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Business Students Blog
Briercrest business students Sonya-Rose Bremnes and Tanis Brady are embarking on the journey of a lifetime. They're heading to Bangladesh to work with Child Development Network, a company that offers hope to women who have been devastated by poverty and have no way to support themselves -- that is, until Child Development Network steps in and offers them small loans so they can start businesses from home.
It's a new way to fight poverty, and Tanis and Sonya-Rose are on board. They leave May 26, and they'll spend three months working with Bangladeshi women as they learn the skills necessary for running a business.
August 1st, 2008:
Tanis Brady
An Amazing Week
I was in two villages this week. Sonya-Rose did not come with me, so it was hard , but good for me to be the only white person there. I was forced to not hide behind anyone, and so I came out with the most amazing stories. So many things that happened affected me in a personal manner and changed me. Because of their personal nature, I will not share all of them, but I will share a few. I am back in Dhaka and trying to get over the "culture shock" of moving from the village to the city.
During this trip, I went to two villages. In one village, the only transportation from place to place -- even house to house -- was by boat. These boats are like canoes, just not as stable. And the scenery was unreal. If you have seen movies of people exploring rivers in places like the Amazon, you might know what I mean. The muddy water with leaning tropical trees, occasional bamboo bridges coupled with stifling hot air...during the rides, I would lean over to the water and trail my hands in the water, enjoying its coolness. Occasionally, I would tap a lily pad as I floated by its little flower. Only later did I found out that there are fresh water crocodiles and snakes in the water…I wish I'd known that before!
The other village I visited also had a lot of water, but it was not covered in it. It was also beautiful. I ate a frog in that village --they were hopping by my feet and the people killed them, cooked them, and served them to me on the spot. Hmm, a good way to get supper.
While I was waiting for the bus to go back to Dhaka, I had my backpack by my feet and a couple of people standing beside me. A cow was walking by and bumped into someone standing beside me. The person screamed, and the cow went crazy. I saw the cow turn his wild eyes to me and I knew he was going to ram into me.
I thought to myself, " Now what?" I am not an insanely brave person, but fortunately, I have had other animals charge me before. So I used the same method I used for the other animals. I stood there calmly and locked my eyes with the cow. For some reason, much to my surprise, it worked! The cow did not ram into me, but shoved his horns into a person beside me and lifted the man up. I felt horrible for the man! After the man hung in the air for a few seconds the cow calmed down and left. Fortunately, the man was not hurt at all.
So, there are a couple of the adventures I had this week!
Until next time,
Tanis
July 16th, 2008:
Tanis Brady
Loving Bangledash
I love it here! I love this life. I get to wake up each morning under a purple mosquito net and tumble out of bed into sticky humid air. Each day I get to eat mangos, guavas, and bananas. Each day I get to live here.
Throughout my life, I have often gone to a window at night and looked out into the sleeping world. During those times, I pray. Those times are separate from my daily devotions, but they are extremely valuable to me. During those times, I know that it is just me with the Lord. I am a child again during those times.
I have been taking those times often here. I will wander out into the living room…while being careful not to step on cockroaches. I will curl up into this big wooden chair that overlooks the vibrant city. I love being in the black night and seeing the occasional palm and mango trees scattered in midst of the houses. I love seeing the moon shining peacefully as it gazes on this city. I love the sleepy, soft lights nestled in the houses. Occasionally, an airplane will fly over and I know that there are foreigners like me on that airplane. As I look out on the city, I will talk to the Lord. I will tell Him my struggles and fears. I always feel precious to him at these times. As I look out on the city, I know that he has gotten me here. I never thought it would be possible for me to come and live a place like this. Yet, here I am. I am living here. The Lord has taken care of me and will continue to take care of me. I am his child.
I love it here.
Tanis
July 11th, 2008:
Sonya-Rose Bremnes
Life in the Villages
Oh how I absolutely love the village! Last week we went to Chakai in the Dinajpur district, which is in the far northwestern part of Bangladesh (get out those maps, people!). I was pretty surprised at how far we went for our first trip out of the city.. It was an eight-hour public bus ride to our destination, during which we spent at least half the time in the oncoming lane of traffic. (Please don’t ask why. I don’t really know why. Yes, it was a bit disconcerting at first…!)
But oh, the village! So beautiful! Lush greenness! And cute little paths with baby goats everywhere! And barely any noisy horns and bells! Just a beautiful, peaceful quietness that was so refreshing. I have now seen the “real” Bangladesh. The Bangladesh of rice fields filling with water. The Bangladesh of mud huts and maize fields. The Bangladesh with little electricity (and I thought the electricity cut out a lot in Dhaka! Wowee was I in for a surprise).
