Grameen Foundation : Resource Center : Video Room : Video: 'Breaking Through' : Transcript
Transcript of 'Breaking Through'
The following is a transcript of Breaking Through, Grameen Foundation's microfinance documentary video.
Grameen Foundation
Breaking Through
EXT CITY STREETS (NIGERIA)
Vendors walk along busy streets and market pathways, selling wares.
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (1.03.42), my children were still sick (1.03.45)
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (51.37) We didn’t have anything; (51.39) we were very poor. (51.40)
EXT KESA’S COURTYARD (INDIA)
Kesa scrubs pots and pans as her husband walks by..
Kesa Roll 813 (40:30) My husband was unemployed. (40:33) // (40:52) No one in our family had enough food to eat (40:59)
EXT MONTAGE (GLOBAL)
People worldwide move through city streets and dirt roads; some ply trades.
Grinding poverty remains the reality for one fifth of the world’s people. 1.3 billion subsist on less than one dollar a day.
SD-08 Susan Davis Roll 885 (18.14) You know, the change in our pockets is what people will survive on. (18.19)
AC-16 Alex Counts Roll 884 (46:26) that’s where poverty hits the toughest. It’s the greatest affront to human dignity (46:31)
Nearly thirty thousand children under the age of five die each day from poverty-related causes.
And poverty gives rise to so many other human tragedies: malnutrition; lack of health care; environmental devastation; the spread of HIV-AIDS.
EXT BANKING SESSIONS -- MONTAGE
Money is counted and handed around in a variety of center meetings.
The struggle against global poverty can seem daunting – even overwhelming.
But Grameen Foundation offers a new vision, and new hope. It is leading a movement that has already helped millions break through to a better life.
TITLE:
BREAKING THROUGH
Grameen Foundation
* * * * *
INT PATIENCE IYAMU’S HOME
Patience and her two children eat breakfast in the dark, early morning.
PA-17 Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (23:26) I sold vegetables; (23.29) sometimes I wouldn’t even get my money back; (23.33) sometimes I would make less than fifty cents (23.39) // (23.42) I would use it to buy a little food. (23:46)
Patience Iyamu lives in Benin City, Nigeria. Widowed at an early age, she struggled to support herself and her two children.
One day, Patience heard about LAPO.
INT LAPO CENTER MEETING
Women watch intently as a loan agent hands a stack of money to a borrower.
LAPO – the Lift Above Poverty Organization – is on the front lines of Nigeria’s fight against poverty.
With Grameen Foundation’s support, LAPO employs a bold new strategy: microfinance. It makes small loans to almost twenty thousand poor women, to help them start and expand tiny businesses that can be a pathway to a better life.
Grameen Foundation believes that microfinance is the most powerful anti-poverty strategy ever developed.
EXT SANTANA MARKET – PATIENCE’S STALL
Patience rolls her equipment out, and prepares for a day of business.
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (14.51) I rented a grinding machine with the money. (14.55) // (15.02) I said to myself, “this is very good”. (15.04)
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (15.19) I had been so thin from not eating; (15.23) I started to recover. (15.25) My children, (15.27) with the first loan I was able to put them in school. (15.31)
Patience revs up her grinder, and goes to work.
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (15.04) I got another loan (15.05) and used it to buy my own grinding machine (15.08)
With greater profits and more loans, Patience has bought two more machines.
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (23.52) on good days, I make ten times as much money as before. (23.57)
EXT/ INT LAPO CENTER MEETINGS:
Women come forward to make payments in a LAPO center meeting.
Microfinance applies business principles in support of a social mission.
Lending is based on “social collateral”. People support each other and hold one another accountable.
If a woman cannot repay because of a personal emergency, the other borrowers are expected to help her through her difficulties.
RG-09 Richard Gunther Roll 884 (22:15) And you really develop // a spirit of community, that I don’t think happens when they just get a grant which is just on a one-to-one basis. (22:23)
Narrator: For LAPO, social collateral has produced a repayment rate of 97 percent.
EXT SANTANA MARKET – PATIENCE’S STALL
With the market now busy, Patience works industriously at her trade.
Microfinance, as it is practiced by Grameen Foundation’s partners, focuses on the poorest members of a society.
JT-08 Janet Thompson Roll 883 (43:11) // turning poverty around // is our critical agenda; // without Grameen Foundation there would be a loss of a real voice to keep the world focused on the poorest of the poor. // (44:01)
It is also directed almost exclusively to women.
