Update from North Bengal from Muhit Rahman. This is a fantastic example of an expat making direct contribution in employment generation in Bangladesh

I spent five days in north Bengal mostly in dinajpur and Gaibandah districts. While I spent some time visiting family I was also able to get away and check out some of the work that I am doing in conjunction with Gonoshasthya Kendra.

The cornerstone of that particular effort is a program in the ‘chars’ off Brahmaputra where we have funded the purchase of an even 100 cows, pairs of goat (or in some cases, sheep) and sets of chickens (five each). The chars are characterized, among other things, by high rates of poverty (due to its inhabitants being primarily landless) as well as wide stretches of tall grass that can be used as fodder. The idea is to let the women borrow Tk. 4,500 to Tk. 5,500 to buy a calf and fatten it for about a year and sell it off during the surge in demand during Qurbani Eid (Feb 2006?) By rough estimates, we are hoping that the fattened calves would sell for over Tk 10,000 each. I have issued a condition that we do not charge interest on these loans - but the reality is that some charge - about Tk. 1,000 or so, may be attached at the back end to pay for the administration of the project. I am not entirely sure of the economics of this portion of the program but I plan to monitor it closely and ask questions along the way.

It is way too early to tell about whether or not the program will be efective - but the only way to really find these things out is by trying them out! And that is what we are doing. Certainly, many of the calves appear to have grown (according to their owners) since they received them. And many, many of the chickens (which are really hens) are in the midst of incubating their eggs right now. We shall see what is the retention rate. GK is working well by providing veterinary care to the animals and other logistic support.

I also had a touching visit at a school that we support. Some 80 or so children dressed up in their best outfits to greet the ‘visitors’. These are children of the very poor and the challenge is to get them to stay in school - which the majority of them will not. No easy solution here - except perhaps to provide greater employment opportunities for their parents. The school goes from pre-1st through 4th grade and sees about a 50% drop in enrollment during the process. Perhaps a free school lunch for the upper grades or even, a lunch allowance, might be an incentive …

The most alarming thing was at my own ancestral village where for a few years, I have been helping the needy. This year, for the first time, I think I noticed a sense of ‘welfare entitlement’ amongst those receiving the aid. More people wanted more than appeared grateful for the opportunity. Not that charity is about the recipient being grateful - but I don’t want to create a callous attitude about the aid, which after all, is someone’s hard earned money! Nor do I want to legitimize or promote or encourage what, in some cases, amounted to aggressive begging! I am having serious second thoughts about this particular program but I have to also keep reminding myself that the need is truly great! I think I will have to refocus my efforts on employment generation. To that end, I have purchased a significant plot of land and plan to have it turned into an integrated, experimental farm that co-rears fish and poultry! Digging the ponds should generate some serious (although admittedly low-tech) employment opportunities …

A number of other things are in the works - most notably, a program to rehabilitate or help home based weavers in the Sirajganj area. What we need is a way to market their product as other than lungis, gamchhas and saris. THINK fair priced cofee. Do we have anyone amongst our readers who has any expertise in the area? These weavers can hand weave anything - often of intricate patterns. They have traditionally worked only with cotton (and probably lack the experience/expertise to work with other fibers). But cotton is big! Who do we know who can try and capitalize on the twin cachets of ‘custom’ and ‘hand made’ as marketing hooks? Let us have some ideas from the readers as well as, I hope, some offers for getting involved. The weavers get paid from Tk 8 to Tk. 12 per yard of fabric that they produce and the fabric, in turn, sells for about 1$ per yard at the end of the value added chain. Can we get boutiques to market some specific products (table cloths, bed spreads) that carry a price of $2 or more per yard? That would create another Tk 20-30 per yard of ‘profit’ that can be passed down the manufacturing value added chain (after deducting retail and wholesale mark-ups) or alternatively, contributed to a general pool for the welfare of the workers. ANY IDEAS?

More later.

Muhit