3 days at the world's biggest NGO in Bangladesh

End August, 2013. Visited Bangladesh- especially BRAC...............

BRAC HO at Dhaka

Once you arrive at the airport, and look over the immigration counters, you see "BRAC Bank" hoardings and its ATM. Look around, and you see the vibrant ad of “B-Kash”- the mobile banking initiative.

BRAC is all over the place. When I visited Dhaka last time (five years back), there was bill boards of Aarong Milk across all busy crossings. That time i knew well about “Aarong”- the great (perhaps greatest in Bangladesh) brand of exquisite works of weavers and artisans from all corners of Bangladesh. And I thought- wow, now they are into dairy products as well! This time, while travelling through Dhaka, we came across BRAC poultry ads!!

Banking, Dairy, Poultry…..you must be thinking i am writing about a business conglomerate (unless you know well about BRAC). No, we are talking about the largest  NGO in the world (and greatest by some ratings). The name is mentioned with respect around the world, like its illustrious founder Sir. Fazle Hasan Abed- who left Shell Oil to start BRAC in early 70's.  BRAC is a living evidence of Sir Abed’s famous quote: “small is beautiful, but big is necessary”. How big is BRAC? 130,000+ qualified & dedicated employees! With a perfect mix of young & matured. Annual budget over US$ 600 million (only Bangladesh operations, i am not counting the BRAC International's operations here). But true size is not necessarily a reflection of quality. More than the numbers & financials, BRAC’s work for 110 million poor through innovative, large-scale development programs and enterprises is a book in itself.

Sir F.H. Abed 

As Sir Abed said in an informal meeting with us during our visit, he started BRAC as a local integrated development organization about 40 years back. Gradually its reach, effective work and popularity made it a national organization (i would rather call it international organization, as it is present in several countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America Europe and America) . It is a conglomerate that evolved over last 40+ years as per the needs of the poor and its achievable solutions. 

Soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC was part of an influential wave of organizations – alongside the Grameen Bank and ASA – that went on to revolutionize development strategies not only in their home countries, but across the world. Unlike its counterparts, however, which focused on refining and expanding their pioneering micro-credit and micro-finance models, BRAC also added a range of social programs to the mix and has continued to diversify and leverage its unique ability to achieve economies of scale over time.
While still involved in micro-finance activities – indeed, having issued approximately $5 billion in micro-loans to date – BRAC reaches more than 110 million people with its holistic, sustainable approach to poverty reduction that uses these micro-finance groups as a social platform to deliver scaled-up services in health, education, business development and livelihood support. Moreover, the organization has expanded its model into nine other countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
Currently doing everything from training door-to-door health volunteers, to implementing a mobile health project whereby volunteers can share real-time information about their patients, to running 32,000 informal ‘BRAC Schools’, and giving almost 7 million people access to sanitary latrines, BRAC is in many ways a microcosm of the entire international development sector in one organization. Unlike most of its overseas counterparts, however, BRAC covers almost 80 percent of its $485 million budget through a number of social enterprises, including a dairy project, a chain of retail handicraft stores, a pioneering poultry venture and commercial fish farming.

At the same time – realizing that massive scale also means ample scope for inefficiencies and wastage – BRAC has emerged as a leader in program monitoring and evaluation. The organization has established a standalone Research and Evaluation Division that collaborates with academic and research institutions and other development organizations to gauge the effectiveness of its interventions. Looking ahead, BRAC is preparing to shift its focus towards city-based schemes in anticipation of the projected one-third growth in Bangladesh’s population over the next five years.

During this visit, we saw some of the development programs on the field- microfinance, health and education programs. Simply amazing. A micro-finance group (JLG) consisting of rural women still thriving after 30 years! The health volunteers (Swastha Sebikas) in another village, with little formal education, can read pulse, check pressure, test eyes and provide critical solutions like ORS, child nutrition, spectacles & other medical products and provide health education to the rural populace. BRAC is famous for its simple, effective and innovative oral re-hydration program to check child mortality & epidemic, which has subsequently been adopted by Government for country-wide replication. It has added enterprise dimension to its health initiatives- making & distributing products for adolescent girls & women, nutrition products, surgical kits for mid-wives and so on, which not only significantly reduced MMR & IMR in the country while giving a financial incentive to thousands of its health volunteers. We knew it- the visit gave an opportunity to see it on the ground. But what we didn’t know- and it was particularly striking to see- how innovative yet appropriate training methodologies & tools are used to develop these health volunteers in rural, backward communities- using sand clock to check timing of pulse, just a paper with some figures to check eye problems and decide lens powers, a simple flip chart that describes common diseases, its symptoms, medicines, dosage and so on. Unbelievable! 

And when we saw the school, it was the WOW moment for us. The discipline and orderliness starts from the doorstep- to demonstrate this i  attach a photograph of how the kids keep their sleepers outside the classroom.  The teaching-learning methodology is so unique & innovative- one teacher, one class room (hall), 33 students for the entire primary education; joyful, activity oriented process; group learning in the class & peer learning in the evening are two hallmarks of this alternative education model for the out-of-school children. Government has given official recognition to BRAC community schools and these students are now mainstreamed into the government or other formal high schools. The self-introduction by the children, the neatness in the modest classroom, the dedication and love exuding from the teacher (who is running this school for 20 years now) all of these will be long cherished in our memory.   

