach by Dr. Uma Nararyan at The University of Western Ontario. She was speaking about the darkside of microfinance, the side that people don't hear about in the news. She presented all the problems and no solutions. So, after her talk, I put up my hand and asked what we should do instead, and suggested things like working to work to get property rights, and the rule of law actually enforced. Why focus on the negative, focus on the positives and on the solutions (that is one of the most important things <a href="http://ecomythsmith.blogspot.com/">Dr. Graham Smith</a> taught me)?<br />
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In response she proceeded to essentially ridicule me in front of everyone about how I could suggest ways to change microfinance after all the horrible things she has said about it. I pushed further, asking simply - ok, what do we do instead?A couple more wrinkles appeared on her forehead, and she simply told me to stay where I came from. Why did I think I needed to help the developing world?<br />
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For someone who has presumably spent a good deal of her life as a professor and guest speaker, travelling and talking to people around the world, I did not understand how her solution could be that I was not allowed to travel to her part of the world. We are becoming more interconnected, not more isolated, embrace it or be left behind.<br />
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<b>Now about me. </b><br />
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I am a fresh graduate from the University of Western Ontario's Urban Development Program. I was lucky enough to get a one year contract job in my field in community development. I took that opportunity when it came, but I am always looking towards my goal of travelling and seeing the world. I am saving up money and also learning to build a bike, so that I can travel by bike, or work in a bike shop while I travel. I am not writing this from experience, far from it, this is a statement of how I want to become experienced, and the types of experiences I want to have.<br />
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I haven't taken the leap of getting on a one way flight to somewhere on the other side of the world, but I know I want to, and I am inspired by my friends who have. Slowly I am working towards it, doing it my way, the way I want to. It is something which I think more people need to look at as a legitimate option and as a way to build valuable experience.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
Michael</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-63687151365209157352011-03-13T19:03:00.001-04:002011-08-27T20:42:54.167-04:00Trade vs AidThis past week I had the pleasure of attending the Social Innovation @ Ivey forum. One of the speakers was <a href="http://www.oliberte.com/">Oliberte's</a> founder, Tal Dehtiar. He spoke very passionately how development driven by the middle class. This is done by generating jobs which does not happen with aid but instead by trade and specifically manufacturing. His company produces high quality leather shoes which are made, in the truest definition of the word, in Africa.<br />
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Currently he indirectly employs 300 people, approximately half of which are women in the factories which source him in Africa. The gender split is 50-50 all the was up from manufacturing to junior management and office jobs. In his long term plan the goal is to employ a million people, and jointly own all his factories with the employees who work there. Currently he does not own the factories and they are just under contract with him, so he only has limited control over working conditions. As his operations grow he is able to have more and more influence in ensuring better working conditions.<br />
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He was one of the keynote speakers at the conference focusing around social business. He objected with the term "social business / enterprise" however. In his opinion, and I agree with him, it is a ridiculous term in the fact that companies who maybe are not employing people in Africa, but have provided good stable jobs to Canadian families are not considered social businesses. In the Walmart, Monsanto, and Lehman Brothers' era perhaps we have stigmatized business as a horrible evil. However, the fact still remains that it is good business sense to treat people well, that includes your: employees, customers, business partners, suppliers, etc.<br />
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I took a business law course last year, and when we were talking about contracts he told a story of a company he had been hired by, who came out of a meeting happy that they had got a great deal. They had screwed over their supplier and gotten a very low price for the product. My prof asked his client what would happen to his supplier in a year or two under that contract. His client paused and then said that there was no way he would be able to keep doing business selling at that price and would likely go bankrupt. I think that was a moment of realization for his client. A truly "good" deal builds a long lasting mutual beneficial relationship which ensures the longterm prosperity for everyone involved. It does not help if you supplier goes bankrupt in 6 months and your need to find a new one.<br />
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The same way the term social business or fair trade is ridiculous because every business should be treating people with respect and integrity. Unfortunately that is not the case for all businesses. Hopefully through better information sharing and communications customers will be able to determine which companies are truly treating their employees, suppliers and customers with respect and they will be able to vote with their wallets. Currently there are still great people and great companies doing amazing things, and their numbers are only going to grow in the future.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-47473147732554755542011-02-27T15:07:00.000-05:002011-02-27T15:07:08.190-05:00Social MediaI have been busy skiing this week and working on my thesis. But I also found time to work on an assignment which was looking at what I think personifies excellence in geography. I settled on the use and application of social media. The ability for anyone with internet access to be able to publish material (like me!)<br />
<br />
I made reference to Shawn in my last post - he was my example how how the application of social media can be used to do excellent things! He recently posted a <a href="http://uncultured.com/2011/02/27/negative-attitudes-to-ngos-in-bangladesh/#respond">new blog post</a> after which I responded and directed me to one of his <a href="http://uncultured.com/2010/09/06/the-bideshi-deshi/">older posts</a>.<br />
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I have replied to his comments with something I have been thinking about a lot due to this assignment. Whether it is feasible and possible for aid recipients to be able to video log themselves, rather than have someone like Shawn volunteer everything he had to go tell their stories. They could post videos to youtube, someone else in the international community could reply to that video with a translated version. Issues I see would be the availability and affordability of the internet access to upload the videos. Then there is the whole issue of the actual transfer of any donations. Maybe someone is a sort of free agent (not associated with any charity) like Shawn, could control the flow of funds if needed - once the people have posted the videos themselves.<br />
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In other news - my good friends from Bangladesh Ross and Melanie have started working on a project to design a mobile based technology allowing microcredit borrowers to compare the microfinance products of different MFIs. Very interesting stuff which might help to dispel some of the initial hesitation to join a bank - it would give some power back to the consumers.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
Michael ClarkAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-76623273531614291512011-02-24T02:36:00.000-05:002011-08-27T20:41:26.070-04:00Excellence in Geography and International DevelopmentJust a short post for now, working hard on my thesis but for a project for Implementing Sustainability I needed to find something excellent so here it is - I found this great blog by Shawn Ahmed where he connects the rural villagers in Bangladesh with the world via his blog, twitter and youtube. Check it out, it is called <a href="http://uncultured.com/">The Uncultured Project</a>!
