Overview of Internship

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There is no such thing as a typical day at Grameen, which has been a source of both excitement and frustration. I quickly learned that if I wanted to make the most of this experience, I could not stand around waiting for others to make plans. Persistence has been the key and while many interns, unaccustomed to such a relaxed environment, have slipped through the cracks, I have somehow managed to find work and to make myself useful.

Walking into the Head Office the first day, I was hyper-sensitive to how I was treated in relation to my male colleagues, and many of the other women complained of a similar lack of voice. However, I quickly learned that you cannot simply demand that your voice be heard, you have to show others you are worthy of their attention. Again, I achieved this only through persistence. When I first requested to visit a particular village, I was told no. But on my second and third try, I was told that they would see what they could do. Once I established myself as a serious student, I found the staff more willing to give me greater responsibilities.

Also, creating strong relationships with my co-workers was essential to developing a positive working environment. The staff members of Grameen are wonderful people and building rapport and making sure people know my name has helped me become more involved with the company. For example, I was asked to write information summaries about the social businesses and my voice is now apart of the Grameen official informational PowerPoint. Right now I am working for Grameen Trust, which brings micro-credit replication projects to countries throughout the world. I read through Annual Reports of Grameen China and Kosovo and consolidate statistical reports. It is fascinating learning how other nations adapt microfinance to match their cultural standards.

Despite some success, Grameen is not always the easiest environment to work in. Like many businesses in the developing world, a rigid bureaucratic structure is set in place and rank does matter. This has meant I have to overcome a great deal of formalities to get approval for simple tasks. While I understand the benefits of having a strict hierarchy in creating a sense of order and responsibility, I find the arbitrary rules frustrating. Furthermore, it is not the most efficient structure, and I often feel a sense of motivation and activity in the office to be lacking. If you want something done, you have to put in a lot of energy. While tiring, this can also be rewarding. Still, I realize that I personally seek to work in a flexible environment that fosters new ideas and creativity. It is important to be around people who constantly strive to improve themselves.

My first week interning consisted of learning about the banks policies and practices. Basically, I immersed myself in the literature, watched documentaries and had long meetings with my amazing coordinator Harun. The next week I took a five day village trip to Tangail. Each morning I would attend a different borrowers meeting and watch the loan disbursement process. My favorite part was the personal interviews where I got to learn about the villagers’ life stories and hopes.

After my trip, I then sought out every Grameen sister company possible. Traveling the country, I visited Grameen Danone, the Grameen fisheries, Grameen Healthcare, Grameen Education, and Grameen Shakti. Grameen Shakti brings green technology to the rural villages, and I was impressed to see the poor leading the way in environmentally friendly technology. One woman proudly showed me her solar powered lights and how she ingeniously connected her solar panel to the neighboring houses so they too could enjoy the benefits of the technology. This communal spirit continually amazes me.

The health care center was not as impressive. As in most developing countries, the brain drain effect is luring capable doctors from the villages to the cities and the success of the program is doctor dependent. The doctor I spoke with was right out of school and he also expressed interest in eventually moving to Dhaka to seek higher wages and better facilities. Another major problem is that the Grameen healthcare system is not effectively serving the population. The doctor said he served only 10 to 20 patients daily, which means they are clearly not reaching out to all who are in need.

My main criticism with the health program was the lack of community education, for I believe this hinders the program’s sustainability. Most villagers are accustomed to their traditional healers, which means even if the infrastructure was in place, without education there is no intermediary transitioning the villagers to the new system. Education is also crucial to family planning and while Grameen does encourage smaller families, it is unclear how much they are affecting the culture. What is even more discouraging is that they used to have a community health program but when the money ran dry, so did the program. When I asked if they planned to reinstate a similar program, the director of Grameen Kaylan seemed disinterested and replied that the villagers already knew about health.

I have also visited some of the other main microfinance institutions in order to get an overall comparison. I was drawn to certain features of BRAC, for unlike Grameen, they place a greater emphasis on education with over 50,000 non-formal primary schools. Visiting one of these schools, I found the students’ ability to answer the teacher’s questions impressive but also wondered how much of this had been rehearsed. Equipped with an arsenal of songs and dances, it seemed as if they were accustomed to visitors. Even so, the education system in Bangladesh is so underdeveloped, I was just happy to see children learning to read and write.

Another appealing aspect of BRAC is their health education program. They train village women to educate their community. Sitting in on one of these lessons, the health worker explained to a group of women the importance of hand washing and basic hygiene. She also carried a medical kit with supplies such as birth control, sanitary napkins, birthing kits, antacid pills, cough syrup, disinfectant soap, vitamin B, saline and fungicide. I think it is really important that the locals teach the locals about health related issues. This way when the NGO eventually leaves, the program remains in place.

One question myself and the other interns have been continually asking is what roles should the private and public sector fill? For instance, if the government is lacking in health services, is it the job of NGOs to take on duties typically reserved for the public sector and by taking on these responsibilities, is it simply fostering a lazy, ineffective government? Furthermore, with so many agencies attempting to solve the same problem, it creates redundancy and I wonder what steps are needed to eventually move from a strong private sector to an effective public system. My first hope would simply be to have more communication between the various NGOs. If Grameen and BRAC could combine programs, they would go far in helping the poor.

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