Shorshodi Village Day 3 (August 10)

On Tuesday, August 10, we would conduct another center meeting in a different part of the village and meet with an student loan recipient.  We would also travel to another nearby village to survey the progress of an enterprise-loan recipient.  An enterprise loan is a loan of 20K or more, which is intended for a large scale business initiative.  Luckily the weather cooled down significantly over-night, and was much more comfortable.  I hoped the cooler temperature would remain for the remainder of the trip, as the night before was miserably hot. 

After conducting the center meeting, we arrived at the home of Joshu Udin, a 20 year old university student.  He had received a 100K Taka student loan through Grameen Bank two years ago, to be dispersed over a four year period.  The loan is under his mother, who has been a member for 15 years.  Joshu, who was studying management, aspired to work in Civil Service upon completion of his education.  Both Joshu and his mother claim that his efforts would have been impossible without the loans offered by Grameen, which have helped Joshu's mother establish a business and for Joshu to receive a student loan.  They claimed that, since they have very few assets, receiving any kind of loan from a traditional bank would have been unlikely.  Joshu was an incredibly articulate and ambitious, and we wished him the best of luck.

Next, we walked about a mile into another village which was much more remote than Shorshodi.  We were to survey the progress of an enterprise loan recipient, who received a loan of 100K Taka to establish a poultry farm and fishery.  When we arrived, unfortunately, the member was away on business, but his brother had escorted us to the farms for inspection.  The fishery was located in the rear of his home while the poultry farm was next door.  The fishery consisted of a pond which was about a quarter of an acre with nets neatly constructed at certain areas.  The poultry farm consisted of several very large cages, which were still being constructed.  It was quite amazing to see what can be accomplished with such a relatively small amount.  The loan recipient had been a member for 5 years and was able to establish many successful businesses over the years. 

We returned to Branch for loan disbursements and concluded the day.  It was an engaging and tiring day, so we spent the rest of the evening exploring the markets and relaxing at a tea shop near our branch.