Cheers,
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-18707855087045015902011-02-06T17:53:00.000-05:002011-02-06T17:53:31.453-05:00YAO ProjectI now have a actual link to the project that the club is supporting. We are supporting their Village of Opportunity, called Arjona in Colombia. <a href="http://www.oiconnect.ca/project/project.aspx?asset=8">Take a look</a> and even better take a look at <a href="http://www.oiconnect.ca/members/member-profile.aspx?user=257">our page</a> and you can take a look and donate to our campaign (on the right) supporting the Arjona Project!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-59805589842622968802011-02-06T17:48:00.000-05:002011-02-06T17:48:02.631-05:00Partnership with Pinball Clemons and BetheGame!It is an exciting time for the club. I met with Michael Pinball Clemons two weeks, and he loved what we were doing. So I am now working with him and his great friend Joe Drexler at <a href="http://bethegame.pro/">BetheGame</a> to help raise money for both microfinance projects and sponsoring and supporting kids in local sports!<br />
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The energy that the two of them give off is incredible. I am now trying to see if Western will let us have a big media day on Wednesday / Thursday where we can sell BetheGame apparel to support our causes. Michael Clemons and some of the Argos might be able to make it out to promote it as well! It is inspiring to work with them, and to think that they want to work with me!<br />
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CheersAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-22229561803805301132011-01-19T17:31:00.001-05:002011-01-19T17:33:32.517-05:00January Activities!January has been a busy month and it is not over yet! I just got a great lesson on time management in one of my classes though, so I should get more organised! I'm trying to set aside time each week for this (although right now I am in my "Thesis Time").<br />
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Couple things: I have found microcredit even in London, Ontario!! The farmers' market where I am doing my thesis (on the economic impact that the market has on the surrounding community) is trying to set up, with the local Business Improvement Association, a economic development corporation which can be used to help provide vendors at the market with a loan to open full blown stores / expand their businesses!<br />
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I am now the President of the Western Microcredit Society (WMS), since our wonderful president for the last year and a half left us to go on exchange to Hong Kong! However the club is still moving forward I think under my leadership. =) We will soon have a page about us on Opportunity International's (OI) website under YAO (Young Ambassadors for Opportunity), and OIConnect site will be set up in a week or two to promote our events.<br />
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The WMS also has 5-6 interested students in the internship that I did last year to the Grameen Bank, our problem has been that the trip is very expensive, ~$3,500! However, Jannalee from Opportunity came into talk to us yesterday and gave us her great presentation about what OI does and how microfinance works. She had the great idea to look for companies to donate aeroplane points to pay for the flights! Soooo my charge for everyone is to ask if anyone wants to donate aeroplan points, or knows of good businesses to approach. It takes 130,000 points to get to Bangladesh and back x 5-6 people!<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-90836355496709414712011-01-02T09:20:00.006-05:002011-01-02T09:48:38.849-05:00New Year's Resolution #2!In the last week of every year and TV hosts and Radio broadcasters make their ridiculously vague new years resolutions: I want to be healthier, I want to have more fun, be nicer, etc. If you make a vague goal, you will have a vague response - nothing! So I always make a resolution not to make any resolutions. Which is usually easy to keep, but this year i have already broken it - for good reason I hope!I have now decided to have 2 resolutions for the new year, neither of them are really "New Year's" resolutions - they both just made sense to start in the new year, and they both are a lot more specific than "be healthier".<br />
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The <b>first </b>was to run the 30k Around the Bay running race in Hamilton this year. And the <b>second</b>, is to actually keep this blog updated. I was very busy last semester, and I did not keep up with a lot of things, this blog being one of them. I am not any less busy this semester - probably more busy actually, but I think I am getting a better grip on how to handle it.<br />
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This past semester I have started looking into possible international internships in developing countries (preferably back in Asia) in either Urban Development and Planning, Impact Assessment of Development Projects, and microfinance. I would really like to do a longterm internship, 6-12 months, or possibly two half-year ones. I found it was very interesting to be in Dhaka for 6 weeks, just in those few weeks you got such a better sense of the city than if you only stay for a couple days it takes to see all the tourist sites.If you are interested in longterm paid international development internships check out: <a href="http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/internships">CIDA Youth Internships</a> or <a href="http://experience.aiesec.ca/">AIESEC Canada</a>.<br />
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This resolution is turning a new leaf for the blog, the future of the blog will be updates from things I read related to international development. *Hopefully* it will also be where I can reflect on my travels to different parts of the world, fingers crossed that I get that chance again. I took a couple courses last semester on Globalization and International Development which were easily two of the most enjoyable parts of my week. I had to do many readings for those courses and I am always reading new articles on my own believe it or not!, especially about microfinance, which I will direct you to and comment on!<br />