We had the privilege of interviewing three members with the wonderful aid of our translator, and the things we heard were so encouraging! To hear women describe with difficulty their lives of struggling from the past and then see the evidence of their changed circumstances reminded me again that this is why I’m here. I am seeing the lives that microcredit is changing in this country as even one family’s living conditions are improved with a better home, enough food, and education for its children.
Beyond group meetings and interviews, I went on adventures to see an ancient Hindu temple, ride a motorbike in a downpour, get chased around my room by a lizard, and crashed a tribal wedding [pictured]. :) Yup, the village life is where it’s at! And another village is where we are off to this Sunday, this time in the southern part of the country.
More interesting tales to come soon!
Sonya-Rose
July 7th, 2008:
Tanis Brady
An Adventure
This week was crazy busy in the village. It was so amazing! There are no horns screeching at high decibels, no pollution, no garbage...no characteristics of life in the city. Instead, there are rich, green rice fields, laughing children having rain baths, and electricity that never comes on. I 've fallen in love with this place.
We went to a few group meetings for micro-credit. In addition to teaching people how to manage their money wisely, the Loan Officers also teach them basic health issues. I found the group meetings to be very valuable. We also did case studies of a few people. The results of those case studies touched me because each person has been able to earn a decent income due to the loans we give them.
We saw a tribal wedding, which lasts a few days. Women dance the whole time. We even danced along with them. We also got to ride on a motorbike! I have always wanted to ride one in a foreign country and never have been able to before this trip. Women here do not ride the motorbikes like we would--instead, they ride "side saddle. " So I got to do that. It was so much fun…It is common not to hold on to the driver for support, so with each bump, I would go flying. I loved it! On the way back from the wedding on the motorbikes, the rains came. The rain stung my eyes and soaked me. It was such a wonderful adventure being a wet washcloth while driving through an Asian countryside.
I have been longing for our Lord so much. I wish though, that my longing for him would be something worthy of him. I long to be pleasing to him. I long to stop sinning against him, but I do sin. I want to know our Lord better. In everything that I do, if I do not begin to know the Lord better, then I have wasted my time. If I go through this summer and have a wonderful time, but I do not know him better through it, then my time is wasted. So now, as I sit here in this hot room with my hair curling more each minute from the humidity, I end the entry for this week.
Tanis
June 30th, 2008:
Tanis Brady
It is very hard to think of something to write about this week. Everything about life here has touched me. I become overwhelmed with how God works in this world. He is working in Bangladesh just as he is working in Canada, and he works in Canada just as he works in Bangladesh. My job is to let him work...and I forget that so often. No matter where I go in this world, there is the temptation to sin. It hurts me that I hurt him this way.
I can talk about one day this week. I was walking through the streets with the Loan Officer to visit group members. The Loan Officer is a young woman who collects the loans from people. She goes to the people’s houses to collect the money.
So we walk through the bumpy, dirty streets. People in the street stare at me because I am a foreigner. I wander and almost step on a nasty gift that a nearby cow has given. I am constantly wet from the humid air. I hop from one brick on the ground to the next. The bricks are placed on the streets because the streets are muddy and these random bricks are used as stepping-stones. I go into the people’s house. They greet me and offer me something to eat and drink. Then they tell their story. Poverty attacks in many different ways; each story is different because each person is different.
I cannot communicate with the Loan Officer that I am with because she does not speak English…but we have become friends. As we are walking over a red pile of clay used to make bricks, I trip and fall into the red mess. Yuck. But the Loan Officer and I laugh and laugh.
Then I come back home and eat a meal of spicy rice, fish, and vegetables...I eat it and the day continues... :)
Tanis
June 23rd, 2008:
Sonya-Rose Bremnes
Out of the Ordinary
This week was a bit out of the ordinary. Then again, since when is anything "ordinary" in life?
Well, I guess I could share a few things that have (surprisingly) become quite ordinary for life in this city. To begin with, the streets of Dhaka. Vehicles driving barely millimeters apart...in what should be three-lane traffic, but turns into six-lane or seven-lane when you include that rickshaw between you and the next car. Squeezing into any space one can find amidst the numerous buses, three-wheeled "taxis", rickshaws, and motorbikes...following the rules of the driver with the loudest horn (and the occasional street light). Driving five kilometres per hour because the traffic is moving so slowly. The mother with her starving child clinging to her side as she knocks on your window in the midst of a traffic jam hoping for even a few taka (Bangladeshi currency). The boy knocking on the window hoping to sell you a newspaper. Or a map. Or a stuffed animal. People. Everywhere. Lots of them. Speaking Bangla while I say "Ahmee boohjee nah" ("I don't understand").