SD-10 Susan Davis Roll 885 (20.00) Women are the primary target of most microfinance organizations because they’re the most underserved. (20.08) They’re also proven to be better fighters of poverty (20.12)
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (25.04) Anything I want to do, I have money to do it; (25.08) // (25.11), my greatest joy is that I can educate my children (25.16)
* * * * *
EXT BANGLADESH – DHAKA TRAFFIC (DAY)
A crush of humanity surges through the streets.
The answer to poverty did not come from an Ivy league college or a Washington think tank. It came from Bangladesh.
EXT BANGLADESH – GRAMEEN BANK CENTER MEETING (DAY)
Muhammad Yunus sits in front of a gathering of two centers, conversing with the women.
In 1976, Muhammad Yunus, a young economics professor, encountered a group of women who appeared to be running profitable cottage industries; yet, they and their children were starving.
EXT BANGLADESH – MICRO ENTERPRISES – MONTAGE (DAY)
A series of women work industriously, making scarves, clay pots and baskets.
Village loan sharks charged them so much interest that the women could barely scratch out a living. Dr. Yunus lent the women small amounts of money out of his own pocket. The women flourished and Grameen Bank was born.
EXT BANGLADESH – GRAMEEN BANK BRANCH ASSEMBLY (DAY)
Yunus addresses a gathering of over a thousand women who sit under a large canopy.
Grameen Bank has grown into a powerful force for social change. It has lent more than four billion dollars, and now serves more than three million borrowers; 95% are women.
EXT BANGLADESH – GRAMEEN BANK CENTER MEETING (DAY)
Yunus watches as the women chant slogans in affirmation of Grameen Bank.
A 1998 World Bank study found that Grameen families were emerging from poverty at the rate of 10,000 per month. Other research indicates that almost half of Grameen Bank members have escaped poverty.
* * * * *
EXT / INT CENTER MEETINGS – GLOBAL MONTAGE
Women in different cultures and places assemble to borrow and repay money.
A global movement has begun. Almost fifty million of the world’s poorest families now put microloans to work. More than a hundred programs use the Grameen model to break through poverty.
But with three billion people living on less than two dollars a day, the untapped market for microfinance remains vast.
Grameen Foundation was created in 1997 to meet this challenge. It helps scores of up-and-coming microfinance institutions to reach for the scale and success of Grameen Bank.
The Foundation has delivered millions of dollars, along with technical support, to ensure their success.
Its reach is global – spanning four continents – making an impact in regions as diverse as the Arab world, Southeast Asia, Central America and even inner cities in the United States.
Never before has a development strategy reached so many people so quickly – and so efficiently.
AC-08 Alex Counts Roll 884 (36:08) you put money into the system and it gets lent to a borrower and then it comes back and then it gets lent again and it comes back and it stays uh working //indefinitely (36:20) ) // it’s not spent once and its gone. (36:28)
For perhaps the first time in history, an effective anti-poverty strategy exists that can create an impact that lasts well beyond the original investment.
* * * * *
EXT KESA’S COURTYARD (UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA)
Kesa sits alone, scrubbing pots and pans.
Kesa Roll 813 (40:42) My husband started to peddle a rickshaw that he rented from someone else. (40:47) // (40:47) Because of the payments, there was never enough food to feed the children. (40:52)
Kesa Roll 813 (40:59) As I faced this trouble, there was pain in my heart, (41:08) // (41:10) and I was not able to sleep at night. (41:16)
Kesa became a member of Cashpor India, a Grameen Foundation partner in Uttar Pradesh – one of India’s poorest states.
EXT STREETS OF MIRZAPUR – KESA’S RICKSHAW
Kesa’s husband, with a passenger, peddles through busy traffic.
Kesa Roll 813 (42:19) With the first loan, I purchased a rickshaw. (42:27) Immediately, things improved. (42:31) We no longer had to pay most of our earnings as rental to somebody else. (42:36)
With her next loan, Kesa purchased a second rickshaw, and rented it out for even more income.
Kesa Roll 811 (40:35) Now, we have plenty of food to eat. (40:41) // (40:52) Today, we feel so much more secure. (40:58) 01-01
INT CASHPOR INDIA OFFICES
Grameen Foundation and Cashpor India staff meet around a table.
In India, Grameen Foundation has worked intensively with three partners, and helped them grow from reaching 45,000 women to 300,000 in just three years.
Grants and loans have not been enough to finance this tremendous growth. So Grameen Foundation has developed new ways to mobilize the funds its partners need.