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Might as well start now with <a href="http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2010/11/when-indian-elephants-fight.php">When Indian Elephants Fight</a> which is an interesting article since it is one of the better insights into the India microfinace crisis. The author, David Roodman, is writing an open book on microfinance - where he publishes drafts of chapters in his blog for critic and review - and he visited Andhra Pradesh (AP) province in India to learn more about the crisis. The article talks about the need for regulation of the microfinance industry, however the regulation must be by a third party - not a competitor to microfinance (as in the case of the Government in AP). If it is regulated properly by consulting all inpacted groups; the rural poor, local government agencies, local non profits AND local microfinance institutions, then the industry can be allowed to grow to reach more people in a way which protects the poor and prevents exploitation.<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-61770358588962639072010-08-17T20:45:00.000-04:002010-08-17T20:45:49.486-04:00Three Cups of TeaI'm sure some of you have heard of the book and the story of Dr. Greg, but if you haven't then get off your computer right now, go to your nearest bookshop and get the book. No don't order it online, because you should start reading it tonight!<br />
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Check out the books website:<br />
<a href="http://www.threecupsoftea.com/">http://www.threecupsoftea.com/</a><br />
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I read the book in the last two and a half days on my trip to and from work, and every minute of free time I had last night. It is a different country with different villages, but the similarities to what I would like to someday do - even if it is just a fraction of what he has done - are extremely inspiring.<br />
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It really was incredible to see the sacrifices that he made to extend all the help he could to the Balti people. However, even after he had built those first couple schools I thought it was amazing that he still had so much trouble collecting donations. He had proved that he could do it, he had the establish connections in the region, yet he could not collect more funds to build schools.<br />
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This is the attraction in social businesses where they can grow themselves, and fund the creation of more schools themselves. In this way extra donations only serve to speed up the process of expansion even more. That said, I doubt a social business model would work in the sparsely inhabited and remote Baltistan, where whole villages are poor and there are not wealthier families which could subsidize education for those who are even less fortunate.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-83183624538916846582010-08-11T16:51:00.000-04:002010-08-11T16:51:23.531-04:00Introduction to the ISSIThe International Sustainable Schooling Initiative is the name for this organization that will; fundraise for, own and operate the schools. Initially the schools will be in Bangladesh, but the goal is to eventually expand to other countries, hence the 'International' part of the name. <br />
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It is hard for me to put a description of the organization here, since we are continuously discussing with each other trying to refine how to effectively to organize the organization. I will try and describe it in general terms though.<br />
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In Canada, the US and the UK(so far) we will be collecting donations and looking for investors. The funds collected in these countries will be transferred to our partners on the ground in Bangladesh to fund the creation of the first school and scholarships for the first students. Our representative in Bangladesh - Babor Ali, Bangladesh Country Coordinator - will then oversea the construction and hiring of staff for the school. Babor has been working with the Grameen Bank for 20+ years as a Branch Manager and then the International Department of Grameen Bank - which is where I met him. Babor and his wife, an English Teacher in Dhaka, are very passionate about schooling and will bring the experience in both running a business and education that we need to be successful. <br />
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Initially scholarships will be provided to the students using donations that we collect. Donors will be able to sponsor a student for anywhere between a year to the entire six years that they will be attending our school (if they start in Kindergarten). In the long run the plan is for each school to be able to fund its own scholarship fund. This will mean that students in the community who are able to afford the tuition will be subsidizing the tuition of other students in the same community. This situation is preferred over one where everyone pays a lower tuition and no scholarships are provided because this way it is possible for the extremely poor to attend the school and pay almost no tuition. In areas where it is not possible for a school to fund its own scholarship fund then a portion of the profits from other schools in the country will be used. <br />
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Initially I was envisioning setting up a endowment which would provide a reliable, sustainable number of scholarships. However in numerous discussions with the other members of the ISSI we decided that the amount of money that would be required to set up an endowment could be put to better use opening another school. In addition the return on investment for the schools is higher than we would likely be able to achieve by investing an endowment somewhere. <br />
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After the first school is built and it can support its own scholarship fund, donations will be directed towards funding the creation of a second school. As mentioned in my last post - profits from the schools will be used to fund the creation of more schools. The donation will be used to speed up this process and allow for even more schools to be built. <br />
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We are not trying to take over education from the Government, we are just trying to provide an alternative option that has a high standard for education and is affordable to the poor. By doing this, hopefully we can reduce the pressure on the government system, and force other private schools to improve to compete with us. It is not important who provides a higher level of education, as long as someone does.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-33614880252642767942010-07-20T19:10:00.000-04:002010-07-21T16:25:10.021-04:00The Kamar Kali School ProjectAbout a week after I left Bangladesh I got an email from two of my friends back in Bagnaldesh asking me when I was usually on Skype. A couple days later I had managed to set up a Skype-date with Dave Meredith, from Montreal, and Melanie Craxton, from Rochester, who were both interns still back in Bangladesh. They told me they had an exciting project they wanted to talk to me about.<br />