The women wearing the sari and salwar kameez the men wearing the traditional lungi (skirt) or western-type jeans and t-shirt you would see walking down the streets of Caronport. The naked children on the poorer streets. The shy ones, the scared ones, and the ones who wave and smile, following us everywhere we go. The numerous hired door-openers, the elevator operators, and the soldiers standing on the street corner with rifles slung over their shoulders. The bribes. The gated houses with security men, the barred windows, and the building that looks like it could collapse any moment. Jackfruit trees (pictured) with gigantic fruit that I am so sure will one day fall on my head as I walk beneath. The markets lining the jolting streets with fresh vegetables, fruits, dried and fresh fish, and live chickens awaiting your choosing. The power that cuts out randomly every day, and the generator that kicks in--IF the battery is still working...and oh yeah, the house lizards. :) They're actually really cute...and make the cutest little clicking noises I've ever heard!
Mind you, none of these things seemed ordinary the first few times they each happened. Oh no, not ordinary at all.
Ordinary. The dictionary tells me ordinary means "with no special or distinctive features; normal." But I'm beginning to wonder just what ordinary is... maybe everything in life is actually ordinary--or maybe nothing is.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that I am so very far away from the North American life that I have lived up until this point with the "ordinary" of bananas without seeds, empty streets, and The Real Canadian Superstore. Then I look out the window. For today, I live in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This has become the "normal" of my life. Some days are hard, some are easy, some days are frustrating, and some just leave me feeling content and satisfied.
But for now, I will go to bed with my ordinary mosquito net, wonder what God has orchestrated for tomorrow...and eventually fall asleep knowing that it's all good. It's all good no matter where I am--ordinary or not. With God, nothing will ever be too un-ordinary to handle.
Sonya-Rose
June 16th, 2008:
Sonya-Rose Bremnes
Care in the Little Things
I saw the insides of my first garment factory ever last week. Mind you, it was a very small factory – maybe 20 employees (and even that could be an exaggeration) working on just a single floor of a small building. The manager had used a micro-finance loan to open the factory. It was insane looking at a $5 knit sweater for which many Canadians will eventually pay over $45.
A few days later, I saw a busy street across the city lined with garment factories. The picture I am including was just one of these gigantic factories. They are the very factories that could mean the difference between existing or not for a Bangladeshi person through the low, but valuable income for a man who would otherwise starve.
And similar to the benefits of such garment factories, God has provided for me in some of the most unexpected ways this past week. Just to give you an idea...I craved ice cream the other day like you wouldn’t believe. Oh how I longed to take a walk to the nearest DQ...except there isn’t a nearest DQ. Guess what we had for dessert at supper that night? Mmhmm. Ice cream bars. Then I craved chocolate chip cookies...or any kind of homemade cookies. A day later, someone in the house who has lived in the USA for a couple years attempted to make cookies. The first batch was burned, but hey, even they worked very well for my taste buds!
As I write this blog, it just so happens to be the middle of the night. I am awake probably because I have been very sick this afternoon and evening, and sadly, I had to miss the church meeting. Earlier today, I emailed a few friends asking for prayer because I have been having some digestive issues. Getting sick an hour after I sent the email certainly wasn’t my plan to resolve the issues, but hey. You wouldn’t believe how much better my stomach feels right now compared to 6 hours ago…
And just to top it off, the remainder of my expenses for this summer was recently paid for by the passing of someone back in Canada, after which a portion of allotted money was given to me. Yes, God does work in some very unexpected ways.
After a bit of a challenging week for me (I think I’m beginning to understand what “culture shock” is), we went to an English church Friday afternoon. I had no idea what to expect, so it was a pleasant surprise to arrive at an international church with people from England, France, the USA, and yes, even Canada (as well as numerous other countries). I had the privilege of worshiping alongside these wonderful people belting out songs I even knew!!! I felt so out of place (after not seeing a native-English-speaking person for a few weeks), yet so at home. Ah, it was a most wondrous experience!
What a week, and yet another has begun...What are the chances I’ll have even more crazy things to say next time? But for now, I will try to sleep…and trust that God will continue to provide and take care of me, even when my head is convulsing in the nearby bucket.