EXT FINANCIAL DISTRICT, MUMBAI, INDIA
People hurry about, at the peak of the business day rush.
Indian banks have begun to see the profitability of providing loan capital to microfinance institutions – but they are often unwilling to do so without guarantees.
INT LAW OFFICES, MUMBAI
A Grameen staff member sits in consultation with an Indian banker.
Grameen Foundation uses contributions from supporters to provide those guarantees, leveraging millions of dollars of new capital – and increasing the impact of donors’ funds ten-fold.
RE-06 Robert Eichfeld Roll 883 (07:22) B anks around the world are going to be able see this as a profitable, viable business (07:27) //
RE-13 Robert Eichfeld Roll 883 (19:13) // the amount of money that we can generate in india // will be infinitely increased beyond what we can generate at the donor level (19:26)
INT CASHPOR INDIA “BRAINSTORMING” TECH SESSION
Grameen Foundation and Cashpor India staff members brainstorm around a laptop computer.
Financial innovation has triggered innovations in technology. Grameen Foundation is developing cutting-edge tools to strengthen the impact of microfinance.
The Foundation’s Technology Center is creating flexible, easy-to-use software that will allow its partners to share information with banks – and with donors.
EXT ASA CENTER MEETING (TAMIL NADU, INDIA)
Thirty women sit in a perfect circle, conducting their banking.
And, it is bringing new technology to poor people directly.
PB-15 Peter Bladin Roll 887 (08:19) Just because you’re poor why shouldn’t you have access to some of these tools that we have access to if they can effect your situation. (08:26)
PB-13 Peter Bladin Roll 887 (05:52) Communication is a basic human need. (05:54)
INT ASA COMPUTER TRAINING CENTER
Several young women receive computer instruction, including two sisters.
In Tamil Nadu, India, Grameen Foundation is giving members of ASA – Activists for Social Alternatives – the opportunity to set up internet kiosks in their villages.
For the micro-entrepreneurs, it is a chance to take their business skills to the next level – and, to help their neighbors cross the digital divide.
INT SISTERS’ COMPUTER KIOSK
Two sisters sit with an older man, who is using their service.
Villagers can gain access to government services; they can stay in touch with family members who live far away. Most important, they can conduct business electronically, and find the best prices for their products.
VK-11 ASA Kiosk #3 Sisters Roll 825 (08:04) There are lot of middlemen who are corrupt in the work they do (08:09) We can find ways around them. (08:11)
* * * * *
EXT / INT MERAB NDAALO’S HOUSE (UGANDA)
Villagers walk along an endless dirt road, carrying products or purchases.
And in rural Uganda, where people often live isolated from mainstream life and commerce, the Foundation has launched a cell phone initiative.
EXT UGANDAN VILLAGE
Grameen Telecom and Foccas staff show a woman how to use a cell phone.
Micro-entrepreneurs use loans to buy handsets and effectively become the phone company in their village.
Twenty men hoist the tree trunk and antenna into place alongside a building.
VP-03 Merab Ndaalo Roll 832 (41.36) // To make a call, we had to travel ten kilometers to Mbale (41.41). Now, we can call from here. (41.44).
VP-06 Geraldine Nabwire Roll 833 (14:55). We can talk with our children who live far away (14:58)
AC-22 Alex Counts Roll 884 (52:20) // And what’s so exciting is that it’s working very well the women are, who need only to sell six minutes of their time to break even are very quickly selling triple that. (52:38)
Grameen Foundation’s goal is to create viable business models that will allow ventures like these to be employed in poor communities across the globe.
AC-23 Alex Counts Roll 884 (54:06) // If we can // prove this model // the scale // could be massive in even 5 or 6 years. (54:40)
EXT ANDREA’S ORCHARD
Andrea circles one of the trees in the orchard, pruning as she goes.
AN-17 Roll 864C (26:33) $25 to $28 dollars, that’s what I can get for a crate of peaches (26:37) and I am going to harvest ten to fifteen crates per week – per week! // (26:40)
Andrea Perez Perez is member of AlSol – Alternativa Solidaria – in Chiapas, Mexico.
With several loans, Andrea transformed an overgrown hillside into a peach orchard.
EXT ANDREA’S YARD – TAXI
Andrea’s son gets in the taxi, backs the it up, and starts off down the road.
AN-14 Andrea Roll 864C (22:58) /Since the orchard is far from here, (23.02) // well, I bought a car, so that I can carry the peaches out. (23.06) I bought a taxi. (23:07)
It was a loan from AlSol that provided the down payment on the taxi. Andrea employs her son as the driver.