We visited the BRAC Bank ( in 12 years it is now 6th Bank in Bangladesh). The same day we interacted with the research team, finance Team and Community Empowerment Team. And above all, Sir Abed himself (we met him on the day of arrival also- over dinner, but this was more formal...in his office- on the 19th floor). This great man and his exemplary team has created history already. But he has not stopped dreaming. His current dream is to contribute more in higher educations and specialized education in emerging skill areas. BRAC University is considered best private university in the country but Sir Abed is visiting premier expert institute for know-how in the area of highest quality nursing training. He was Chartered Accountant from UK, set up and ran so many enterprises- but when he was speaking to us he spoke not on management, but spoke at length on health needs of the country, technologies & solutions for health, need and vision for higher education! 

And he ended by saying".....there is so much to do". Such is the humility and optimism of this great personality. Having said this, we must mention about the team at BRAC- both at the helms of affairs and at the grassroots. They appeared so much into it. They all owned it. They all shared the pride in being part of BRAC. And perhaps our most significant take away is how such a large and diverse organisation seamlessly developed its succession, delegated leadership and remained so much in tune with the time. BRAC proves the power of human resources.

Bangladesh visit remains incomplete if you don't visit the "Aarong". We visited two of its flagship stores. And also the "Ayesha Abed Foundation" that produces for Aarong. 

The production center and supply chain management is a benchmark in itself. Artisans, women from humble backgrounds are working their with meticulous precision. TQM is practiced but no jargon, no complicated metrics.....simply explained, fully embedded in the practice. Remarkable. 

The design, products, ambiance of Aarong stores are its hallmark. The Brand stands out- with elan.

We salute the great institution... we take inspiration from its great works.

    

To respond to this frequently asked question “what’s in it for you” is not easy.  Of course what we do have something in it for us. But not necessarily money, or position, or gratitude neither it is expectation of befitting future returns. Did Marjina take the child in her lap to get some “tangible” return in coming days? Or did she do it from her inner calling? It’s not an investment. It’s a spontaneous human action.  It’s inherent in us. Yes there’s something in it for us. It gives us purpose, fulfillment, it gives sense of belongingness. And above all it’s an affirmation of what we want to do, not what we are expected to do.  

What’s in it for you?

Whenever we undertake to do something which is not strictly part of our profession or family welfare, often we are asked by our near ones: what’s in it for you? Why do you need to do this? What will you get? How much money? Any special position? Any accolade? Generally this is the case. With most of us…….

Here is a story of a middle aged lady. Let’s see “what’s in it for her”?

Marjina bewa (means widow), aged about 55 years, lives in the Village Dadpur, Block Baruipur, Dist. South 24-parganas (West Bengal, India).  As it happens with most girls in poor families, she was married off early- and married into poverty. Husband was an agricultural wage laborer.  When they had two sons and they were growing up gradually it was becoming more and more difficult to run the family on the meager income of the husband. It was far from “two square meals a day”. Children slept with half-empty stomach and dried up tears on their cheeks. Marjina had only water for the dinner. It is then she decided to join her husband in the field so that their joint income would perhaps improve the situation somewhat. And it did. Somewhat…..

It’s the usual story of a poor family in rural Bengal. Like thousands of such stories. Not exciting enough, not cool enough. And obviously no news story value in it. They were destined to doom. And sure, it was going like that. Until one day when a strange incident happened. Marjina was collecting firewood near a forest land. Suddenly she heard a baby crying. She looked around and found a new born baby, wrapped in clothes, abandoned. She took the child back to the village and looked for its parents. No one came forward. No one seemed interested. The kid was unwanted….  

Marjina decided to adopt him. She said “i am a mother, how caniI not take care of this child…even if it’s not my biological one”.  And hence she had her third son “Jahangir”. But this didn’t bring any luck to the family. Rather this additional member was an additional mouth to feed. Her husband fell ill and became bedridden. Eldest son got married and started living at his in-law’s place, leaving his parents. Next son got married also but stayed with parents. But his income was low. Marjina  started working as domestic help to supplement the family income. But despite the penury and hardship she admitted the youngest son Jahangir into school.

We run a holistic assistance program for the poorest of poor in this part of the country. It identifies the most needy women headed families through rural appraisal, supports them with productive assets, provides livelihood and confidence building training, connects them to village mainstream, build social capitals for them. With the instilling of hope & dignity and continuous hand-holding on livelihood and range of other interventions like immunization, schooling, water-sanitation, safe housing, entitlements, it is remarkable to see that such poorest families, headed by women graduate out of extreme poverty in 2 years and undertake stable livelihood options successfully. This graduation program (we call it ‘’THP” program here) is proven in various Asian, African and LatAm countries and its efficacy is well proven by RCT and other action research (by MIT, LSE, World Bank etc.). It’s now a talking point at various policy circles if this could be a real & sustainable pathway out of poverty.

As luck would have it, at this most troubled time Marjina’s husband died. She along with the family of her middle son got into more hardship. At this near destitution point our THP program team at

Baruipur came to know about Marjina and included her in the program.  She got a small asset support (worth $150) to start trading of garments in the village. And of course other assistances like training, capacity building, community guardianship, entitlements and so on. Marjina dreamt her dreams again. With the small capital she started trading with ladies garments bought from the wholesale market in Kolkata. Sold it door-to-door.  In her village and neighboring ones. Her grit & determination resulted in growth of her business gradually. And prosperity smiled upon them finally. Today she earns about $150 per month. The mud hut has been replaced by a two bed-roomed frugal house. They have started rearing ducks, chicken, cows and goats in the household. Her income, added with her middle son’s income (though meager), covers all the needs of the family. There is smile in everyone’s face.

Did you think we forgot Jahangir? Not at all. He is one central character in the story.  Jahangir completed his elementary schooling and now doing apprenticeship in wood craft designing.

Let’s ask ourselves the question again: what was in it forMarjina?