Sonya-Rose
June 12th, 2008:
Tanis Brady
Him and Not Me
I have found out that "[The Lord] does not enjoy the strength of a horse or the strength of a man. The Lord is pleased with those who respect him, with those who trust his love." (Psalm 147:10-11). See, it has never been about mighty works and courageous acts…though those are definitely good. It is about being dependent on God. It is about serving and worshipping the one who created us. It is about trusting his love. The Lord takes care of us. We have to trust his love for us.
I am memorizing that psalm. I was hoping when I came over here to Bangladesh that somehow God would just make me talented enough to actually be here. I was hoping he would change me into someone else who was fit for this job. He did not. I am still the same person. I am still accident-prone. I still bump my head on the truck door each time I get into it. I still blush wildly when I have to do something that puts attention on me. I still get awkward in uncomfortable situations, which is most of each day. I am not the best person to do this job.
I want to love and trust our father, though. I want to become someone whose life gives him pleasure. So, he does everything for me. I am growing, changing and being transformed. God is the best one for this job of going to Bangladesh and working with microcredit. So he is doing it and using me. Wow.
The two pictures here have stories behind them. One picture is of me in a salwar kameez. Salwar kameez is the traditional clothing that women wear. Another traditional outfit is a sari, but I have not gotten one yet. When it is thirty-five degrees Celsius, the lightweight material of salwar kameez is so much better than heavy jeans.
The other picture is of the new school/ branch office being built in Solmaid. This will be much better than the school and branch office that they are using now. As you can see, this building is on the edge of Dhaka. Instead of the usual city noises, there are softer sounds. We spend most of our days here.
Thank you!
Tanis
June 6th, 2008:
Sonya-Rose Bremnes
Living and Working
We are here! Tanis and I have been welcomed into life here in Bangladesh by many new friends, and I am excited for what this summer holds! There is still much to be learned and experienced with microcredit in a foreign country!
During this past week, I have had the opportunity to spend time at the Solmaid project site, and it has been a thrilling experience! Everything that I have learned thus far from reading books and doing personal research is even more amazing when seen practiced and implemented in real life.
For example, on Tuesday, I saw a member receive her first loan from the Solmaid branch. I have no idea how she felt holding 6,000 taka (about $90 CND) in her hands, but I was absolutely ecstatic sitting two feet away from her! I then had the privilege of meeting her husband, and I learned that their plan is to purchase a rickshaw, a seat/cart for two pulled by a bicycle. He will receive income from driving people around for pay (similar to a taxi service).
Meeting with a few branch managers, I have seen the numerous hand-written ledgers and files necessary to run a branch office. Oh, how I love accounting! I had a longing to write a few entries myself...
I have pages and pages of notes explaining the basic guidelines of how micro finance works at this organization. Now if only I could speak the language and knew the culture better, I could become a Loan Officer conducting group meetings and receiving loan installments... ☺
Ah yes, the language. I now know many common nouns (such as the names of many fruits) and can already say a few sentences in Bangla! Try this out: "Ahmee koob kooshi!" In English, it translates "I am very happy!" and we have good reason to say that a lot around here!
Now go impress your friends with your newly learned Bangla!
Until next time,
Sonya-Rose
June 5th, 2008:
Tanis Brady
Getting Started
I am a little over a week into my three-month stay in Bangladesh with Sonya-Rose. It is beautiful. How can it be anything but beautiful? I am in a different culture, actually I am in a different world. For three months I am allowed to explore this different world! The muddy streets overflow with people. Everywhere there are people trying to sell their fruits and vegetables. The air is humid and hot and it clings to me. It is the rainy season here. I love when it rains because it is a relief from the heat. I love seeing lightning spread across the sky, I love hearing the thunder.
I am here to learn about micro-credit. To put it simply, companies use micro-credit to give out loans to people trapped in poverty so that they can get a step up in life. Daily, I have been going out and watching how micro-credit works. We have gone to a large number of homes. These homes belong to people who have taken a loan. I have begun to see a pattern. If I go into a house that is fairly well off, the person has taken out a few loans. If I go into a house that is filled with decay and filth, the person has just started to take out a loan.
This micro-credit is working. I have seen it. I know when I meet people with bloated stomachs from starvation that soon they will have food. Soon they will be able to be free of poverty. I know this because I have met people who once had a life of poverty, then they took out a loan. Now their children have clean clothes and a good roof over their heads.
God is working here. The number of Christians is less than a percent but that does not stop the Spirit. He is working in their hearts. I have seen it in the Christians here. God is also softening my heart. He is refining my heart and making it more like His.
Until next time,
Tanis