I initially wrote this post on June 13th. It was simply me digesting my day in good ol’ Cori fashion. I had experienced a lot and my grandmother warned me about old age taking away my precious memories. She insists I write things down, so in 21st century translation: blog. I already struggle to remember things that happened in 2006 (Travis can absolutely attest to that), so hopefully this will help me remember my BRAC experience, as the good people at BRAC call it.
We started the day by visiting one of many village organizations just inside of the Mymensingh area of Bangladesh. Mymensingh isn’t that far north from Dhaka, it just takes three to four hours because traffic here is so horrid. Anyways, this VO, as BRAC in good nonprofit fashion calls them, is part of their Dabi microfinancing program. This program differs from their other microfinancing programs in that it offers small loans to impoverished women. (their other program, Progothi, offers loans to both men and women, these words have meaningss, but my Bangla is pretty bad) Women have to be part of the VO in order to participate in the loan taking program. The VO is actually quite a genius invention in my opinion. It’s not simply just for the microfinancing engine of the BRAC beast; it’s a way to disseminate other important information and forge the link between the population and BRACs other services. It’s like a net to catch the people who usually fall through the cracks because of their lack of access to services. It’s super grassroots, gnarly.
As our day progresses, we were able to figure out just how BRAC’s web (kinda like Charlotte’s) works through hearing the story of a village woman named Lalbanu. This woman was married off to a much older man at the age of thirteen, struggled to feel comfortable living with her in-laws and eventually learned that she was the second wife to this man, who kind of seemed like bum. She was unable to have children and speaks of the village making fun of her and calling her names. She took a small loan from BRAC about twenty years ago when BRAC first approached her village. During her time in the microfinance program, she has not only continuously taken out and repaid loans, but also become a village health volunteer who has delivered half of the village’s children. Now the village reveres and respects her. She’s totally changed around her life situation through this involvement with BRAC. Pretty rad.
From speaking with Lalbanu and hearing her story, I get the impression that her motivation for taking out loans has changed over time. I think at first it might have been to improve her impoverished position which she’s still in to a certain extent. She’s bought chickens, a cow and through selling the milk and eggs, she has been able to provide for both herself and her bum husband. When we spoke with Lalbanu, she was still pretty dirt poor by the village standards and even told us that since her cow was pregnant and not producing milk (a fun fact I learned that day), she was unable to eat “well” for a few months until the cow gives birth.
Regardless of how poor she is, if you could have seen how she lights up when she talks about all the wonderful things she’s done for the village as a health volunteer, you would care less that she won’t be having a meal tomorrow. It’s clear that the small loans were simply a source of confidence building and empowerment for this woman. Granted, I think some of her confidence comes from age but she is now so respected by the village. She is the first person they call when something is wrong and people have seen the fabulous things she has for the village through BRAC services and trainings.
BRAC approached her about seven or eight years after she took her first loan to be a health volunteer or “shasta shebeika” if my Bangla is on point. Six out of seven days a week, she makes her rounds to different village houses checking for and treating curable diseases. On her only day off, she travels to get more medicine from BRAC. Let’s be clear here that she is not paid for this service; she is a volunteer. And it’s curious because you would want to assume that people’s motivations lie in making their livelihood better through income generating activities. However, I think to Lalbanu, and improved livelihood means self respect, worth and esteem. Not to mention the adoration of a village that used to berate you. In. their. faces.
It was a cool experience so I consider my first day in the field a success. I’m a big fan of hearing stories and typically with microfinance they’re all the same. Woman takes out loan and has better life. I appreciated how we got a twist to this one demonstrating quite nicely that empowerment doesn’t always need to have a monetary value.
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