Drishtipat Blog

We had a pre-planned meeting with Mrs Nurjahan Begum of Grameen Shikhkha, the scholarship management program of Grameen Bank for the benefit of underprivileged students .

She offered us to a day long field trip at one of the Grameen locations to see the activities of Grameen. Due to time restraint, we decided to do it the following day. A car was rented, a Grameen Bank officer, MR. Shahabuddin would accompany us to Madhabpur of Singair Thana at Manikganj.

Here is a pictorial essay of the day,
We went deep inside Bangladesh, we drove beside the paddy fields,

These farmer’s family members get loans for seeds, tractor rent, fertilizer etc.

They walked miles to greet us at the Bank office. We found them waiting for us.
As grameen scholarship recipients, their high school and college education expenses are partly met by Grameen education scholarship.

Please view the full post with 32 more pictures in next page.

We talked on unending issues, with the bright grameen scholarship recipients, Mr Shahabuddin, our guide officer and local branch manager shaheb.

Manager shaheb also went through the basics of grameen, all the transaction data,
about policy, rules and regulations.

Grameen education needs much more fund to continue the education of these poor students. If you are interested to participate, please contact Grameen education directly.

We went deeper into rural Bangladesh,

the Grameen members local group leader greetd us at the team meeting,

These meetings are very organized, disciplined and focused.Start with certain lifestyle related exercise.

Most of the transactions happen at members homes. A member volunteered to let the team use her place.

The village women are very good money managers.

We then walked to the grameen pre-school. These schools are run by grameen education program, for the kids of the members who otherwise will not attend school. These system grooms them for formal schooling.
Another member volunteered her house for that purpose.

We walked into a yard.

Along a kitchen

Suddenly around the back of the house, an assembly of preschoolers greeted us,

We chatted with them.

The teacher went over their home works.

The children were very happy to get us among them.

They studied in the class room.

Need an erasure?

No Problem.

At the end of the academic stuff, the children played. Do any of you want to gift these kids some toys? Please contact grameen shikhkha.

Without Grameen they would have remained illiterate.

We then walked around the village to meet different members,

This is her first house. Grameen loan helped her build it.

We crossed mustard fields.

Through peoples’ backyard.

Sugar cane juice, fresh out of factory!! Another grameen project. His wife got the loan and now takes care of the 2 month old baby.

Village Tailor.. His mother got the loan off Grameen. Grameen Bank’s Manager Shaheb knows all in the villages in his jurisdiction.

We walked through the muddy roads,

Grameen loan to a village women helped finance this Bhai Bhai decorator and polli Phone service.

No more beating or leaving the wives. Most of these rickshaw are funded by the wife with Grameen’s loan.

Mother and daughter came to the bank to repay some money. Wasn’t all these the job of the dad and the son?

We then met the members of the Grameen program on beggars. Grameen started this new loan program for the street beggers with the same goal of eradicating poverty.

with a small loan, as low as $ 10, these destitute women are now small entrepreneurs, ferrying candy, vegetables from house to house.

All her life, since childhood, she lived on peoples’ charity. With help of Grameen, she transitioned slowly from begging to combine begging and ferrying and now as a fulfledged vendor of candy for children.

Manager Shabeb greeted us in the morning, accompanied us all day. He knows all the members, their children. He knows about their joy, pain, sorrow.

In the picture, Raihan , Shumon, Manager Shaheb and Me.

Now, after seeing all these pictures will anyone still ask the question why Yunus didn’t get Nobel for economics and why for peace?

We grew up reading of Ishwar Chandra Bidya Shagor, Raja Ram Mohon Roy etc as social reformers. Dr Yunus is another social reformer of equal or better calibre. He is fighting povert, he is winning in every single war. Soon, no more land will remain under the control of poverty territory.