Mastercard Foundation CEO reports from BRAC Uganda

Mastercard Foundation CEO Reeta Roy is currently visiting BRAC's programs in Uganda. The Mastercard Foundation partnered with BRAC Uganda in 2008 to help us scale up our microfinance multiplied approach to poverty alleviation. Below is one of Reeta's posts from her visit. You can also follow her trip on Twitter.

Olive, the BRAC borrower and trained poultry vaccinator. She also grows mushrooms, which she proudly displays here. (Photo by Reeta Roy)

Lugazi, Mokono District
Jan 27, 2010

Today, we experienced how BRAC's “microfinance multiplied” model creates a succession of benefits in a community in the Mukono district. The heartbeat of the model is the microfinance group.

We met with one such group of dynamic women. Most of them were on their second or third loans, and growing their businesses. Nambi Aisha is a farmer, rears poultry and has also been trained by BRAC as a community health volunteer.

Nankabira Edith has a tailoring business. She used her second loan to buy a refrigerator so she could sell cold drinks. Meanwhile, Nanzera Edith was able to double the number of chickens she sells with her second loan.

The group chairman, Nankya Olive, cultivates mushrooms, sells snacks at schools and rears poultry. She was also trained as a poultry vaccinator. She proudly declared, "I vaccinate 4,000 chickens a month. People bring their chickens to me or I go to them. It's a good business."

I loved their bold spirit and confidence. And what do their husbands think? "They appreciate us!"

Fonkoze's Port-au-Prince branch starts operations after Earthquake despite damage

Updated
As you can see from the photos we just received, Fonkoze's branch office in Port-au-Prince sustained severe damage.

But that didn't them from resuming microfinance operations just 3 days after the earthquake, at a time when the Hatian people have an even greater need for access to funds.

BRAC Staff from Around the World Offer Condolences

Yesterday, Haiti was hit by a 6.1 aftershock, which fortunately did not cause much additional damage to the country. Reports from Fonkoze, one of our partners in Haiti are hopeful as they start to rebuild and reach out to their clients.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, when we had trouble reaching our partners in Haiti and phone and internet lines were down, the Earth felt too big, the distances between each of us too gaping. Now, as communication resumes, as our partners report back and as emails of solidarity flood in from BRAC staff around the world, we are reminded of how connected we all are.

Last week, we sent out an email to BRAC colleagues and supporters calling for help in a Haiti Emergency Appeal. In return, we received messages of compassion and good wishes that BRAC staff – professors, Directors, employees - from around the world wished to send to the Haitians. Here they are:

“The catastrophic situation in Haiti is a concern for all of us in BRAC and Bangladesh. We […] extend our solidarity with the millions of people in Haiti.”

“It is a great shock. The scenario is devastating and we the Bangladesh know the pain of it. We are with you.”

“We the whole BRAC community in Afghanistan feels the sufferings of the Haitian people only by watching TV. We express our deep sympathy for them. […] BRAC is planning to do something centrally; we will be happy to be part of that effort.”

“I felt so sad when I heard about the earthquake and also when I watch it in the news. We all should help these people.”

“We are also shocked and mourning with Haitians in this massive and devastating situation. BRAC Bangladesh is also exploring how to join our hands and stand beside them in this emergency situation in solidarity.”

In a recent phone conversation, BRAC Founder and Chairperson Fazle Hasan Abed repeated his commitment to the future development of Haiti and emphasized that we stand by our partners on the ground.

You can support BRAC's commitment to help Hatians rebuild their lives by donating to the Hatian relief and rehabilitation fund.

Fonkoze Headoffice in Port-au-Prince in Photos

Fonkoze Update

Thanks so much to all the BRAC staff, supporters and colleagues who are doing everything they can to support Haiti at this moment of crisis. We applaud the solidarity and collaborative spirit that has everyone working together, coordinating and ensuring the best use of people's contributions. Here's an update from the team at Fonkoze that you can use as you raise awareness and funds:

