BRAC launches new website

BRAC has just launched a new website with interactive features where you can "meet" the people BRAC works with, learn about BRAC's programs in Africa and Asia, and get the latest information about what we're doing and how you can support our holistic approach to alleviate poverty.

Click here to visit the new website.

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Show your support by voting for BRAC USA in the Chase Community Giving contest.

BRAC USA supports BRAC's goal of alleviating poverty by empowering the poor the bring about change in their own lives through BRAC's programs in Africa and Asia.

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An Evening with BRAC Hosted by the Global Healing Foundation

Allan and Clare Rosenfield have long been devoted supporters of BRAC and their vision to advance the well being of the poorest people in Africa and Asia, particularly of women and children.

Nick Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn’s new book, Half the Sky prominently features the story of BRAC USA’s founding Chair, Allan Rosenfield, a doctor who put the M in MCH –Maternal Child Health and championed women’s rights and empowerment. Even in the last years of his life, he dedicated his time and energy to take BRAC USA to new heights.

Allan Rosenfield’s wife, Clare Rosenfield opened her home and heart on Wednesday evening to friends and colleagues so that they could learn about BRAC and support its work. Through the Global Healing Foundation, Clare organized a special evening, involving a screening of New Horizons, a ten-minute introductory video on BRAC and Peter Buffett’s original song, Set Us Free with music video shot while visiting BRAC’s program for teenage girls in Bangladesh.

After viewing both videos, Allan and Clare Rosenfield’s son, Paul said, “I’d always heard about BRAC but now I understand why it’s so important.”

Watch these videos right here:

A New Horizon



Set Us Free

BRAC receives award for Social Performance Reporting

BRAC received the 2009 silver award for Social Performance Reporting.

The award was launched by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, and powered by MIX (Microfinance Information Exchange).

The award is designed to promote greater transparency in Microfinance Institutions’ social performance and recognizes transparency in social performance reporting.

Click here to read the MIX Press Release.

BRAC Uganda reaches 100,000 microfinance borrowers in less than 3.5 Years

Sarah Mukama, living in Mawuba village close to town of Bugembe, today became BRAC Uganda’s 100,000th borrower. Sarah became a BRAC member in August 2009, and today she borrowed 250,000 Ugandan Shillings (US $130), which she intends to use to buy insecticides and fertilizers for her crops. Sarah cultivates tomatoes, beans and some coffee. She also rears pigs and a cow. Through the income from these activities, she supports a family of seven, including five children.

Dr. Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder and Chairperson of BRAC disbursed BRAC Uganda’s first ever loan in June 2006 at the Iganga branch. The first borrower, Wamulo Ruth, borrowed 200,000 shillings (US $100) to buy maize, rice and beans from farmers and sell them to restaurants and eateries in the area. With the support from BRAC Uganda, she has grown to become a restaurant owner herself. Ruth continues to be a BRAC borrower, and is currently in her fourth loan of 1,000,000 shillings (US $ 500), five times the size of her first loan.

BRAC Uganda has set a remarkable record by reaching 100,000 borrowers in less than 3.5 years since that start of its microfinance operations in Uganda in June 2006. With an average annual borrower growth rate of 139%, BRAC Uganda is in the company of other rapidly growing microfinance institutions in world. It took SKS Microfinance (which is widely regarded as one of the fastest growing MFIs in the world) more than 6 years to reach 100,000 borrowers, a feat achieved by BRAC Uganda in almost half that time.

BRAC Uganda’s success was possible due to the dedication, hard-work and commitment of the staff in Uganda and also due to the leadership and vision provided by BRAC’s senior management team in Bangladesh. Mr. Aminul Alam, Executive Director of BRAC International together with Dr. Imran Matin, Deputy Executive Director of BRAC International has closely overseen and directed BRAC Uganda’s growth over the last four years, enabling the organization to grow at a remarkable pace.

This morning, Sarah was pleasantly surprised to realize that she was BRAC Uganda’s 100,000th borrower. She and a few other borrowers were waiting at the BRAC Uganda branch office at Bugembe to receive their loans, when Mr. Ariful Islam, the Country Program Coordinator of BRAC Uganda walked into the branch office. He personally disbursed Sarah’s loan and congratulated her for becoming BRAC Uganda’s 100,000th borrower. Sarah was thankful for the support that BRAC Uganda was providing her and mentioned that her dream was to see her children become managers at BRAC Uganda.

John Pamba, Public Relations Manager for BRAC Uganda visits BRAC in Bangladesh

Below is a post by Lars Zwaanenburg, a BRAC Intern in Bangladesh from Michigan State University about his interview with John Pamba, Public Relations Manager for BRAC Uganda during his recent visit to BRAC's programs in Bangladesh.

I got a chance to meet and have a short conversation with John right before he left for Uganda. He discussed his reasons for joining BRAC and shared his experiences about the visit.

