Bogra District (August 18)

On August 18th, I partook in an overnight trip to Bogra, located in the Rajshahi Division in northern Bangladesh to survey and analyze three Grameen social businesses, Grameen Danon, Grameen Eye Care, and Grameen Livestock and Fisheries.  Bogra is an important commerce and trade center in Bangladesh with much activity from various development organizations.  Bogra also has historical significance as the ancient capital of Bengal and near the site of an archaeological excavation dating to the 3rd century BC. 

I was very impressed with Bogra once I arrived.  It appeared much cleaner and organized than Dhaka urban areas and with a more planned infrastructure.  Our accommodations reflected my first impressions, when we were placed in nice brick homes which were air-conditioned.  We were surrounded by Grameen sponsored fisheries.  It was an incredibly beautiful place and at night, the sky was filled with fire flies, adding to its mystic. 

The next day, we toured the three Grameen initiatives, beginning with Grameen Danone.  Grameen Donone is a social business formed in 2006, as a joint partnership between Grameen and Groupe Donone, a dairy products manufacturer, which Americans know as Dannon.  Grameen Donone's objective is to provide yogurt products to poverty stricken families at very low cost, in order to provide needed nutrients to the poor.  The facility we toured was high-tech, clean and very professionally operated.  There were plans to begin constructing a second plant with even greater capacity.  The facility was producing 4,000L of yogurt per day, with a capacity of 10,000L.  One of the main goals of the Grameen Donone was to increase education and marketing efforts to promote the products, which in turn could allow them to increase production to full capacity.  Due to increased commodity costs related to the economic recession, the prices of the products had to go up recently.  This drew some criticism as to the logic of planning a second facility when the first is running below capacity and no where near meeting goals to cover initial start up costs by 2012.  The idea, however, is still a great attempt to alleviate mal-nutrition in under-developed areas.

Grameen Eye Care was the next facility we visited.  This facility was absolutely amazing, offering eye care at extremely affordable prices.  The center was able to cover initial start up costs after two years of operation.  Much of the equipment had been donated by governments and NGO's, allowing them to trim on expenses.  This social business model of offering health care as demonstrated by Grameen eye-care is an ingenious idea and should be replicated in the United States.  I made a point to research the replication possibilities further upon completion of my internship.