Fast Facts

• Fonkoze is Haiti’s largest MFI, with 40 branches and two satellite throughout the country.
• The Fonkoze Central Office is located in Port-au-Prince. It is currently uninhabitable and will need to be rebuilt. An estimated six other branches—including two in the direct Port-au-Prince area—have been affected though their condition has not been confirmed.
• Employees working in the Central Office at the time of the earthquake were evacuated successfully. There has been confirmation of the safety of some employee’s families, and confirmations that employees have lost their homes. There are many Fonkoze families who have not yet been confirmed safe.
• Fonkoze founders Anne Hastings and Father Joseph Philippe are confirmed survivors, along with many other senior staff members.
• Fonkoze is no stranger to disaster. Following the tropical storms and hurricane that hit Haiti in August-September 2008, roughly one-quarter of Fonkoze’s clients were affected- losing their homes, businesses, and assets.
• Fonkoze worked quickly to raise over $4 million to recapitalize clients’ loans, offer interest-free loans, and establish a disaster fund for the future.
• Fonkoze’s strength is their network of over 200,000 clients spanning the country. Unlike many institutions, Fonkoze is de-centralized. Though Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas have sustained serious damage, the majority of Fonkoze branches, staff, and clients throughout the country remain.

Fonkoze USA, the U.S. arm of Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest micro-lender, has established an Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Fund to support its relief and rehabilitation efforts. Supporters can donate to the fund at http://www.fonkoze.org.

The fund has already raised over $200,000

Given the damage to the Fonkoze Central Office and the likely damage to several other offices, Fonkoze will require a great deal of financial support in the coming weeks, months, and years.

Money raised through the “Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Fund” will be used to open an emergency operations center to re-establish operations in Haiti that currently directly supports some 200,000 clients or approximately 1,000,000 family members. The Fund will also support the acquisition of equipment and facilities to replace what was destroyed.At the same time, funds will be needed to help our staff members return to work and serve our borrowers. A major portion of resources mobilized through the Fund will be used to provide new loans for women who have lost their businesses and need to re-establish them and to be able to repay their original loans. House building and repair loans are also likely to be provided to clients who lost their homes.

To contact: Fonkoze USA, 50 F Street, NW, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20001

(202) 628-9033http://www.fonkoze.org

--Susan Davis

Making Haiti's Microfinance Work Again: Fonkoze Aims to Build Back Better

Haiti's largest microfinance provider, Fonkoze, serving over 200,000 customers with savings, loans and insurance, thereby benefiting one of nine million people in that small country. Its Director, Anne Hastings just reported this morning 3 of its 750 employees are confirmed dead, and many others are still missing. She also said that 24 of their 40 branches nation-wide are functioning.

Anne wrote that, "we have 1 that fell completely down (Bizoton). We have six damaged to the point that people can't go inside. Five are damaged but could conceivably be repaired. Five we have no word at all from." They have yet to receive news from Fonverret, Jakmel, and Lavale among others. We know these towns also suffered devastating damage from the earthquake.

On Saturday morning, Anne and Fonkoze CFO Georgette Jean Louis (a former regulator with Haiti's Central Bank) went on the radio to reassure customers that their savings was safe. The branches in the rural areas are meeting the needs of clients with the limited resources at their disposal. It is not yet business as usual because they cannot yet replenish them with the cash they need to operate as the country's banks are all closed. Most of the branches do have access to the internet, and if they receive a transfer and they have enough cash in their vault, they will pay it right away."

Fonkoze's staff in Port-au-Prince met at their head office and successfully recovered key files, records and equipment. They also prayed together for the colleagues, family members, clients and friends lost in this tragedy. They draw strength from knowing that people around the world care and are sending donations to help Haiti 'build back better' as President Clinton vows. Anne said that "our two biggest problems for the moment are getting our network up and running, which may happen today...and finding space for a leadership team (about 15 folks) to work out of in Port-au-Prince."

Using her limited access to internet, Anne also sent her assessment on Saturday:

"That is where Fonkoze is. But it doesn’t tell the whole story:

1. Food is scarce. The majority of grocery stores are not open, nor are the informal markets.
2. Fuel is even scarcer. For instance, I have two inverters – one is my own to run my refrigerator. The other is the landlady’s. Both will run out in a matter of hours, at best days. There is NO source of power to recharge these. The government power company will take months to restart. My building has no generator. Those that have, have no gas to run them. Almost no one has solar power (those in my building were stolen several years ago).
3. Most people are sleeping in the streets – literally. They have no homes left or if they do, they are afraid of the aftershocks, which have not stopped yet. Everywhere the people are singing and praying that God will spare them. Many of them have had no food or water for days.
4. It is impossible to distribute anything – food, water, cash, fuel -- because as soon as any of them appear, throngs of people arrive and fight over whatever is there! It will only get much worse in the days to come.