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So one Saturday night we set up our Skype-date and they told me about their idea to build a social business school and create the International Sustainable School Initiative, a charity that would collect donations to fund the creation the school and possible future replications of the school. That was the start, now it has grown to a larger group of Grameen Internship Alumni and even more of their friends. It really has been amazing seeing how many people are eager to jump on board, and after reading this if you are interested in helping out (we need all of it we can get!) please send me an email: mc.futbol@gmail.com<br />
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<b>Refresher – What is a social business?</b><br />
A social business is a non-loss business that provides a good or service, which works towards achieving a social objective. The difference between a social business and a charity is that they actually charge their customers a small fee instead of just giving handouts. They charge a small price to their customers so that they can cover their expenses and earn some profit, which is then reinvested back into the business. The advantage of this is that once the social business is set up it is not reliant on donations in order to continue operating and expand. This makes it much easier for the social business to expand quickly and reach a larger number of people.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHT4RQPZpNldLsDbjyt8_g8tdhAWFn9FDSz4cCLp6QcpTtA-wemD73MsZWWQEhE4Np1DdwYqA9UGi5YUnuWUu2a1_08OdE0cG1fIoLqdw5sgt6F5XJDF_9vVZ6-2m_NYometyokkA32gDG/s1600/DSCF0688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHT4RQPZpNldLsDbjyt8_g8tdhAWFn9FDSz4cCLp6QcpTtA-wemD73MsZWWQEhE4Np1DdwYqA9UGi5YUnuWUu2a1_08OdE0cG1fIoLqdw5sgt6F5XJDF_9vVZ6-2m_NYometyokkA32gDG/s320/DSCF0688.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Future Site of our School</div><br />
<b>What is wrong with the education system?</b><br />
There are a number of problems with the education system, but the most prevalent ones are: over crowding, a lack of school supplies and a shortage of quality teacher, especially English teachers. The problem in Bangladesh is that despite the fact that 'English' is often considered the most important subject, it is taught very poorly in schools. After independence English was banned in Bangladesh, and now at least it is now a mandatory part of the primary and secondary school curriculum. Unfortunately the ban meant that the teachers who teach English, never learnt English in school themselves and cannot hold up a conversation. They simply teach enough writing and reading to be able to pass the nationwide grade 5 tests, but do little to help kids with the more useful conversation English. The reason English is viewed as so important is that all universities in Bangladesh teach in English, it is also the international language, the computer language and the best jobs all require it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkvhufTDzRK75DwY2X1L0dAH-E4gLBwdxTvf0oMdBhzbE9jqvXsQ1UMs6JCbetIR8MixAxkGQNNiMI5_xk6WThXJ17EuDFBEh-I9q-_s_s4KvMJEuvkXQGEMi5TDgEHR6sTQ1YgTAQyOY/s1600/Bagladesh+260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkvhufTDzRK75DwY2X1L0dAH-E4gLBwdxTvf0oMdBhzbE9jqvXsQ1UMs6JCbetIR8MixAxkGQNNiMI5_xk6WThXJ17EuDFBEh-I9q-_s_s4KvMJEuvkXQGEMi5TDgEHR6sTQ1YgTAQyOY/s320/Bagladesh+260.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Trying to speak English with the Kids</div><br />
<b>The Opportunity</b><br />
David’s coordinator from the Grameen Bank, Babor Ali, is planning on leaving the Grameen Bank and going to set up a school on a piece of land he owned outside of the city. Together with Dave and Melanie they went to the area and interview teachers at other schools in the area, as well as Grameen Borrowers with kids who would be among the target customers of the school. They did interviews and collected data on what people wanted from an education, how much people were willing to pay for what they got and how much it cost to build and run the competing schools. The school would provide a number of benefits to its students while still being affordable: a high quality English teacher, smaller class sizes and computer literacy training.<br />
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<b>1) English</b><br />
Our school will address the need for a strong English program, by paying the money required to attract a sufficiently strong English teacher. Students will learn reading, writing, grammar and spoken English, which will give them an advantage when going to university and looking for a job.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7YvM3xFubQ_Vd0AHqD6gAHssqFQxRofEnkt6ck-wxr2TzFIgOCeK52seMSDwd22yVoMpjybEqCKSfYhW3-OrsOdr56AzjlUVVbien0PID3TSNJdK8HWFhiENfhmVDs5A99D-1FKBIlql/s1600/DSCF0598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7YvM3xFubQ_Vd0AHqD6gAHssqFQxRofEnkt6ck-wxr2TzFIgOCeK52seMSDwd22yVoMpjybEqCKSfYhW3-OrsOdr56AzjlUVVbien0PID3TSNJdK8HWFhiENfhmVDs5A99D-1FKBIlql/s320/DSCF0598.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another School in the Area and Babor Ali</div><br />
<b>2) Computer Literacy</b><br />
Another advantage that the school will give its students is access to a computer, and computer literacy training. Being able to use a computer is an incredibly important skill when looking for a job, however most Bengalis never get to use a computer, especially in rural areas. The problem with computers is that rural areas only have power eight hours a day, and it is expensive to run a generator the rest of the day. Our school will have an innovative solution to this, where we will buy a number of energy efficient Eee Box PCs from ASUS, and essentially get a giant battery for them, called an IPS Battery from Grameen Communications. The battery will work for the desktops similar to how a laptop battery works. The school will have 5 computers and all students will get time on the computers to learn the basic functions.<br />
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<b>3) Smaller Class Sizes</b><br />
Another advantage of the school will be small class sizes and length of the school day. The average class size in Bangladesh is be around 50-70 students to one teacher, and this is taking into account the massive drop out rates that plague the higher grades. In our school there will be six classes each with 45 students (Kindergarden to Class 5). 45 students still sounds big, but for Bangladesh it is actually small and it is needed to ensure the feasibility of the project. It is hoped that by having such a high standard of teachers and courses, the student retention will be strong and many students will continue all the way from Kindergarden to Class 5.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXpkRVpN_O0uuQ4ZKrmN7I4Jw46fZ0yrxBqA6Zen-u6HZ45VepXqpD2BCGYy0QzLxkn5cM1qw4gA-NPknOoB7GQzz1AGg6tEHrRbot8L9HbYFOjfU2Fw7ivRc30tchNsnrATQcSrgsA_a/s1600/DSCF0132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXpkRVpN_O0uuQ4ZKrmN7I4Jw46fZ0yrxBqA6Zen-u6HZ45VepXqpD2BCGYy0QzLxkn5cM1qw4gA-NPknOoB7GQzz1AGg6tEHrRbot8L9HbYFOjfU2Fw7ivRc30tchNsnrATQcSrgsA_a/s320/DSCF0132.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dave visiting another School in the Area</div><br />
