villagefinance

In 2002 I visited Ashrai, an NGO in northwest Bangladesh that was forming savings-financed ‘self-help groups’ among some of the world’s poorest women. I was referred to Ashrai by Stuart Rutherford, and I was writing an article about them for a microfinance journal.

Empowering women?

Picture this: it is mid-day in a Naogaon village, and a group of 20 women are seated in a loose square on woven bamboo mats. Clean, brightly coloured saris are draped over their shoulders, and flow down their legs.

I sit with them, accompanied by an interpreter and the operations manager at Ashrai. After discussing the life of their group for a while, I ask if I can see their records? This appears to have been mistranslated; a woman who had been introduced as their president leaves, walking away through a nearby cluster of trees. However, just as I am about to thank everyone and let them close their meeting, their president re-appears through the trees, walking with a man who carries a stack of ledgers. She introduces me to her husband, who presents them, and answers my questions.

The themes from this moment have haunted me ever since. None of the women could read or write, so they had to ask a man to keep the records. Ashrai tried to empower women by barring men from joining the groups. But traditional social structures find ways around our efforts to empower poor people. One of the strongest leverage points working against us – especially in finance — is widespread illiteracy.