The country is in much, much worse shape. Many government buildings were destroyed, including the palace, the ministry of justice, the parliament and many more. The U.N. forces headquarters collapsed killing the head of the forces, as well as his assistant, a very dear friend of mine. The archbishop, a great supporter of Fonkoze, was killed. The prison collapsed allowing all prisoners to escape! In effect, the entire leadership of the country is very, very fragile.

The problem is how will the country ever rebuild? This is SO much worse than the worst hurricane, because in Haiti, hurricanes bring flooding but they do not often DESTROY buildings.

At the moment, it is next to impossible to distribute anything … drinking water, food, gasoline, cash – because as soon as any of them appear, throngs of people arrive!

At Fonkoze, we are trying to reassure everyone that their money is SAFE, even though it is not immediately accessible. We are doing everything we can to reopen as quickly as possible. But we cannot reopen without cash liquidity, security and employees – all of which are difficult to find in these days. And those three elements are only the start – we also need internet connectivity, fuel, transportation for our employees, etc. Some of our branches in the provinces escaped with nary a blemish – but even they cannot function without cash. So while we are doing everything we can to reopen, we don’t how long it will take.

What we know is that our website – www.fonkoze.org – will be the best source of information internationally and for those who don’t have an internet connection, the radio stations locally will carry our news.

Please understand that my first internet connection came today and I had 654 messages to download. I waited over an hour and only 278 made it through. Every time there was a wrinkle in the connection, Outlook started over! So I never was able to get to the rest of my messages. Hopefully tomorrow will bring better luck. Please forward this message to anyone you think may be waiting for it, as I have not gotten to everyone yet.

Our clients and our employees are going to need our support for many months to come. We hope you will be with them in your prayers, in your solidarity, and in your giving. We will NOT give up, and we hope that you will not either.

With sincere thanks,

Anne"

BRAC's leadership team is mobilizing to support Fonkoze and the people of Haiti. Access to credit to create income generating opportunities will be key to the recovery. A majority of the population is under 30: young people will need avenues to learn, earn and contribute to the country's development. Let's convert this crisis into an opportunity to support Haiti's development.

--Susan Davis

"A day felt like a year when buried alive"-- Haitians help each other survive

Photo from Reuters

Haunting statements from survivors pulled from the rubble paint a vivid picture for those of us safe from Haiti's earthquake. One survivor quoted in the New York Times said, "a day felt like a year. You're buried alive. You can't scream; you wonder if anyone will ever come."

But help has been coming. While not highlighted in the media, the people of Port an Prince have been acting as fast as they can to locate loved ones and coworkers and neighbors. They have been taking responsibility to search through the rubble, if only with their hands, to dig out trapped survivors, recover their dead, and scrounge food and water to keep life going until the rest of the country and outside world can help.

They respectfully try to cover their dead in white sheets or whatever they can find. They put their wounded on cardboard and pull them to find treatment. They erect makeshift tents and shelter from the hot sun. They are clearing streets. They are using car batteries to power medical equipment. They are improvising.

Even the much maligned Haitian government is showing signs of leadership by asking people to go to the countryside if they can and have relatives. The first organized recovery efforts reportedly seen in the city were police trucks collecting the dead along the roadside and taking them for mass burial to ward off major health epidemics.

This activity suggests a different story: Haitians are helping themselves with great ingenuity, resourcefulness and dignity. Like Bangladeshis battered by cyclones and floods, they are people with enormous resiliency. We stand in solidarity and will support our neighbors' efforts to not only survive but thrive.

-Susan Davis

Word from the Ground in Haiti, a Fonkoze Volunteer Writes of the Destruction

We received an e-mail today from Steve Werlin, a professor from Shimer College who works as a volunteer for Fonkoze, a partner organization of BRAC, in Haiti. Steve recounted the shock and destruction he's been witnessing for the past few days:

It was hard, at first, to take the whole thing seriously. We were violently shaken in the office as we closed for the day. One or two members of the staff fled outside. But when the first shock of it was over, we quickly checked the building for major damage. (We found none.)

