Every human being on this planet has the right to life, a right to feed, clothe, and shelter but at what point did we allow ourselves to become reliant on someone else to employee us so that we can provide the basic necessities of life, the right to sustain our basic human needs? Having returned from an internship with Grameen Trust in Bangladesh, I’m reminded every second when I walked out of my hotel room how truly lucky I am. As I walk to the Grameen office the thick fog of humidity often times, suffocating heat is wrapped with noise of the city; the gray smoke of pollution coughing out of vehicles, mixed with the aroma of rotting garbage that is dumped on the street; the stench of piss and shit from the open sewer occasionally follows you and at the same time people approach you begging for money, waving their naked babies at you begging you to give money so their babies can eat; the elderly with their devastatingly, grotesque malformations singing “Allah” while being pushed in a homemade wheelchair looking for handouts-food, water, anything that would sustain them for the day. I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m lucky that my parents emigrated from Tanzania to the US and I was born here, I am their American Dream.
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| Monsoon season flooding in Mirpur 1 District of Dhaka. |
Bangladesh, a developing country with 150 million people kept in the size of New York State, has 30 million people unemployed and everyday that I walk down the same road to Grameen Trust I wonder when, if ever, countries categorized as developing will ever get out of that category? What would it take to get them on par with a developed country? China has done it in remarkable speed and consequences. Is it social business, the kind that Muhammad Yunus talks about and I’ve witnessed with projects like Danone and Veolia, is that what will turn it around? Is it microfinance? Are we then looking to reverse an economic system that we’ve been in engaged in for centuries in hopes to return to some familiar times where food, shelter and clothing was a right to everyone? I would say it is all of the above; however in my humbled American opinion the one of the main drivers that continues to hinder Bangladesh’s in developed is corruption.
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| Everyday life in Mirpur 1 District |
Corruption is everywhere and everyday occurrence. for an example, it was an ordeal to find a cab to drive me to another part of town but once I secure one, I’m quoted one price and upon arrival get in an argument with the driver about the sudden price hike. I learned Bangali quickly by arguing about cab fare. “Dami! Dami! ! “
Another example is construction. Everywhere I went, I see construction being floors being added, people working on buildings. But come to find out, many of those buildings will sit idle, vacant due to corruption. Money has passed hands multiple times so by the end, money has run out to complete the building and now buildings sit half done. Bangladesh has lax regulation if any at all when it comes to business and that can be a great thing! People are always working either selling the few vegetable that they have from their garden or own a shop selling shoes or cars. However, where there’s lax regulation, corruption breeds.
I had the honor of interviewing two Bangladeshi business men; one was the managing director of a textile factory who owed a several homes, one in the UK where his son attends school and the other in the upper class district of Dhaka called Gulshan. The other Bangladeshi was a 24 year old who just completed his BS in computer science, has a small computer repair business and was a co-owner of several burger joints in Dhaka. The textile business man sees corruption as both good and bad; the other sees it as bad. The example the textile owner gave is that an individual with power, like a politician, abuses their power by taking a 10 % cut of the profits from a $100 million dollar real estate project. Does the politician need the extra profit? No. Can he do that? Yes, and why? All other politicians are doing it, who is policing them? No accountability.
How could corruption be seen as good? A traffic officer, who has been working in the job for several years, sees his co- workers are doing well, and advance themselves on the job. While the wages he receives barely feeds his family, his wife is pressuring him to make more money. The traffic officer is tempted to engage in corruption to feed his family better, send the children to school and have some money left over at the end of the month. Is the traffic officer a bad person for engaging in corruption? The young Bangali sees it as bad because for years he’s been trying to grow his computer business and move it to another location. In order for him to do that he has to speak to the real estate owner regarding rent, speak to another individual about getting electricity, and then to another person about what kind of business he has and it keeps going on and on from there and everyone wants a cut of the profits. What would he have left for him and his family?
Day in and day out it is not to usual to see droves of foreigners working in Dhaka. In fact, most foreigners I met were in Bangladesh because they worked for an NGO and I support the work that they do. On the other hand we know that foreign aid helps supplement and support those at the bottom of the pyramid however it never reaches those that need it due to corruption and lack of transparency and that shouldn’t continue anymore. This trip to Bangladesh made it very apparent to me how aid work. Governments receiving aid are not being held accountable by those donating the aid and that is irresponsible. What is the solution? There are many tools, like social business, microfinance and there are hundreds of NGO’s in Bangladesh and other developing countries working to meet those basic needs and sustain it. Don’t you ever wonder how much money has been donated in the past 60 years to developing countries, and why is it that many of the same countries where money is donated to, seems like nothing much has changed for those who need it most- the people?
Despite all of this (corruption, abuse of foreign aid, environmental damage and disaster) meeting and speaking with Muhammad Yunus, witnessing first hand how microfinace works, understanding the methods and mechanism which makes it successful around the world continues to change lives . There is a direct social impact where women are at the center which creates a multiplier effect within the family and the economy as well. This is what makes me work even harder toward redirecting the market system to support social impact in the United States.
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| Hasan from Maer Achol Street Children’s Shelter. |
The links below show just a glimpse into the poverty people are suffering from in Bangladesh. It is an everyday encountered on every block, on every street, in every village.
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| The boys at Maer Achol Street Children’s Shelter. |
For more information about the organizations mentioned above, please visit their website.
Grameen Trust- http://www.grameentrust.org/
Maer Achol Street Children’s Shelter – http://www.maerachol.com/
SOS Children’s Villages – http://www.sos-schools.org/asia/bangladesh
Written by Serenity Siya Mlay
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