<b>4) Longer Days</b><br />
In other schools classes often only run from 9am until noon, and then the afternoon is often taken up by tutoring. The students are forced to pay extra just to get a full day of learning. In our school the students will receive a full day of school, which will minimize the need for additional tutoring, and thus save families from spending additional money on tutoring. <br />
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<b>5) All for a Reasonable Price</b><br />
We will be charge its students a monthly tuition fee of tk 500 per month. This is more than the other private schools however Dave and Melanie talked to many parents in the area and they all agreed that it was a fair price given the quality of the education that they would be getting. We will also be offering a scholarship program so that families who cannot afford to send their children to the school will still have the opportunity to do so. Each scholarship would cover anywhere between half to all of the cost of the tuition depending on the financial situation of the family.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-87839540535248268002010-07-20T01:19:00.000-04:002010-07-20T06:01:26.518-04:00New Website and for a new ProjectHello everyone again,<br />
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I am switching websites since I felt that the last website was too specific to my trip, and I want to still use the blog in the future, and especially now that I have a new projected related to poverty, education and international development. So this is the new website: <a href="http://storiesfromthegrameen.blogspot.com/">http://storiesfromthegrameen.blogspot.com/</a> Thanks for continuing to read it!<br />
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It has been a couple weeks and I am getting settled back into the pace of North American life once more. However, Bangladesh never seems to be far from my thoughts. One of the best parts of my trip was all the great people that I met while I was there. I met a couple interns that I have become really good friends with, two of them were Dave from Montreal and Melanie from Rochester and going to school in Edinburgh. They called me a week or two after I had left Bangladesh and proposed a very interesting project to me, which I immediately jump on board with them. Since then I have been spending almost every evening after I get back from my summer job, working on it.<br />
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Together with our coordinator from the Grameen Bank, Babor Ali, we are going to found a private school in the rural areas around Dhaka, Bangladesh. The goal is to make it financially self sufficient so that after it has been established it does not need any more funding. Them our task will be to replicate it across the country and around the world!<br />
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I am going to post a series for stories an explanations of how it will work, and what we are doing and why. But basically we are trying to raise ~$50,000 to found the first school and an endowment fund for scholarships (the school will be charging tuition). It will provide a high quality of education to the rural poor and prepare them for secondary school, university and employment. If you are interested in the project, please send me an email (mc.futbol@gmail.com). I will have a professional email soon, but not yet.<br />
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Thank you for reading, shortly I will post a more detailed explanation of the project.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-59371441105216539742010-06-24T07:07:00.000-04:002010-06-25T09:05:34.348-04:00The Grameen Fund SummaryThis is part of what I wrote for my Internship Report:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, what does the Grameen Fund do? They provide, among other things, financing to small and medium enterprises (SME). This is very important because these businesses are often unserved by both the commercial banks and microfinance banks. They are not poor enough to be accepted by MFIs and they require more services than they can provide. Commercial banks generally do not consider SME financing important since it is much more profitable for them to focus on much larger clients. Thus there is the 'SME finance gap' between these two groups of banks.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is where Grameen Fund and other SME financing institutions such as BRAC and Basic Bank come in. They provide their clients with loans and other services to help them grow and expand their businesses. This is very important for a country to continue its development. It is all great if everyone in the country has a cow and a rice paddy field, but some of these businesses must keep growing for substantial growth to occur.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Grameen Fund used to operate through Grameen Bank branches, however just 9 months ago they left and started operating through their own branches or 'booths'. Now they find, appraise, disburse and collect their own loans. It is our job to make profiles of the two branches that we are visiting and asses the progress that they have made and make recommendations on how they can improve! We also want to do a couple case studies of some of their clients, and get to do some in depth interviews with them.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our trip to Grameen Fund was very interesting and definitely worthwhile for many reasons. It was worth it just to get out of Dhaka and actually get to do something. But it was also very interesting to get to talk to the Fund. They are a very new business. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Grameen Fund is the next step after the Grameen Bank on the development food chain. They deal with bigger clients and have fewer restrictions than the Bank does. The Fund deals with already established business owners who want to get bigger loans than they can get with Grameen Bank. Fund offers loans which are greater than tk 50,000, the average loan size that we saw was between tk 1-2 lakh (tk 100-200,000). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are a number of other features that make Fund more appealing to larger businesses. They have monthly repayment instalments instead of the Grameen Bank’s weekly ones, and they have no requirement to be in a group or attend weekly meetings. Instead clients get a visit at least once a month from the Booth Manager where he comes and visits to see how the borrower is doing, encourage them and give advice if needed.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">They have been around for a couple years but they only just split from the Grameen bank and started doing things themselves about 9 months ago. Now they have their own booth offices across the country, currently they only have 6, but that are plans to double that by the end of the year.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were asked to go to the field and visit one of the booths and make a report on the Grameen Fund with an assessment of the booth system and recommendations for the future. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We came up with a couple recommendations:</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ol><li>Organise better with the Grameen Bank on who is going to offer Micro Enterprise Loans, as well as making use of the Grameen Bank’s network.</li>