We called our supervisor, who is based nearby in Jakmel, and we proceeded through the regular step-by-step process we follow to close our office at the end of the day. More like a carnival attraction than an act of god. It never occurred to me to contact anyone at home to let them know I was alright. Of course I was. I always am.

But then we started to hear things. There had been damage in Jakmel and Port au Prince. When we tried to call people on the phone, we discovered that it was hard,very hard, to get through. And rumors kept sounding more and more serious.

The gravity of circumstances began to weigh on me over the course of what seemed like a very long night, and when I went to the office the next morning, thinking less of opening than of figuring out how things stood, I was able to get on the internet and discover how very bad things are. The worst Caribbean earthquake in 200 years. Thousands dead. Tens of thousands homeless.

Just walking through Marigo at midday was enough to give the beginnings of a concrete sense of the devastation. Young people were gathered in small groups here and there around the town, listing friends who were away at school in Port au Prince and were either missing or confirmed as dead. Marigo is a small town, yet if you count only its Port au Prince college students, the death toll would have to be at least a dozen. And "college students from Marigo" is a very small subset of the population of Port au Prince. Even on our small Marigo staff, we have two who may have lost siblings.

And then I went to Jakmel. It's one of Haiti's larger cities, about ten miles west of Marigo. Though it's no closer to where the quake's epicenter is said to have been, the impact could not have been more different. Jakmel was devastated. Whole neighborhoods had been turned into rubble. My driver and I saw schools and hospitals that had collapsed with heavy casualties. Here and there we saw corpses in the streets or the rubble, most of them covered by sheets, but some still in whatever position the earthquake, which had struck about 24 hours earlier, had left them in. We saw what had once been an old man, one of his hands grasping the railing of his front porch and one of his feet stepping into the street when the roof pinned where he was and where he will remain until someone moves him to his grave.

The enormity of the disaster here will only emerge slowly in the coming days. I have no news of most of my Port au Prince friends, and may have to go there to get any.

Part of me is afraid to find out.

BRAC USA is accepting donations to support its partners in Haiti in providing relief and rehabilitation to the victims of the earthquake. Read more about BRAC USA's efforts here and donate directly to the Haiti relief and rehabilitation efforts here.

“Bodies everywhere, Destruction massive”: Earthquake in Haiti

At 4 pm on January 12th, Anne Hastings, Director of Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest microfinance organization sent me an email detailing the itinerary for a BRAC Bank team visit to Haiti starting Saturday. Barely an hour later, a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince.

The International Red Cross estimates that 3 million people have been affected by the quake and the Prime Minister has estimated that the death toll could be as high as 100,000. School and hospitals have been severely affected, and an already fragile infrastructure is being stretched beyond its capacity.

Anne has just emailed saying that “Am ok but bodies everywhere. Destruction massive. Very little communication gets through even in country. Headquarters demolished. Need to figure out how to get operational again. Some, maybe many, branches can function but not without Headquarters support. Will send requests for help later when we know more.”

And in an earlier email, Anne wrote: “So far everyone is ok but we will never be able to work in HQ again. Not sure about Port au Prince branch. Trying to figure out how to get an emergency ops center but almost impossible to get around town or communicate with each other. More later.”

BRAC USA is mobilizing resources to support the relief and rehabilitation efforts working with its two partners in Haiti. In September 2009, Fonkoze, BRAC, BRAC USA, Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante with support from CGAP, CHF Partners in Rural Development and Linked Foundation launched a Partnership at the Clinton Global Initiative to break the cycle of disease and poverty in Haiti.

BACKGROUND ON BRAC IN HAITI

BRAC has been providing technical assistance to Fonkoze over the last several years to adapt its program for the ultra poor and at the request of our partners, is planning to expand operations on the ground for long-term development. BRAC's senior leadership are committed to Haiti's development and working in solidarity with the Haitian people. BRAC founder F.H. Abed and the head of its international operations, Aminul Alam, have offered to send medical teams and other support from Bangladesh if needed.

Fonkoze is Haiti’s largest micro-finance organization with a mission to build the economic foundation for democracy in Haiti by providing the rural poor – mostly women – with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. Fonkoze is national in scope with more than 40 branches throughout Haiti offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor, currently reaching more than 225,000 savers and borrowers. To learn more about Fonkoze visit www.fonkoze.org.

