Bandarban - Chittagong Hill Tracts

During a weekend of my time in Bangladesh, I took a trip with my family to Bandarban in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.  The Hill Tracts are near the border of Myanmar and India and represent the highest elevation in the country.  About half the population of the Hill Tracts are of tribal peoples that practice Buddhism in this primarily Muslim country.  This trip was of particular interest to me, since my mother had spent her childhood and attended college in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Bandarban is unquestionably, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Its dense forests and numerous rivers that can been seen with bird-eye view while driving up the tracts and is simply awesome.  There seems to be little pollution in the tracts and the air is crisp and much cooler than in the lower elevation.  Life is simple in this part of the country, with simply made houses and almost no infrastructure.  Sometimes, you can see monkey's sitting up in the tree's who co-exist with the locals.  I would loved to have spent several days in Bandarban, but unfortunately could only spare one day.  It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my trip here.

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. 

Shorshodi Village Day 2 (August 9th)

On Monday, August 9th, our day began at 8am.  We gathered in the Branch office and discussed the agenda for the day.  We were to attend a Center meeting nearby to help conduct the days meeting and installment collections.  We would then have the opportunity to interview an old Grameen member/borrower and a new Grameen member/non-borrower.  After the interviews, we would regroup at the branch office and observe the loan disbursements procedures. 

We walked to the center meeting, which was about half a mile from the branch down a narrow dirt road.  The environment was stunning, with rice fields in every direction.  Everything was bright green and appeared to glow.  There was very little pollution and trash which was a common sight in the urban area's.  Beggars were not as common either, as most of the villagers were subsistence farmers and shop owners.  It began to rain as we walked, but luckily made it to the Center before it started pouring. 

After we helped conduct the meeting and loan collections, we visited the home of 37 year old Monima, who had been member since 1990 and had a current outstanding loan of 15K Taka, which is equivalent to about $200.  With this loan, she was supporting her sons education and expansion of her rice fields and vegetable gardens, which she sales the surplus of in the market.  She had taken several other loans in the past to help buy land and home.  She explained that her situation was disparate prior to joining Grameen, since her husband had died and was left to support herself and her two children.  When asked if she had an complaints about Grameen Bank, she acknowledged that at times there was tension and confrontation between group members with regards to new loans and ability to make installment payments. 

Next, we went to the home of 27 year old Rashida, who had just become a member two weeks earlier.  She intended to take out a loan to open up a grocery shop.  Her husband is an expatriate worker in Dubai, and although she is not in financial hardship, she had decided to become an entrepreneur to help support the family, which includes her two sons. 

Once the rain had stopped, we began heading back to the branch office.  I had noticed that much of the village was without electricity.  When I inquired about this, I was told that the government did not currently have any plans to extend the power grid to cover this part of the village.  Instead, Grameen is planning to begin a solar panel initiative to bring power to homes, through an affiliated organization called Grameen Shakti (power).  When we returned to the branch, we observed the loan disbursement process.  All new loans approved at the center meetings are centrally disbursed at the main branch office and must be approved by the branch manager.  All accounting transactions were recorded by hand in a ledger, which is inputted into a central computer by agents of the Area office.  Due to the constant black-outs, a computerised system would not work well in many village areas.

Cox's Bazaar

On the weekend prior to beginning my internship, I visited the beach resort town of Cox's Bazaar which is located along the Bay of Bengal on the south east of Bangladesh. It is also a fishing port and claims to have the longest unbroken natural sandy beach in the world at a 125km. The town was named after an officer of the British East India Company, named Captain Hiram Cox in the 18th century CE. Apparently, he was known for being a compassionate humanitarian who led successful rehabilitation programs in the area. Upon his death at the turn of the century, the locals named the town after him in honor of his work. Today, Cox's Bazaar is major vacation destination for Bangladeshi's.

The trip took about 12 grueling hours from Dhaka, by mini-van. The ride reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, and the comparison is not too much of an exaggeration. Once there, however, I was pleased to find a charming beach town, similar to towns in Dhaka, but much less populated. There were fish markets everywhere selling all kinds of fish I had never seen before. There were also some beautiful Catholic churches. The white sandy beaches, however, is what captured my senses. The sand was powder soft and seemed endless in each direction. The water was warm to the touch and the waves rough, but in a playful kind of way. There were also vendor's selling all kinds of products and services on the beach as well, such coconuts, shell jewelry, horse rides, jet ski's, and even children offering to sing songs for a few taka. Bangladesh is relatively conservative society, so bathing suits are not a common sight, most people being at least in shorts and a shirt, even in the water. The locals claim that the sunsets in Bangladesh are like no other in the world. And after watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean for the first time, its difficult to disagree.

Fall Recruiter Round-up Education Job Fair - ASU

Today I attended an education job fair held by ASU Career Services at the Student Recreation Complex.  I've been considering teaching as a possible career option upon graduating, at least temporarily.  Teaching is a noble profession and I have always held teachers in high regard, in fact I even ended up marrying one.  Despite the low salaries,  I would like to dedicate at least some of my work years to teaching children. 

The education job fair at ASU was attended by many districts accross Arizona and at least one district from California.  Unfortunately, there were not many positions suitable for me, since I do not have any teaching experience and I am not certified.  Luckily, however, the Arizona Department of Educaiton was also present and very helpful with informing interested candidates with teaching crediential requirments.  The Peace Corp also had a booth and seems like a dynamic organziation with some exciting opportunities.  Unfortunately, the one organization I was really looking forward to meeting with, Teach for America, was not present at this job fair.  I have heard many good things about thier training programs for those interested in starting a career in education and do not have prior teaching experience or a degree in education.  Despite this,  the job fair was still an educational experience and I was able to network with many helpful indivudals.

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.

Thanksgiving

So my family decided to change things up this year.   Instead of baking our turkey, as we have done every year in the past, we deep fried our bird this year, and I was pretty satisfied with the results.  As a matter fact, I think I'm sold on deep frying every year from now on.  Besides tasting better, in my opinion, it only takes an hour to cook.  The only draw-back on this method is the amount of oil needed to cook a turkey, which makes it a little more costly, and obviously less healthy. 

Thanksgiving is one of my more favorite holidays.  It brings my entire family together and I love the food.  I think preparing a Thanksgiving meal is as enjoyable as eating it.  Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving as well.