1st fieldtrip

Moin,

today I had my first field trip. Me and another Intern from Japan (her name is Hidemi) left at 8 in the morning and visited a local bank office where women can get money and our coordinator explained us a little bit the system of Grameen which is so much more complex then I thought.

After that we meet of women who talked with a bank representative and the other women about their credits and other things. It was really interesting because I saw for what reasons the women needed to money for and how much they took. But the most important experience was that I could actually see what they used the money for (for example houses) and I could see how happy they were. Although I had the impression that it got a little bit faked because of our present, it still convinced me that the system works there.

We were allowed to walk into their home areas and houses and they proudly showed us a TV or a second bedroom as well as working machines. Everywhere the people are very friendly although they star alot, just because they probably havent seen someone from another country before.

Today again I met many new Interns from Europe and other countries, so my worries to be the only "western" guy is totally false.

Tonight we leave to go to Cox's Bazar for the weekend (which consists out of the days saturday and friday) to see the worlds longest sand beach. We will have a 11 hours bus trip but I'm really exited to see some more of the country.

And I have to figure out what exactly I want to do for Grameen bank because basically they gave me all options. Maybe I can combine it with my seminar paper.

We will see. I write the next time in 2 or 3 days when I come back from my trip.

C ya

PS: Pictures will follow