Zanmi Lasante, the Haitian sister organization of the U.S.-based NGO Partners In Health, is one of Haiti’s largest health care providers, serving a catchment area of 1.2 million in Central Haiti and the lower Artibonite Department. Zanmi Lasante has been working for more then two decades in Haiti to increase access to a full range of high-quality health services and to lift entire communities out of poverty through a range of social support and community development. To learn more about Partners in Health visit www.pih.org.

Donations are being accepted directly by both organizations at Fonkoze USA, http://www.fonkoze.org or
Partners in Health, http://act.pih.org/earthquake

or if you prefer, through the BRAC USA website to support rescue and rehabilitation efforts in Haiti, http://donate.bracusa.org.
You may also send personal checks to:

BRAC USA

11 E. 44th Street, #1600

New York, NY 10017

Note: Please highlight that your donation is for the Haiti Earthquake Rescue and Rehabilitation efforts.

BRAC USA is a legally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All donations made to BRAC USA are fully tax deductible with the US Internal Revenue Service.

About BRAC/BRAC USA

BRAC, the largest non-profit in the developing world, was launched in Bangladesh in 1972 and currently touches the lives of more than 110 million people through its programs addressing poverty including micro-loans, education, health services, self-employment opportunities and human rights education. BRAC’s vision is to improve the health, wealth and well being of millions of the poorest families primarily in Asia and Africa. BRAC has provided $5 billion in micro-loans to nearly seven million borrowers, mostly women, and created 8.5 million self-employment opportunities. BRAC’s 73,000 community health promoters have provided basic health services to more than 93 million people. BRAC USA is an affiliate supporting BRAC. To learn more about BRAC, please visit www.bracusa.org.

Devasting Earthquake in Haiti Requires Everyone to Respond: The Darkest Night

The lights are out. A devasting 7.0 earthquake hit the island nation of Haiti where over 9 million people live. Preliminary reports are that the capital city Port au Prince has severe damage and loss of life. BRAC's partner there, Fonkoze, is the largest provider of microfinance in the country.

Just minutes ago, I confirmed that Anne Hastings, the head of Fonokoze, and its staff in Port au Prince survived the earthquake. Unfortunately their head office sustained structural damage in the quake as did other major concrete buildings including many government buildings such as the palace, the Ministry of Commerce, the UN offices, Montana Hotel. If the largest and strongest buildings in Haiti have collapsed just imagine the situation in the slums and squatter settlements in the city. I shudder to think of the tragedy that will unfold in the days ahead. Please support Fonkoze respond and rebuild at http://www.fonkoze.org/ and through Fonkoze USA.

Another of our partners, Paul Farmer's Partners in Health reports that his sites and staff are ok as they are located north of the capital city. They are still collecting information on their staff in Port au Prince. Donations can be made at http://act.pih.org/earthquake

BRAC USA is committed to working together with groups on the ground to respond to this tragedy. We have been working in Haiti for several years to assist extremely poor families find a way out of project. We call it the Graduation Project as after a couple of years, they 'graduate' into microfinance. We were there recently and blogged about our trip on the Huffington Post. I think Haitians have an incredible resiliency. They will survive.

But this may be their darkest night.

Please do what you can to help.
Susan

Real Reasons for Hope in Bangladesh by David Lawrence in The Miami Herald

THE MIAMI HERALD ran this story on January 2, 2010 after Dave Lawrence went to Bangladesh to visit BRAC and Grameen. Read this firsthand account by someone who is an expert in early childhood development and think about what we should be supporting in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other struggling nations.

David Lawrence is president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation in Miami, and "university scholar for early childhood development and readiness'' at the University of Florida.

Real reasons for hope in struggling nation
BY DAVID LAWRENCE JR.

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- This is one way to tell this nation's story: Half of all children live in abject poverty. Three-quarters of a million children toil at hard, exploitative labor. Corruption is among the world's worst (though decreasing).

Citizens face the semi-constant threat of monsoons and other environmental disasters -- indeed, Bangladesh has experienced more deaths by natural disasters this past decade than any other country. (An average of 8,241 Bangladeshis die annually because of monsoons and other horrors. Compare that to the once-in-a-generation Hurricane Katrina of 2005 in which 1,836 died.)
Global warming easily could lead to rising sea levels that would make significant portions of this country uninhabitable.

