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.