Category Archives: Microcredit

8-10 September 2010: Saharanpur, India

I knew Saharanpur was going to be interesting the minute someone asked to take my picture at the Delhi Train Station; this was the first of countless picture requests.

We arrived in Saharanpur 6 hours after the initial photo.  Noteworthy adventures include accidentally purchasing the wrong train tickets which were meant to place us in third-class, non-AC (the hottest and most crowded compartment you have ever seen), meeting our new train buddies that helped us with our ticket madness, and sampling some train chai.  Per directions from our Mimo guide, Shrikant, we were to exit the train station and head to our hotel, Hotel America, to check-in and acclimate to our surroundings.  No problem, we thought.  Right, first order of business was to find an auto-rickshaw to the hotel … no auto-rickshaws, fail.  Ok, new plan, horse-drawn-sleigh … abundantly available, perfection!  As Jens, our German intern, and I stood off to the side looking confused, Andy, my research partner, negotiated our price of 50 INR – bargain, we thought.  60 seconds later we arrived at our hotel.  Apparently, we had tourist written all over our faces, having paid 50 INR to go about 500 meters in the sleigh.  Not only did we get ripped off, but we also managed to enter the city in the most outrageous way possible.  Hilarious!

Funny Story: We didn’t know this until a day later, but during the negotiations for this horse-drawn rickshaw someone snapped a shot of us on their cell phone.  This shot was later published in the local paper announcing our arrival (you can see the shot in this post).  The best part, other than being famous in this little town (little meaning only 2 million people), was that the paper cut out Andy from the picture because he looked like a local.  This was but one example of the endless heritage-hunting that became a theme for our trip.  Countless, and I mean countless, people were curious as to where Andy’s family was from and where he lived now and was he ‘returning to his mother’s birth place’.

Back to the story … Sadly, there was no room at the inn.  No problem, Shrikant ordered us some transport to the office and off we went, bags in tow.

15 minutes later we arrived at the mansion-come-office that was the Mimo Saharanpur Regional Office.  We met with Sanjay, Regional Director, who offered the very inspiring story of his choice to pursue microfinance as a social empowerment enterprise.  To make a long story short, Sanjay was your standard after-the-cash, 9-5 type when one day he was out with friends.  He had a few drinks and on his way home hit a pedestrian with his motorbike.  They were both injured, but Sanjay thought nothing of the other man’s injuries.  Hours later they happen to be at the same hospital when Sanjay overheard the man being refused treatment for lack of money.  In shock, Sanjay ran out after the man and apologized, offering to pay for his treatment in exchange for his forgiveness.  From this point forward, Sanjay has dedicated his career to empowering others.  Mimo Finance is now home to this inspiring leader.  Having only spent an hour with Sanjay, it became very apparent that his charismatic style of leadership was helping his community prosper.

The following day we began our client interviews.  Our focus was clients that had voluntarily chosen to leave Mimo Finance.  Specifically, we were interested in ascertaining why, when and how they left Mimo, and what, if anything, would make them return for another loan.  There is so much to say here, but I don’t want to bore everyone so I’ll keep it to my favorite story.  The first woman we interviewed was in a colony (suburb) of Saharanpur.  We took motorbikes out to the colony and when we arrived the entire village came out of their homes and very, very slowly approached in amazement/curiosity.  The kids were the best; hiding behind trees, peeking around corners, looking scared and excited all at once to have visitors.  The Mimo staff talked to some of local people, as they do in India, and after about 20 minutes it was agreed that we would interview our first client in her home.  We went in, sat down on a bench/bed and had a little chat.  Almost immediately the entire village gathered in every possible space to watch the happenings of our interview.  At one point I looked around and there were about 40 faces watching intently from the front door.  The best part comes at the end.

We finished the interview and gave a ‘namaste’ (thank you).  Right after I said namaste the entire crowd burst into smiles and laughter.  In a flash the woman we interviewed grabbed me in a giant hug and asked me to stay for chai (tea) and food; so kind.  I found the colony people to be extremely welcoming and giving; really a breath of fresh air.