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Asia » Bangladesh
May 27th 2009
Published: May 27th 2009
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Social Business:
Last week I traveled with three other interns to visit some of Grameen’s sister companies. We drove five hours to the conservative town of Bogra, stopping first at Grameen Danone. Professor Yunus recently published his book Creating a World Without Poverty about the project with Danone. Basically, the French yogurt company approached Yunus looking for a way to market their company as a global institution that cares about the world’s poor. Yunus proposed the idea of a social business, or a company whose main focus is helping others rather than making a profit. Some of the guidelines include investing all profits back into the business for improvement and expansion rather than solely to the benefit of the shareholders. I find this idea very appealing and so did Danone, for they agreed to sell their yogurt for a low cost in order to improve the diet of low income individuals. However, this project has so far proved a failure. Yogurt is culturally seen as a luxury product and not part of the staple diet. Furthermore, the poor make so little that even the reduced price has not proved low enough. For this reason, the yogurt market is now targeting the middle class, thereby defeating the original intention.

The head manager at Grameen Danone was not very friendly, but this might also be due to the underlying tone of my questions. I wanted to know why the company was not meeting its production capacity and how great was their net loss. Also, I was curious about Danone’s reaction to the progress of this initiative and if they were still as flexible and open-minded as in the beginning. Basically, the manager either did not understand my questions or did not feel like elaborating. Overall, I left feeling that Grameen Danone has not shaped up to what it has been sold as. I plan to compile a case study of this company and ask whether the failure of this social business means anything for other social business ventures.

Next we visited Grameen’s Eye Care Hospital, another social business initiative, but this one proving much more successful. For 50 taka (70 cents), you can get a full consultation. The doctors seemed friendly and knowledgeable and the technology was up-to-date. Their goal is to eradicate unnecessary blindness through eye screenings and eye surgeries. Charging patients based on their ability to pay, they therefore insure all who ask get treated and have operated on 231 cataract patients of which 101 were free of charge. Furthermore, they met all their costs without support from other NGOs and expect future profits. The increase in patients and self-sufficiency of the hospital shows the potential of this social business model.

Heading over to our final resting place for the night at the Grameen fisheries, I began to discuss the field of social work with the other interns. For instance, Darshan from India spoke about how he is critical of the way educational institutions teach students to first propose a solution and to then understand the root cause. He referenced how social workers are quick to prescribe ADHD medication to children rather than taking a holistic approach and researching the multiple factors that contribute to a child’s development.

I personally share Darshan’s opinion. Americans are quick to prescribe their system as the only way rather than looking to other cultures for inspiration. Societies such as India have existed for thousands of years and therefore have had time to cultivate and refine their social welfare models. This does not mean other systems are perfect, but it is important to always be looking outward and to learn from others success and challenges of others.

This ethnocentric attitude can also be seen in the way the U.S. approaches foreign policy. Americans continually claim a moral authority to impose their solutions on the rest of the world. For instance, institutions such as the IMF dictate blanket policies rather than understanding the inner workings of the specific economy. The failure to spread “democracy” to the Middle East further proves that it is time to take a more pluralistic approach and to truly understand the inner workings of a society before imposing regulations. Institutions that start from the bottom up are always more successful than when dictated by the government, and I believe this grassroots approach contributes to Grameen’s success. Even though they have institutional power, their focus is still on the average worker. Therefore, change must come from within and rather than claiming a moral superiority and inundating our beliefs on other nations, the local population must realize the answer on their own. Instead of attacking and subsequently shutting off the other side, we need to convince one another that each party left with the better end of the deal.

Inefficiency at its finest:
-50 buses all trying to exit through the same small opening simultaneously (Basically, it took me 30 minutes to leave the bus terminal).
-One man bringing you the bill, another taking it to the cashier, a third carrying the receipt, and a fourth opening the door. In sum, this is the result of overpopulation.

Feminist Bookstore:
The Lonely Planet talked about a feminist bookstore where men must be accompanied by women. Excited for this unconventional experience, I hop on a motor scooter taxi and head to the area. Of course, no street signs are marked, so the driver continually stops so I can ask a local in Bangla what direction to travel. Each person sends us a different direction rather than admitting they do not know the way. Finally, we head down a small avenue where a bunch of women in bright saris are crowded around a man sitting at a small table. I indicate to the driver to stop so I can ask one of these women if they have heard of the feminist bookstore. To my surprise, he would not let me ask the women. While it was acceptable for me to speak with the men, whenever I tried to talk directly with a woman, he would shake his head and drive forward. Eventually, I had to call it quits. I knew a feminist bookstore in a country where 60 percent of women are illiterate would be difficult to find.

Boundaries:
One emotionally challenging part of this internship experience has been the lack of privacy. I am accustomed to exploring towns on my own and running through parks free from human interaction. But in Bangladesh, self-isolation is not possible and my coordinator refuses to let me walk through the villages alone. On my five day village trip, I was buying a jackfruit in the marketplace and literally a crowd of 60 men circled around me and the two other female interns. I felt like they were closing in on us and when I sought refuge in a store, the procession followed. At one point, I stopped to watch a blacksmith fire a blade, and as I watched him, others watched me. Unlike in the United States, staring is not considered rude and for many of these people, I am one of the first white individuals they have ever seen. Even though I recognize their apparent abrasiveness stems from curiosity, I still feel like a guinea pig. I miss the ability to blend and simply pass.

Bangladeshis have a strong sense of community. While Americans pride themselves on their individual rooms, here there does not seem to be a distinction between public and private space. However, there are qualities of this lifestyle I find very appealing. For instance, I will never forget Mir Mazedur Rahman. Walking back from a borrowers meeting with two other interns, a small man wearing his religious garb ran out from his porch yelling, “Hello, how are you?” We politely responded that we were doing well, and he asked us where we were from. The second the words “America” formed on our lips, a large smile overtook his face and he invited us inside. In his high-pitched voice, he shared with us his life, while his quiet wife simply shook her head. He explained that he lived in America for 8 years as a teacher for the mentally challenged and therefore, we were all citizens of the “greatest nation on earth.” His childish excitement cracked me up as well as his insistence that he loved us and that we would forever remain in his heart.

I found his open arms and willing heart refreshing. He had no reservations simply because we were strangers but instantly embraced us. He explained how he loved life and saw everything as a blessing from God. It seemed as if nothing could disappoint him, for the simplest things brought him great joy. As I struggle to find my own happiness and purpose in life, it is nice to find someone who has lived 72 years on this planet and still wakes up each day with a smile.


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