Letter from Tanzania: Reaching the unreached

A few weeks ago, I found myself in Mbeya, the southernmost region of Tanzania. It’s not an easy task to get here, for Mbeya lies some 800 kilometers from the capital, Dar-es-Salam, near the borders of Zambia and Malawi. I was travelling with a representative from the Whole Planet Foundation to see BRAC’s microfinance and livelihood programs in action, curious to see how BRAC Tanzania was making it all work, providing affordable financial services to the poor in one of the most remote parts of the country.

On this particular morning, we pay a visit the town of Uyole and the surrounding villages. After a quick pit-stop at the BRAC branch, where we meet the Branch Manager, Roda Hassan, we head out to participate in a microfinance group meeting and hear from BRAC’s borrowers directly. It was still early, and the credit officers were out making the rounds. Each BRAC credit officer attends at least three group meetings every morning, a ritual that happens all across Tanzania, where on any given day 600-odd credit officers head out in the early hours to meet thousands of clients right at their doorsteps.

The group we’re meeting today is called Mapya, after the village of the same name outside Uyole. The borrowers take turns introducing themselves. The Mapya group consists of about 30 members, most of them in their third or fourth loans. About four to five members are first-time borrowers.

At this point, I’m curious to learn how the borrowers’ lives have changed after taking three, four and sometimes even five loans from BRAC. So I ask the question. Their eagerness to answer overwhelms me.

“I was able to get electricity in my house two months ago,” says Ameena. The money she’s saved through extra income helped pay for the connection; it all started with a loan from BRAC.

Salima, meanwhile, tells me that she’s actually building a new house. Roida almost had tears in her eyes when she shared the story of sending her kids to school.

There is no doubt in the minds of these women that their lives have changed since they became BRAC clients. I soon realize I’m the one who’d been harboring doubts.

BRAC staff from the Uyole Branch, with Brian Doe from the Whole Planet Foundation and BRAC’s Country Representative Gunendu Roy

Over lunch, I have a chance to chat with BRAC Tanzania’s Country Representative, Gunendu Roy, and the Regional Manager, Rabiul Hassan, who oversees the Mbeya region. I share with them my amazement at seeing our programs working seamlessly in a remote place like Mbeya. I realize during my conversations what a significant part of BRAC’s success is due to the commitment, dedication, patience and agility of our staff — people like Gunendu, Rabiul and Roda.

Take Rabiul, for instance. Originally from Bangladesh, he amazes me with his fluency in Swahili. He has overseen the opening of every single branch office in the Mbeya region and two other districts nearby. He probably knows the names and businesses of most of the borrowers in the area. This is a person who oversees lending to 15,000 clients across 15 branches.

With staff like him and such great leadership from the Country Representative, it’s no wonder BRAC is able to make things work — even in the most remote corners of Africa.

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