Viyellatez Garment Factory

Today we visited the Viyellatex Garments Factory. When I thought about a garments factory before today, images of child labor, excessive working hours and horrible working conditions flashed before my eyes. Not anymore. Viyellatex Garments, while not a “traditional” garments factory, was nothing like I could have ever imagined.  All of the employees were paid 20% over the minimum salary required by the government, most worked in air-conditioned rooms, and the job came with many other benefits. Viyelatex provides free childcare to any worker with children, free healthcare, free lunch everyday, and an open environment of mutual respect. Although the work was visibly difficult, this company was really trying to end the bad reputation of garments factories and provide respectable employment to both the educated and uneducated alike. 

Party at the Air Force Base!

 Shamima’s Brother in Law is a captain in the Bangladeshi Air Force and invited us to the party he was hosting for his 7 year old son on base. In order for us to even be allowed to enter the base, we had to apply and submit a copy of our passports. Luckily no one turned out to be too shady and they let us attend! It was really exciting because we all got to wear the fancy Bangladeshi clothing that we bought. I had a traditional 3 piece outfit made by a tailor in the market and was super excited to wear it to the big event!

Social Business: Grameen Danone and Grameen Eyecare

 Grameen Danone is a social business initiative between Grameen and Danone Yougurt. Grameen Danone aims to make no profit but to provide vital services to the poor at the lowest sustainable cost. The partnerships objective is to reduce poverty while providing nutrition to poor. Both companies contributed 50% to the startup cost of the projust. Danone provides the yogurt making expertise and plant while Grameen works to satisfy local regulations and distribute consumer education about the product. The product, “Shokti” is a nutritional yogurt that is fortified with calcium, protein, and several vitamins and minerals that Bangladeshi children are deficient in. Shokti is sold for 6 taka in the rural villages and 12 taka in Dhaka city grocery stores. In the rural villages the yogurt is sold door to door by Shokti ladies who make a 1.5 taka commission from every sale. This project employees 370 local farmers who provide the milk used to make the yogurt and another 40 employees who work within the factory. The Junior Project Manager, Amaud Riegert, that I spoke with predicted the factory would be running at zero-cost by 2011 – meaning that the sales proceeds from the yogurt would be equal to the cost of running the factory. Grameen Danone is doing everything it can to keep costs down and to be as environmentally friendly as possible: Rainwater is collected and used to make the steam necessary to sanitize the yogurt and packaging, expired product is composted and used to make gas that provides light to the entire facility, and any excess water that has been used throughout the process is used to irrigate the farmer’s fields behind the factory.

            Grameen Eyecare is a part of the Grameen Healthcare Initiative. The eyecare clinic is located in Bogra and provides services to an area containing a population of 3.5 million on a sliding scale basis. The clinic provides routine eyecare, eyeglasses, and surgery in their facility. The most common surgery is corrective cataract surgery.  The facility also hosts Eyecare Camps in the rural villages. A group of workers and a doctor drive out to the villages and offer free eye exams to anyone who would like to participate. If someone needs eyeglasses, then they are only charged a very small amount to cover the costs. If someone needs cataract surgery, then they are placed on a bus and driven back to the clinic where they will have the surgery and spend one night in the facility. These patients are only responsible for their food costs during this trip. Grameen Eyecare is already operating a sustainable level and has plans to open more facilities soon. 

Grameen Fisheries

The fisheries consist of over 400 ponds of various sizes used to grow several different types of fish. 50% of the project is owned by Grameen and the other 50% is owned by the local villagers. Grameen pays for all of the overhead and maintenance costs and the villagers provide the physical labor required to run the fisheries. When it is time to sell the fish at market, a Grameen representative and a villager go together and split the proceeds. The average villager who worked in the fisheries made 15,000 taka last year for their work. These individuals also have other jobs and many are involved in livestock production or agricultural work. There are currently over 3,000 families working in the fisheries and the fisheries are producing around 1,500 metric tons of fish a year. Unfortunately Grameen only has a lease on the fisheries land and the lease is due to run out next year. The Deputy General Manager Akhter Hamid is worried about the future of the project and explained that the success of the project depends on the political climate at the time the lease is up. If the government allows Grameen to release the land for another 25 years, the project will continue to grow and more families will be able to support themselves by working with the project. However, if the government takes over the project, the fisheries will likely be turned into a profit making scheme and the community’s poor will once again be at the mercy of a capitalistic system that makes no room for the undesirable at the top.

Struggling Member

            I interviewed a Struggling Member on the last morning in the village. The Struggling Member program is a newer program that allows beggars to take special loans from the bank. These loans accumulate no interest and can be paid back in any time period according to the borrowers needs. These loans are usually very small but allow for a beggar to purchase a small amount of goods to sell door to door instead of begging. The bank does nothing to collect these loans and the beggar is not required to pay them back if she is unable. The lady I met, Aysa Katum, borrowed 500 taka (about $7) to purchase some spices and candy that she sold door to door. She had already paid back her first loan and was currently on her second loan. Aysa had a specifically tragic story to tell; She was a widow and her 2 sons that lived nearby refused to take her into their home and support her. She guessed she was around 60 to 65 years old and was permanently crippled from working long hours bending over in the rice fields. She did have a small one-room shack to live in that was built for her by some local villagers who all chipped in a small amount of money to provide her with shelter. One of her sons lingered several feet away during our interview listening to our conversation. When we asked him why he wasn’t supporting his mother, he answered that he couldn’t support his own wife and children but had offered to let his mother come eat at his house before. Aysa quickly responded that she couldn’t eat at his house because the next day he would come and take any food or money that she had as repayment for the dinner. Although Aysa is still in a very tragic situation, the Grameen Bank Struggling Member program has really helped her out. She can now make enough money to buy rice for herself to eat and has access to clean water from a Grameen installed tube well nearby. Grameen also gave her a young goat to take care of. This gives Aysa a sense of purpose and will also generate money for her once the goat has kids that she can sell. At the end of the interview I asked Aysa if she was angry – angry  at her current situation and at her son for not supporting her as the Muslim culture dictates. She pulled her young grandchild close to her as she said that “No, I am not angry, I am helpless.”  

Malaria? Heat Exhaustion?

During a meeting I started feeling sick and felt ready to pass out by the time I arrived back at branch office. I knew I had a fever and my skin felt like it was on fire. Russel ran to the village market to try and find a doctor but the nearest one was several villages away. Instead he came back with a thermometer and some physician’s samples of various medicines. My temperature stayed around 101 for the rest of the night and I just couldn’t cool down. Although I should note that it is pretty much impossible to cool down anyway when its 90+ degrees outside and the rolling blackouts limit any air circulation that the fans could provide. Finally Russel came up with the plan: Anna must give me a cold water sponge bath in order to cool me down. I must at admit I was pretty miserable at that time but the fact that Anna was going to have to do that did cheer me up! So there I was laying on my back on the concrete floor of a Grameen Bank Branch Office Manager’s bedroom scandalously showing my kneecaps and elbows while Anna doused me in cold water. Luckily for me the combo of random meds and a cold water splashdown got me through until the next morning!

Hand Loom Weavers

     Hand loom weaving factory! Children work alongside adults on giant loom machines making saris. Each loom can make 1 sari in about 2.5 hours and the saris are sold for between 300 and 500 taka each ($4 -$7). All of the cotton thread is hand dyed and beautiful bright colors hang to dry from trees along the path.