<ul><li>Currently both are but we feel that just Grameen Fund should be offering them.</li>
<li>They should have a graduation system for Bank members to become Fund members. We are not sure if they do have one it was hard to get a clear answer because we would here different things depending on who we asked.</li>
<li>Promote themselves more through the Grameen Bank so that people know more about it and the benefits of getting loans from them.</li>
<li>Instead of setting up more booths, they could instead rent an office at Grameen Bank Branches, that way the Fund can make use of the existing infrastructure and</li>
</ul><li>Keep expanding their booth network both in terms of the number of booths and number of employees at each booth. Currently the manager is able to visit all his borrowers but it requires a lot of travelling.</li>
<li>Further decentralization of the booths, such as giving them more autonomy over the loan approval process. Also technology like computers need to be used to their full potential to save time and allow for more rapid communication between head office and the booths. This may require training of booth managers or hiring of computer technicians. </li>
</ol><div>Cheers,</div><div>Mike</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-91123692259359516232010-06-24T00:28:00.000-04:002010-06-24T00:28:57.110-04:00The Indian StoryOk, I am now back in Canada, and it has been a very busy week so I have not had much time to update the blog. I will pick up where I left off...<br />
<br />
So the next morning I met Will, the English guy I met on my flight, and we check into a triple room at Hotel Maria on Sudder Street. His friend Tom was arriving later that day. We then wandered around the neighbourhood, found a McDonalds and had the local version of the Big Mac. From there we found a nice book store where we sat and read a little over a cup of Darjeeling tea!<br />
<br />
I found a book about poverty and aid that I was interested in, but it was a little big and I did not think it would fit in my bag. However, I did find a book about a Indo-Canadian living in Muskoka, so I had to pick up that! That night, once Tom had arrived, we went to go watch the England game at a club / bar a couple blocks away, and came home disappointed and went to bed.<br />
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One of my friends back in Dhaka had suggested that I go talk to the two owners of a shop on Sudder St (The main street in the backpacker community). I went over and met them, Sanjay and Ankash - they were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Their shop was filled with scarves, bags and shirts of all different colours, and they were constantly bringing me and any other visitors a cup of tea. At the shop I met a couple from Australia who invited me to come with them to a French Gypsy Jazz concert at the Alliance Francais in Kolkatathat evening! I thought - how many people can say they went to a French Gypsy Jazz concert in Kolkata? so I had to say yes, I would come!<br />
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I stayed there for a bit before deciding to go do some sightseeing. I set off to walk to the Victoria Memorial and on the way found Elliot Gardens, a little grassy area in themidst of busy Kolkata. It had plenty of benches for couples to hide themselves away on and escape from the watching eyes of their parents. Eventually I made it up to the Victoria Memorial and paid a whole 4 rupees to get into the gardens there!<br />
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The memorial was spectacular. It looked like it was made entirely from white marble stones, with some amazing statues and domes adorning the roof. It was far and away the cleanest and best kept building I had seen in 6 weeks!<br />
<br />
That night I met up with Will and Tom and convinced them to come with us on the Kolkata metro to the Gypsy concert. The concert was actually really cool, I really enjoyed the rhythm and beat of the songs, and the performance was capped off with a guest appearance by two local musicians! From there we rushed back to the bar to watch the Ghana-Serbia game and have a couple beers... and I woke up the next morning with my glasses, wallet, watch and camera gone.<br />
<br />
The other guys had nothing of their stolen and none of us remembered exactly what had happened. We were able to piece together that we had left the bar showing the Ghana game and had tried to find a bar showing the midnight game, but with no success. However that was the extent of our memories. Maybe my drink was spiked? or I was a little too trusting of my new friends? Who knows.<br />
<br />
I quickly cancelled my debit and credit cards, exchanged some of my Taka, which I had left in the hotel, for rupees and I spent the rest of the day in the shop with Sanjay and Ankash. Luckily my passport had been back in the hotel, and I had some extra money there as well. Sanjay was incredibly helpful and he organised a cab to meet me early the next morning to take me to the airport.<br />
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So it was a unfortunate way to end my Indian adventure, however I did have a great time there and I definitely want to come back and visit Kolkata again as well as the rest of India.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-9115777932582500962010-06-12T02:17:00.000-04:002010-06-12T02:17:12.186-04:00Kolkata!I am in Kolkata now for a little vacation within a vacation. I booked my flight last week to India, but I hadn't been able to book my train, I couldn't figure out how to until the day of my flight. By the time i\I had figure out where I could book online, they were sold out. But I thought I would still try the train station to see if there were any available.<br />
<br />
I landed in Kolkata and got a taxi to Howrah train station. However , after being in Dhaka I had exchanged all my US dollars already so I did not have any more. One of my friends gave me $10 US though so I had a little, but I needed to find an ATM. This was harder than I thought it would be, it seems like most ATMs here close at 4pm, and by that time it was about 5 or 6 pm.<br />