Prior to joining BRAC in 2006, John worked for the Government of Uganda for 22 years. He willingly decided to resign from his post with the desire to be involved with an organization through which he could better serve his fellow countrymen.

Soon afterward, he heard about the foreign NGO that wished to establish itself in Uganda from a former colleague. He was hired immediately by BRAC Uganda’s Public Relations department due to his previous experience with the Government. His responsibilities at the time mainly involved disseminating information about community-based BRAC programs to Government agencies. John faced several challenges in the process of introducing the new organization along with its unfamiliar - holistic approach to development to the local Ugandans and getting their immediate support.

According to John, “Seeing is believing,” and so his visit to BRAC Bangladesh strengthened his belief in the organization. Through this trip, he gained a fuller understanding of how all the BRAC programs operated and witnessed the social impact and successes BRAC has achieved through decades of hard work and persistence.

John was convinced that after having witnessed the scale at which BRAC performs in Bangladesh, he will be able to better express his conviction to Ugandans and ultimately gather greater local support for BRAC in Uganda.

His trip to BRAC in Bangladesh became a valuable learning experience for him. He was happy that he could share tips and extra advice from the BRAC staff in Bangladesh.

After returning back to Uganda, John expressed his interest in investing his efforts to promote and expand BRAC’s programmatic areas in various other parts of Uganda. He also wants to improve the benefits and facilities for the BRAC staff in Uganda.

Planning for a lifetime: the gift of education for BRAC Scholarship program students, Part 5/5

This post is the conclusion of a 5 part series, in which BRAC volunteer Nilopar Uddin tells the stories of three of this year’s BRAC Scholarship program students. Each student, with BRAC’s support, has succeeded in securing a place at India’s top Rajastan University and is preparing to embark on an exciting and ultimately life-changing journey, led by the power of education.

BRAC's Scholarshp program is behemoth in its span: in 2008 it donated funds to 18,000 boys and 22,800 girls. My meetings with the program's participants left me feeling overwhelmingly inspired. I have always seen education as a powerful tool, even in my own upbringing, but to see what it has done and will continue to do to the lives of these three girls has renewed my faith in it with vigour. The possibilities are limitless. BRAC is anxious to increase the number of scholarships, increase the number of sponsor organizations and individuals and to form an alumni of community of graduates.

As I gushed about the program to Fazle Abed Hasan, the Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, he smiled and waited for me to finish. With his next words, he flabbergasted me with how creative and inspirational his approach truly was. “I am thinking,” he said somberly, “of establishing a boarding school for the best of the students”. He went on to tell me his plans for the school; how it would hoist the future of 300 of the highest achieving students by giving them educational support in an academic setting from a young age.

Mr. Abed has hit on one of the potential weaknesses of all educational grant programs: some of these families are so poor that their children will pass the scholarship money on to them instead of utilizing it for educational purposes. BRAC’s Scholarship for the undergraduate students, such as Sukla, Roziana and Depthi, covers roundtrip transportation, passport/visa costs, tuition, board, medical insurance and pocket money. There is a possibility that much of the money that the girls could spare would be given to their poor families at home. It is also possible that students who are receiving money for private tuition are under pressure to save some for their families.

His idea iss a way to address this problem. It is also a way to mentor and develop student's abilities so that they can compete successfully in the application processes of the world’s elite universities. Of the second set of BRAC Scholarship program students, 122 were admitted into institutions of higher education. Of this group, 42 were admitted to Bangladesh’s public universities and 10 to universities in India.

“Why not Oxford?’ Mr. Abed beams at me, “why not Harvard?” I beam back. Its hard not to be contaminated by the sort of inspiration that can change lives for the better, forever.

Meet BRAC Scholarship Program Student: Depthi Khatun, Part 4/5

This post is part 4 of a 5 part series, in which BRAC volunteer Nilopar Uddin tells the stories of three of this year’s BRAC Scholarship program students. Each student, with BRAC’s support, has succeeded in securing a place at India’s top Rajastan University and is preparing to embark on an exciting and ultimately life-changing journey, led by the power of education.

Depthi and her mother

Depthi is 19 years old and she plans on studying accounting at Rajastan University. Of the three students I met, she is by far the poorest. In fact there were no roads that led to her house, only a mud path and as a result we walked almost 8.5 km round trip to see her. As I walked, feeling grumpier as every kilometer passed, it suddenly occurred to me that she must make this challenging journey to school every day, even in the monsoon rains. Needless to say, my grumpiness was stopped in its tracks.

Her mother was cooking a leafy vegetable based brew outside on a mud stove when I arrived. Depthi and her mother had been deserted by Depthi’s father years earlier. After he sold their home and gave much of the proceeds to Depthi’s sisters, both Depthi and her mother were forced to move in with them. With little means of income generation, they now depended on the little support that Depthi’s sister’s husband, a day laborer, could provide.

