success?

Okay, so... as the above photo indicates, we managed to meet Prof. Yunus. "Meet" is kind of a strong word for it. It happened the way most celebrity encounters go, where you smile, shake hands, take a photo, and that's it. Actually pretty disappointing, since we have been pushing for 5 minutes to sit down and ask him about the film possibilities. Apparently, he couldn't spare 5 minutes, so we got ushered in to a group meet-and-greet session with some of the Grameen interns instead. Micah managed to ask him what the deal was with the film thing, and he basically said that he couldn't give us permission to write a script because he has signed a contract with the Hollywood crew already and doesn't want to get in trouble. This is a fair response... however, it could have been given to us via e-mail, anytime in the past 4 months, or by anyone in the office who we've been in contact with. Grameen has NOT been very forthcoming with certain information. So, long story short, we're pretty much screwed. He did tell us we could get in contact with the other film crew and discuss the possibilities of working with them, so I suppose that's an option. Micah is pretty disappointed by the whole thing (which isn't to say we're beaten, just not decided how to proceed yet) but I feel pretty good. I am just really happy to be finished working with Grameen.

Now that we are done there, I feel a bit more at liberty to say that I am not particularly happy with Grameen. The picture they paint of the organization in Prof. Yunus's book, and the TV documentaries and what-not, is not a 100% accurate picture of the business. While the international opinion of Grameen Bank is very positive, once you get into Bangladesh and start talking to different people, particularly people who are not affiliated with the bank, you hear all kinds of different opinions and criticisms and issues. Unfortunately, Grameen is not particularly open to criticism, and the two weeks we spent there, while still being a fantastic and new experience, largely consisted of Grameen Bank officials leading us around by the hand and showing us what they wanted us to see. Very difficult to get an accurate picture of the situation in Bangladesh if you're working with Grameen. Proper understanding would require alot of independent research. Anyway, I don't want to get too in depth in this blog because it isn't the place, but the past 2 weeks have taught Micah and I alot about how business works in the real world. It's disappointing.

As far as Prof. Yunus himself goes... for the 30 seconds we managed to speak with him, he seemed like a nice enough guy. He's a professional celebrity, he has the meet-and-greet thing perfected, that's for sure. He was warm and charming with everyone, in an impersonal celebrity sort of way. However, the whole thing was frustrating for a number of reasons - I am not upset he couldn't meet with us, but I am upset that nobody could give us a yes/no answer, and made us wait 4 days for a supposed meeting which never materialized. Additionally, I am frustrated because Grameen Bank was charging us alot of money for this adventure - 20$US each per day we were working with them. On days we were meeting with people at the offices, or visiting the villages, this 20$ is a perfectly acceptable administration fee for arranging everything for us. However, yesterday... we were told we'd be charged for the day only if we managed to get a meeting with Prof. Yunus. This did not happen. However, because we attended the meet-and-greet for 30 seconds, they insisted on charging us anyway. So, Micah and I actually paid 20$ each to shake hands and take a photo with Prof. Yunus. THAT'S INSANE. I argued this point with the man who was coordinating us, and he had no response. Which pretty much sums up alot of our experience.

I can't explain all of this properly here. Micah has decided he wants to write an extensive article for Vanity Fair based on our experience. (Don't ask me why he chose Vanity Fair.) It's been a very eye-opening few weeks. And now I am ready to leave it all behind and go to India. No more banking. I want some naan bread and some Bollywood.