<br />
Once I had money I went to try and get an overnight ticket to Varanasi, but with no luck. So now I was in Kolkata, with no hotel, no train, no ones phone number and I didn't even know anyone here (even If I had a number, my phone was dead, and it does not work in India apparently). My parents had scanned and emailed me a couple pages from an Indian guide book, so I knew that Sudder street had a bunch of backpacker hotels for really cheap. So I got another taxi from Howrah to Sudder street. My taxi driver wouldn't actually go on the street because apparently it was closed.<br />
<br />
I wandered around and eventually stopped to look at my map and ask directions. This really nice lady came up and asked where I was trying to go, I told her one of the hotel names from the pages my parents had sent me. She had to go into the store behind me to buy something but her friend stayed with me until she was back. Then she lead me around to the hotel and gave me her number so if I needed anything I could contact her. The Bengali hospitality extends into India it seems!<br />
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From there I got a bed in a dorm room for 100 rs per night with a fan and a locker for my bags. Then I headed around the corner to a pub and had a nice cold beer and watch part of the South Africa-Mexico game. I got talking to one guy from Bangladesh, when an English guy who had been on my flight walked into the pub! So we ate and had a couple drinks there and agreed to meet again the next day to go around Kolkata together.<br />
<br />
So now I have a couple days in Kolkata, Saturday till Monday and then I fly out Tuesday morning!<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-19702938610418405982010-06-07T15:03:00.000-04:002010-06-07T15:03:17.529-04:00The SME Finance Gap and Our ProjectOk, after a week of Ross sitting in the Grameen Fund's office and my failed week of trying to get a second village trip planned, we finally have a trip with Grameen Fund happening!<br />
<br />
Ross and I will be going to one of Grameen Fund's booths in Noakhali, and Melanie (one of the other interns at the Bank) and an intern from Grameen Fund will be going to Feni. Feni and Noakhali are both about 5-6 hours south east of Dhaka and about an hour apart from each other.<br />
<br />
So, what does the Grameen Fund do? They provide, among other things, financing to small and medium enterprises (SME). This is very important because these businesses are often unserved by both the commercial banks and microfinance banks. They are not poor enough to be accepted by MFIs and they require more services than they can provide. Commercial banks generally do not consider SME financing important since it is much more profitable for them to focus on much larger clients. Thus there is the 'SME finance gap' between these two groups of banks.<br />
<br />
This is where Grameen Fund and other SME financing institutions such as BRAC and Basic Bank come in. They provide their clients with loans and other services to help them grow and expand their businesses. This is very important for a country to continue is development. It is all great if everyone in the country has a cow and a rice paddy field, but some of these businesses must keep growing for substantial growth to occur.<br />
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The Grameen Fund used to operate through Grameen Bank branches, however just 9 months ago they left and started operating through their own branches or 'booths'. Now they find, appraise, disburse and collect their own loans. It is our job to make profiles of the two branches that we are visiting and asses the progress that they have made and make recommendations on how they can improve! We also want to do a couple case studies of some of their clients, and get to do some in depth interviews with them.<br />
<br />
So that is what I will be doing for the next couple days in Noakhali. I will probably not have any internet so I will update you when we get back!<br />
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Cheers,<br />
MikeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-67031479111749516002010-06-07T07:45:00.001-04:002010-06-07T07:45:32.404-04:00My Reflections after one Month<p class="MsoNormal">Putting together the intern feedback form made me consider what I would out on it...</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall I would definitely say that the trip was an amazing experience and definitely worth it. I learned a lot about microfinance, poverty and development, met a ton of new and interesting people from all over the world and got to experience a completely different culture. To people who are interested in doing the same or a similar trip I would definitely encourage it, but there are a couple things to do differently. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Start to think about what you want to get out of the trip before you come here, research some of the sister companies and other NGOs and see if you want to learn more about them. Also see if there is some way to tie in what you are studying and interested in to the trip. For example I should have done some more research on NGOs or development agencies who were working in Dhaka on urban devleopment. So I would suggest set aside 4 weeks for the Grameen Bank, and then another 1-2+ weeks for one of the sister companies or another interest of your choice. In total I would say the ideal time would be about 6 weeks in Bangladesh which gives you enough time to learn about the Grameen Bank and get stuck in to another department. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I definitely have learned a lot and have seen so much that I never would have back in Canada. This trip has also inspired me to keep with it and expand on what we already have. Up until now I have mostly been focussed on just microcredit but now in Bangladesh I am seeing that MFIs a very important piece, but there are other important pieces as well. For example, after learning more about the Grameen Fund I am learning that Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) financing, is a hugely important piece of the puzzle which is largely missing right now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall I feel that I could have gotten a lot more out of the program if I had a better idea of what I wanted to do before I came here. This was the motivation to try to get old interns talking to new interns before they come to the bank. The first week and a half was spent going on a day trip and a weeklong trip. The following two weeks was spent visiting and meeting with sister companies. After that, more and more time just got wasted sitting around the head office.