CThis information was gathered during a interview with staff during the field visit and as part of the Grameen Dialogue Program. Below are some operational challenges that Grameen staff sometimes encounter when they are in the field.


Challenge 1: Means of communication are limited.

“Sometimes it takes a long time to reach a center (i.e. in case where villages are dispersed along the river).”


Challenge 2: Transportation is limited.

“Sometimes the only way to reach a village is on the river, through a canals, or by foot. Depending on the location of a village, often the boat is the only means of transportation.”


Challenge 3: Internal communication is limited.

“It is difficult if branch managers do not get the story directly from the an individual. If a story is relayed from someone else, some of the facts may be missing.”


Challenge 4: The threat of bad weather.

“During rainy seasons you cannot move without a coutnry boat, often it is flooded.”

Challenge 5: Operating problems.

“Things don’t always function smoothly and branch managers are faced with challenges that they have not addressed previously.”

Challenge 6: Monitoring

Monitoring of business and loan utilization is “difficult to see with own eyes is if a borrower’s son is working in a city or a far away place from the village.”

It is important to note that in response to these challenges as well as others, Grameen has policies that have provisions and guidelines for many of these situations. Grameen has recently implemented a strategy known as Grameen II, that has modifications to strengthen the functionality of Grameen, standardized procedures, and addresses problems faced in original Grameen programs.

In conclusion, a microcredit project involves a serious commitment on all parties involved, the donor providing the initial capital and seed money, the branch manager, and the borrower. What constitutes success is deemed by an individual borrower. Success may be demonstrated by the building of a house instead of shack, the construction of a sanitary latrine (toilet), sending a child to school, or eating three meals a day.

There are many challenges that occur throughout the lending process, but as you can experience for yourself by reading the stories in this section–the rewards exceed the challenges. A sense of personal accomplishment and worth is definitely one of the best outcomes for a person living in poverty who has been given hope of a better life for themselves and their families.