Ramblings and an intro to BRAC

I think I have become one with the rickshaw. I no longer need to cling to the edge of the rickshaw as we bump and gyrate over the swiss cheese roads. I think its all in the legs…stabilizing with your quads. Miji doesn't seem to have this problem however, so this could just be me.

 

What I can't seem to do well though - is keep my dupatta balanced on my shoulders. I'm pretty sure I have defective shoulders - that's why I have to always use a cross bag - when I keep a bag on one shoulder, it always slips off. I'm okay with a scarf..because its smaller..but the dupatta just doesn't gracefully straddle my shoulders like it does for every other woman in this country.

 

I haven't figured out whey I get so many stares. You should see Miji's impression of people craning their necks to take a look at us as we bound through the streets on a rickshaw. We'll try to capture it on video…You'd think that I'd blend in - even when I'm wearing an salawar kameeze (even if the dupatta is awkwardly perched on my shoulders).

 

Anyways…

 

About BRAC

 

So - let's talk about BRAC - the reason why I'm here. BRAC is the world's largest NGO (in terms of size, not in terms of money) and I believe it's the first "Global South" NGO to go international. Started in the 1970s to combat the challenges that face the extreme poor in rural Bangladesh, it has since expanded to cover virtually all of Bangladesh, and it has also gone on to spread its insane ideas of low-cost community-based interventions across other countries in South Asia, Africa, and now Haiti.

 

The machine that is BRAC is even more impressive in person. BRAC is everywhere in B'desh. BRAC Bank, BRAC Fisheries, BRAC Poultry, etc. BRAC Poultry is so huge that it provides the chicken for most restaurants, including KFC. You know how iPhone's tag line is "we've got an app for that"? I think BRAC should go with "we have a BRAC for that" as its tag line.

 

 When you look at a map of Bangladesh, you'll see that there is some sort of BRAC service in every part of the country - its ubiquitous prevalence is quite remarkable.  Its social enterprise and micro-finance ventures are the main reasons why BRAC is 70-75% self-funded – which is impressive for an NGO – particularly of this size. It is evident that its success is based on two aspects: community reach and trust. It is because of these two elements BRAC has been able to build the infrastructure throughout the country to have the muscle to build partnerships and advocate at the national level, and it has branded itself at the poor and ultra-poor level as a trustworthy organization that has worked with communities to help.