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before I came I was under the impression that they would have a program for us to follow for the whole 6 weeks, however their program at most lasts 4 weeks. Beyond that it is up to you to request to do certain things, the problem is that everything takes longer to do here. Frequently I came to the bank and was told to come back after lunch, or the next day and it took a long time for things to get done. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first weeklong trip was a great experience, but I did not know what to expect and was not able to make the most use out of it. I would have liked to spend another long trip doing a more investigative study on the effect that microcredit has had on peoples' lives. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the future I would suggest that interns should be told to use their weeklong trip to collect data to answer a research question. For example I was interested finding out how much the borrower's standard of living had improved since joining Grameen Bank. How much more savings, land, food, better housing did they have now compared to before? Unfortunately I did not think to ask these questions systematically to every borrower we talked to on our weeklong trip and I never got to go on a second. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So in summary the trip has been an amazing experience but I could have gotten a lot more out of it if I had been more organised before I got here and in my first couple weeks. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Cheers,</p><p class="MsoNormal">Mike</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-59578817696076671302010-06-07T07:33:00.001-04:002010-06-07T07:33:28.951-04:00They still have Bureaucracy Halfway around the World<p class="MsoNormal">I am not sure if bureaucracy is the right word, but despite a very minimal legal system here, we still felt tied down by issues of liability and responsibility for the safety of the interns...</p><p class="MsoNormal"> We had an interesting meeting with the general manger of the International Program. When we proposed our ideas she got very apprehensive. Even though they have no legal responsibility for the safety of the interns they still go to great lengths to protect us from harm. Very different from in Canada where The Unviersity of Western Ontario said that we were not allowed to go as a club to Bangladesh. For the sole reason that they did not think that they could escape the legal and financial risk of us travelling. In Bangladesh they have different reasons but the same outcome by the looks of it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In our meeting we proposed the 4 changes listed in my previous blog post. She was not in favour of most of them since she wants the department to be able to control all information that goes out to interns. She especially did not like our idea about how old interns could answer emails and give presentations to new interns. Basically we are never supposed to walk any long distance, or take rickshaws, or auto rickshaws, or go sightseeing without a tour guide. We didn't even bother asking about going to markets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If I had followed those warnings you could erase more than half of the pictures and stories I have posted. I never would have gone to Srimongal, no tour of Lalbag Fort, no river cruise, would never have had the chance to walk through the markets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dhaka may be an incredibly hard place to live because of the heat, pollution, garbage and traffic. But it is actually incredibly safe, I have never felt threatened or thought I was in danger. All the interns, guys and girls, feel the same way. Sure the driving here takes a little bit of getting used to, but after that it is ok.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have had one instance where someone tried to rob me. It was starting to get dark and we were in old Dhaka, a little boy came from behind and put his hand in my back pocket – which had nothing in it. I yelled hey at the kid, and another man immediately yelled at him as well. Crime here is not tolerated. A couple of the interns saw a man get beat up for stealing on the weekend. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So unfortunately it looks like our reforms to the internship program are going to fall on deaf ears. We are going to push ahead with our feedback form and suggestion to have one mandatory starting day each week. Then we will be forced likely to do our won thing and set up our own unofficial FAQ and forum separate from the bank.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Cheers,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Mike</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600551004852414052.post-16033814137071414312010-06-07T07:28:00.001-04:002010-06-07T15:05:43.665-04:00Give the City Busses a Chance<div class="MsoNormal">I must take back my assessment of urban public transport in Bangaldesh. Up until yesterday I had still not ridden the public bus system, it just seemed too chaotic to me. Often you see people jumping on and off busses while they are still moving. However yesterday we bumped into a group of interns from Germany who had a Bengali guide showing them around. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The guide was going to take them back to the hotel on the public bus, so we thought it might be fun too. We took rickshaws to the nearest bus station and then waited for the Germans to catch up to us. Several times though people came up and asked us where we wanted to go, and we could have easily caught our own bus.</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was a fun experience which I wish I had earlier in my trip. The bus had extremely tiny seats, and took even longer than usual but on the whole the ride was nice and relaxing. To get from old Dhaka back to our hotel in the suburbs it took about an hour. The same ride in a tuk tuk (auto rickshaw) would have taken about 45 minutes depending on how motivated your driver was and his sense of direction.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I now know the names of several of the bus stops in central Dhaka, so I can hopefully find busses that go to them from our hotel! Unfortunately I will likely not get much chance to use my bus skills since I am going to be away for the rest of my trip pretty much.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is confirmed, we are going to a Grameen Fund "Booth" from Tuesday to Thursday. Ross, Melanie and I as well as an intern with Grameen Fund will be going to do a report and study their operations. Then Friday afternoon I am flying out to Kolkata and flying back early Tuesday morning!<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cheers,</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mike</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032638723796991189noreply@blogger.com0