UA in Bangladesh New 490/AMS 505 Grameen Bank Basic Training students interview villagers, disburse small-business loans while learning how the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning organization alleviates poverty in developing countries F or the past two summers, UA instructor Rashmee Sharif has led groups of students to Bangladesh in collaboration with the Grameen Bank basic training program, which teaches students how small loans to the poor can alleviate poverty in develop- ing countries by providing citizens re- sources to create self-sustaining businesses. While in Bangladesh, students follow the bank’s branch managers, interview locals, disburse loans and collect payments. “I’m interested in corporate respon- sibility, so I was interested in seeing how these social businesses help the com- munity while running a for-profit busi- ness,” said MBA student Tyler Morgan. “As a finance undergrad, we talked about complicated financial scenarios. But what’s interesting is that Grameen is such a simplistic banking system. The borrowers own the bank, and this simple system is what brings these people up.” Started in 1976 by economics professor Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank’s system is both self-sustaining and community-building. Individuals, usu- ally women, in rural Bangladesh come up with business ideas that typically employ skills such as sewing, weaving, farming and ranching. Once an individual decides to take part in the Grameen Bank program, he or she must find four other villagers to participate. Each group member’s ability to secure a loan is reliant on the other group members’ repayments of their loans, encouraging the newly established busi- ness owners to work together. All loans are disbursed without collateral and are repaid on a weekly basis in small increments. Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. For UA students and anyone who participates in the basic training program, the goal is to foster knowledge and equip them to replicate the Grameen model in another part of the world. Fourteen UA undergraduate and graduate students across disciplines including business, film, law, criminal justice, political sci- ence, anthropology and education have travelled to Bangladesh for the three- week program. As part of their UA studies, they also read three books, Yunus’ “Banker to the Poor” and “Building Social Business” as well as Lonely Planet’s “Bangladesh” country guide, earning three hours of New College or American Studies credit. Third-year doctoral student Ben Woodruff said the Grameen Bank program allowed him to learn about real-world applications for his research, which focuses on microcredit. “I saw a lot of potential in my discipline to help Bangladesh and other developing countries,” Woodruff said. “I left with several research ideas.” Sharif said a lot of students have told her they want to go back to Bangladesh. “It’s a very concentrated experience, but it’s also a very powerful experience,” said Sharif, who has friends, cousins, aunts and uncles living in Bangladesh. “I wanted each student to come away with a differ- ent perspective of the world. Going to a place like Bangladesh really shakes your paradigm. I expect it will stay with them for a long time.” A video about the UA in Bangladesh program won the GoAbroad Innovation Award for best student video in 2011. The video consists of student photos from the 2010 trip and a video clip from a Bangladesh school. Winners were announced June 2 during the GoAbroad reception in Vancouver, British Columbia, and were chosen by the public via online voting. Tyler Morgan, who participated in the 2010 Bangladesh program as an MBA student, provided many photos featured in the video, and George Guarino, a Capstone International graduate assistant, produced the video. “I was thrilled that we won because it gives more attention to the program. It helps keep it sustained,” Morgan said. See the video and learn more about the program at http://international.ua.edu/programs/newsite/bangladesh-grameen-bank/. Students Farah Majid (left) and Carmen Groom on their way to visit a Grameen Borrower. UA students with a group of Bangladesh villagers. Students live and work in rural Bangladesh during the three-week program. Award-winning video 13 12