What is happening next

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We are being divided into six groups of three each and will be traveling into the villages to observe microcredit first hand. We will be gone four nights. My group and another group will be taking a five or six hour bus trip to Chittagong where we will break up and go into two different villages. We will be hosted and led by a experienced bank official. My group includes Simon from Hong Kong, China and Alexandra from Austria. In the village we will be interviewing and creating reports/diary/case study of a borrower, a branch managerand a Center manager, etc. We will be attending center meetings, visiting small businesses and observing all of the elements of microcrocredit first hand.

Chittagong was where Yunus first started microcredit. It is where Yunus had become Head of the Economics department of Chittagong University and where he found that his great economic theories were of no practical value and he closed down his classes and took his students into Jobra - a nearby village and began studying and learning from the poor. He describes it as getting a worms eye view (versus a bird eyes view) of the needs of the poor. It was here that he loaned a total of $27 to 42 women out of his own pocket.

We will then return to Dhaka where we will be reporting on our observations and further studying the introcasies of microcredit.

I finish up with Grameen on December 4 and the move to spend 10 days with BRAC - another very large microcredit instituion in Bangladesh. They have created a very detailed program exclusively for me and I will spend much of those 10 days in Ranpur ( 7 hours by bus) in villages in the Northern most area of Bangladesh.

My plan is to return December 14 - but I am open to stay on and do some relief work if the opportunity opens up - and my sense is it may.

Yunus started his presentation talking about 45 minutes about the hurricane and telling us what Grameen Bank is doing about it. Five thousand people were killed and 1,200 of them were Grameen borrowers. All of these loans will be forgiven and their heirs will owe nothing. All Grameen employees survived but many of their homes were wiped out - as well as many banks. Yunus went into the area to observe and determine how Grameen can help. Loan payments will not need to be made for at least six months, they are providing additional new loans that also will not need to be paid on for at least six months, Grameen Bank is providing lots of relief aid and staffing. Yunus spoke of how this was a good time to be here as it gives us an opportunity to see how Grameen Bank reacts in time of crisis. Yunus's compassion flows out of him with every word.

It is now 4:45 AM and I am going to try and catch a little more sleep.

My next communication will be next weekend.

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Comments

[DJ]

Thanks.
Sounds like you are enjoying your time. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Please keep up the good work.

[Lynn Cederquist]

Up date
Hello Marty, we are all anxious to get the next up-date of you travel into the villiages. Also, looking forward to more pictures. I have sent this Blog information on to our local Toastmaster clubs. You may be hearing from them. I continue to keep in touch with Ron and your Mom. Lynn