Special stories part II

If not the most rewarding, definitely the most interesting part of my trip this weekend was our visit to the UDDIPAN microcredit meeting. UDDIPAN was our host organization for the weekend. In addition to their microcredit activities, they run several safe spaces for children and many other programs. We were lucky to work with UDDIPAN- we met a lot of amazing people who are truly passionate about their work. The microcredit center meeting that we attended was at the home of one of the borrowers, and one of the cyclones (or perhaps just one of the “normal” floods that plague the coastal areas of Bangladesh) had caused significant damage to her house. There was no floor, just a uneven foundation of mud. There were about 12 women at the meeting, and there was no ceremonial rhetoric to open or close the meetings like I’ve seen at Grameen center meetings (let alone a cultish cheer… long live Grameen Bank…?). The household setting, demeanor of the women, and lack of rituals made the atmosphere completely different from that of a Grameen center meeting. We asked some of the usual questions (can you read, how many children do you have, etc.) and found that their answers were similar to those of Grameen borrowers. However, we then asked them if any of them took loans from more than one MFI (“overlapping”—as an interesting side note, I asked an ASA branch manager what percent of his borrowers were “overlapping” and he estimated 65%. What’s going to happen when the bubble bursts? I’ll come back to this later…). I’ve gotten a stern NO every time I’ve asked this question elsewhere, but in this group, one woman was completely willing to discuss the fact that she has THREE microcredit loans, AND that the reason she took out the second and third loans was because she needed the cash to pay her installments on the first loan. This is one of the main criticisms of microfinance (I would argue, THE main criticism of microfinance from a purely economic standpoint). I was thrilled to hear a woman speak openly about it- and in front of the UDDIPAN branch manager, no less.

One of the other woman then started criticizing UDDIPAN’s operations. She said that the women wanted to take out bigger loans and repay them monthly, rather than weekly. She had a few other various criticisms of their activities, and the branch manager welcomed her comments and encouraged her to continue. What a contrast from Grameen- in the Grameen meetings we had to practically beg the borrowers to admit that they wanted a health care clinic located closer to their village. Although I attributed this to the linearity of their thinking (pre-Grameen, they couldn’t meet their basic needs, now they can, so Grameen = perfect), I now think that there’s much more to it. All the ritualistic practices, the cultish cheer, their lack of willingness to say anything negative bout Grameen- it seems as though it has a lot to do with the way the institution of Grameen Bank has been developed and depicted to borrowers. Grameen is lucky to have Dr. Muhammad Yunus- a charismatic leader who would probably achieve a great deal of success as a preacher in a Southern Baptist church. Professor Yunus has the ability to inspire and mobilize people like few humans do. However, there’s a cloud in this silver lining: could the borrowers be too afraid to voice their criticisms of Grameen bank for fear that their will “anger the Gods?”