While the infant mortality rate has been cut in half, it is still five times the rate of Florida's.
All that is true. So, too, is this: There is real reason to hope. That story can best be told through the women and the children.

Standout organizations
In part, this is a story of the difference made by nongovernmental organizations. Two NGOs in particular, both formed in the 1970s, stand out: Grameen Bank, founded by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize three years ago, and BRAC, founded by the equally impressive Fazle Hasan Abed. Between their two organizations and a concept called microcredit, literally millions of people have been lifted from poverty that is far deeper than we see anywhere in these United States.

The women first. Abed and Yunus figured out something important about women:
• One, loan them money, and they will pay it back (much more faithfully than many men).
• Two, when women make a profit their first thought won't be to spend it on themselves (as men so often do).

Over the decades, with no collateral required but an insistence on a reasonable plan and individual commitment, Grameen and BRAC have loaned what we would see as tiny amounts of money to buy, for example, a cow or a sewing machine or to set up a cellphone business.
The women of a village group gather weekly to repay their loans.

Believing in people
The simple principle here: Trust the people, believe in them and what they can and will do, and they will live up to their end of the bargain. Grameen and BRAC turn their share of the earnings into more loans for more people. And a nation -- of 85,000 villages and an agriculture-dependent economy -- is lifted.

It is a remarkable story.

Now, the children. The literacy rate in this country is 60 percent. It was 35 percent a quarter-century ago. There has been much progress. There is a great distance to go.

Give some of that credit to the government. Give some to BRAC and Grameen.

Grameen runs one-room ``pre-primary'' schools for 16,000 5 year olds. BRAC has ``child development centers'' for 17,000 4 year olds, 25,000 pre-primary schools for about 700,000 students and almost 40,000 primary schools (grades 1-6) with more than 1.1 million students.
Schools are located in villages and city slums near where the children live; if they weren't, many parents wouldn't send their children. School is six days a week, and 253 days a year (compared to our 180).

These children don't have the school buildings we have, or air conditioning or computers. (Often school is a corrugated tin shed with no glass in the windows.) Class sizes are larger than ours, but full of well-mannered children who are expected to behave -- and do. That is reinforced with a monthly parents meeting.

Learning two languages
One day we are in a rural pre-primary school in a village an hour and a half south of the capital. The children's sandals and flip-flops are gathered in a circle outside the classroom. Within, 33 bare-footed children sit around a circle on the carpet.

This year they have been learning the 51 letters of the Bangla language alphabet and the 26 letters of the English language alphabet. They are learning shapes and colors and numbers. They sing a song about brushing their teeth, and have other lessons in hygiene. They learn about the country's history, culture and wildlife. Each day begins with the national anthem, My Golden Bangla.

Teachers, who work from a research-based curriculum, know as well as our teachers do that children need to develop socially and emotionally as well as physically and cognitively.
They also know, as the curriculum guide says, that they need ``to inspire them to dream for a better life.'' I ask the children what dreams they have, and they go around the room: ``Pilot. Nurse. Policeman. Teacher. Doctor. Military man.'' And so forth.

Another day we are in a school located in a Dhaka slum, the stench of open sewers permeating the air. Fifteen children, ages 9 to 14, are learning Banga, English, social sciences.
The children sing the American civil rights anthem, We Shall Overcome. In English. I am overcome.

Things about this country that make me think about where we live:
• Population: Bangladesh, with 160 million people (making it the seventh-largest country in the world), is smaller in land area than the state of Florida with 18 million people.
• Traffic: The next time you're upset by all the traffic in South Florida, think about the capital city Dhaka, with at least seven million people. It's the fastest growing urban area on the planet. The darnedest conglomeration of beat-up motor-driven vehicles and pedal-propelled rickshaws speed along, and in and out, taking seemingly no notice of any lane markers.
• The homeless: Miami-Dade has an estimated 4,000 men, women, children homeless, three-quarters of whom are in shelters. In the streets of polluted, slum-ridden Dhaka there are an estimated 250,000 homeless children (some living on the streets with parents, many by themselves).
• Tolerance: This country -- almost 90 percent Islamic, almost 10 percent Hindu -- has a long tradition of people getting along. Bangladesh, born in 1971 of a bloody liberation from Pakistan (which itself was carved from India), has figured out a way to emphasize what people have in common.

Click here to see the full article in The Miami Herald.