Shorshodi Village Day 1 (August 8)

On Sunday, August 8th, I began my journey to the village of Shorshodi, located in the Feni District, which is a small district in south eastern Bangladesh.  Feni is very near the Indian border to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the south.  All the interns were broken down into groups of four, with three interns and one interpreter, and sent to separate villages through the region, as I had mentioned in a previous blog. 
The journey took about six hours by mini-van, with amazing views of the country.  We reached our destination around 3pm, just as most of the employee's at Grameen Shorshodi were wrapping up their day.  We lodged on the second floor of the villages Grameen center building, which was a modest two story building.  The first floor of the building was used for banking business, while the second floor was reserved for interns and the staff for lodging.  I immediately noticed there there was no air conditioning and electricity in this village was available for only a few hours per day.  Keep in mind that the temperature at the time was around 105 degree's with about 90 percent humidity.  There were also mosquito's everywhere, but luckily we were provided with mosquito nets.

After we arrived, we were given a chance to unpack and wash up before having a look around the village.  The villagers were obviously very curious and inquisitive, especially with my co-intern from El Salvador.  Being ethnically Bangladeshi myself, I suppose I was less interesting to the locals.  I was, however, a source of amusement due to my broken Bangla spoken with an American accent.  We also played soccer with some of the local children before having dinner.  At dinner we had a chance to meet with the Branch manager, along with three of the Center managers who service the branch and the messenger.  They were all very kind and hospitable and briefed us on what to expect for the rest of the week.  On Monday, we would travel to one of the nearby centers to partake in a group meeting.  We would also have the opportunity to review loan proposals and interview several Grameen members.  It was a great day, and I looked forward to the rest of the week.