AN-30 AS Andrea Roll 865A (2.02) It is a good job for him; (2.04) and it earns me money every day. (2.08)
EXT DONA JOSEFA’S CENTER MEETING
Dallas women sit under a tin roof, surrounded by thirty indigenous women.
AlSol serves over three thousand women in Chiapas – Mexico’s most impoverished state. Ninety percent of Chiapas’ four million citizens live in poverty. And women are the poorest among the poor.
Grameen Foundation and AlSol feel an urgency to reach many more women. What was lacking until recently were the funds to fuel this growth.
Grameen Foundation introduced AlSol to a group of businesswomen from Dallas, Texas, who came to Chiapas to see how they can help.
EXT DONA PASCUALA’S HOUSE
Lucy and others chat with Pascuala and her daughter in their one-room house.
LB-04 Lucy Roll 886 (07:26) I’ve never spoken to someone, visited with someone who lives on a dollar a day. I’ve just seen videos of these people in the news, and, you know, they were never interviewed; they were just on video, silent beings. // And to have the opportunity to meet someone – you relate to them; you know them.// (07:53)
INT BRIEFING SESSION
The Dallas women sit around a table, discussing AlSol’s goals with its staff.
Grameen Foundation connects donors who have a vision of a poverty-free world with microfinance professionals who can make that vision a reality.
SD-18 Susan Davis Roll 885 (32:45) // We’ve become a magnet for talent and for passionate people who have gifts to give.// (33:35)
JT-04 Janet Thompson Roll 883 (33:25) After, you know, fifteen years of working at Citibank, // (33:39)
JT-03 Janet Thompson Roll 883 (32:32) when I encountered microfinance it was as though I had been waiting to find this my whole life (32:39)
RG-10 Richard Gunther Roll 884 (23:59) // I find this so dramatic to participate in; // the people I’ve met who are running these programs in various countries are such wonderful people. There’s an idealism about this whole thing. // (24:53)
RE-03 Robert Eichfeld Roll 883 (03:29) We decided that this is what we wanted to do as a family, with a family foundation. // (03:36)
SD-31 Susan Davis Roll 885 (53:34) If you want the most direct route to the best people around the world and you want to be able to immediately plug in and make a difference, (52:43) Grameen Foundation unlocks that world and offers it to you. (52:47)
The women from Dallas have made the commitment to help AlSol more than double in size.
LB-02 Lucy (03:23) Microcredit represents opportunity and what I’ve been given what my generation of American women, we’ve been given opportunity. (05:31) // (05:45) So the great thing about microcredit is, it lets me give the gifts that I’ve been given. (05:54).
EXT / INT GLOBAL MONTAGE
Patience Iyamu Roll 849 (16.46) If it were not for the loans, (16.48) I would never have been able to make enough money to live. (16.52)
AS Andrea Roll 864C (9.50) My children give me great joy (9.53) because // they have this opportunity to study. (9.58)
Kesa Roll 813 (45:47) Because of all this, I feel my soul will finally be at peace. (45:54)
For the first time ever, a strategy, consisting of millions and millions of small loans, is battling poverty at its core – in places where its grip has been the strongest.
AC-12 Alex Counts Roll 884 (35:58) The beauty of micro finance (40:00) what // gives it such great potential (40:02) is that it is a solution that can be implemented on the scale of the problem of world poverty. (40:08)
SD-14A Susan Davis Roll 885 (26:30) If we can attract the talent and passionate people who want to make that happen; that’s the secret, that’s the key, and that’s why we’re interested in partnering with people who share this vision. //(26:38)
The challenge is great, but the opportunity is immeasurable – and our capacity to succeed, enormous.
Now is the time to invest in the microfinance movement and break through to a world free from poverty.
* * * * *
View Breaking Through, Grameen Foundation's microfinance documentary video.
Grameen Foundation : Resource Center : Video Room : Video: 'Breaking Through' : Transcript
Grameen Foundation uses microfinance and innovative technology to fight global poverty and bring opportunities to the world's poorest people. With tiny loans and financial services, we help the poor, mostly women, start businesses and escape poverty. Our global network of 55 microfinance institution (MFI) partners including our Growth Guarantee partners has touched more than 34 million people in 24 countries. In addition, we introduced and now sustain technology initiatives (Mifos and Village Phone) in Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, bringing our total country outreach to 28.
+1-202-628-3560 www.grameenfoundation.org
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