During my visit Depthi and her mother seemed very shy. The struggles of their daily life were apparent all around us, but Depthi's mom told us that she hoped Depthi used this opportunity to do very well for herself. After learning more about BRAC's Scholarship program and its amazing participants, I am confident this will be the case.

Meet BRAC Scholarship Program Student: Rozina Khatun, Part 3/5

This post is part 3 of a 5 part series, in which BRAC volunteer Nilopar Uddin tells the stories of three of this year’s BRAC Scholarship program students. Each student, with BRAC’s support, has succeeded in securing a place at India’s top Rajastan University and is preparing to embark on an exciting and ultimately life-changing journey, led by the power of education.

Rozina (second from the left) and her family

Rozina is 20 years old and will soon be heading to Rajastan, India to study for a bachelor in business administration. She is the eldest of 5 children. Her father is a tailor with a small shop in the village and her mother is a housewife. Her favorite subject is accounting and her future career goal is to help poor people through social work.

Roziana’s family is so poor that she was forced to live at her grandparent’s home for 4 years after completing Class 6. They were not able to help her financially but they provided a place to live while she attended the nearby BRAC school. She explained that without the BRAC scholarship, she would not have had the money to continue her studies. With BRAC’s help she has been able to excel academically, especially with regard to her English language skills.

Roziana’s mother is extremely proud of her daughter; however, her happiness is mixed with worries about the future of the family and how they will get by. She hopes her daughter will study hard and earn a good salary. She recognizes that BRAC has provided a way to help her family to survive financially and ultimately elevate themselves out of the cycle of poverty.

Roziana’s mother emphasized this by revealing that she wanted her daughter to take on the traditional responsibilities of the eldest son rather than the eldest daughter by supporting the family financially. It is clear that Roziana’s family is depending on her, but it also apparent that by providing educational opportunity BRAC is helping to bring about female empowerment at home.

Roziana’s grandmother asked if she would see her granddaughter in the next four years while she studied. She seemed concerned that she would be seeing less of Roziana, but smiled, shaking her head from side to side as she softly confirmed her faith that BRAC had her granddaughter’s best interests at heart.

Meet BRAC Scholarship Program Student: Sukla Sarkar, Part 2/5

This post is part 2 of a 5 part series, in which BRAC volunteer Nilopar Uddin tells the stories of three of this year’s BRAC Scholarship program students. Each student, with BRAC’s support, has succeeded in securing a place at India’s top Rajastan University and is preparing to embark on an exciting and ultimately life-changing journey, led by the power of education.

Sukla Sarkar from Shailakupa in the Janaida district of Bangladesh, is an 18-year-old cricket fanatic. She lives with her parents, grandmother, uncle and younger brother in a small, dimly lit house located off a busy town road. Sukla is preparing to leave her home for Rajastan, India where she will pursue a bachelor degree in business administration. She wants to be a Banker.

In addition to cricket, Sukla is extremely passionate about the English language and in fact insisted on speaking English during our meeting. She giggled about how her fellow students called her “Dictionary” because she had devoured the Bengali to English Dictionary and has mastered an extensive library of words and phrases. She is in fact so enamored with the language that she has decided to only listen to the cricket commentary in English and often speaks to her family in English, even though they don’t understand. She claims that this has helped her learn to speak and pronounce English words more clearly and fluently. When she is not studying, Sukla helps her mother and grandmother with the housework.

When I asked her about going to University in a different country, she remained silent for a moment, a silence that was conspicuous in a girl so full of chatter and optimism. “I hope to make friends with other students who are English-speaking like yourself”, she responds with a smile. Although she describes herself as a “poor girl from a very poor country”, Shukla does not seem too concerned by the new and challenging experience that lies ahead. She knows she will be fine and she will embrace the opportunity by focusing on her studies.

Sukla’s family is very supportive of her, as well as extremely proud of her achievements. Her little brother aspires to follow in her footsteps and ultimately become a doctor. He is well on his way as he has already been selected to receive a local scholarship. Sukla’s parents and grandmother also expressed the enjoyment they get from Sukla’s success. Her grandmother reminisced that when her son, Sukla’s father, was young he also had a great desire to study and improve his living conditions, but his dreams failed to materialize due to the families financial limitations. She pointed at Sukla and observed that she was happy that her son's child was now living his dreams.

After speaking to Sukla’s mother, it was easy to see where her daughter had inherited the limitless reserves of positive energy and enthusiasm. Her mother was tearful, as she narrated her own story: her father’s death when she was a child resulted in her lack of an education because she was married off at the age of 13. She is extremely happy that Sukla is able, through the help of BRAC, to have such a good education. When asked what she would like Sukla to do in the future, Sukla’s mother replied without hesitation that she would like Sukla to help the poor and needy.

Sukla’s father, when asked if he was proud of his daughter, nodded and smiled slightly. The contrast between father and daughter was immense; he was quiet and she was outgoing and cheerful - but the pride and affection between them was strong. Through her, he was able to see his own youthful dreams materialize and undoubtedly his dreams as a father were coming true.