ZAKI DOES NOT KNOW IT (because a butch aunt with a micro-loan can keep away a shark)

City Palli Dhalpur is a licenced slum 35-taka-far-by-rickshaw from Paltan, established in 1988 for homeless people, it has become the largest heroin distribution spot in Dhaka. But my impression was good, streets not so narrow, cement blocks houses, one sanitary for five households, one tube-well every ten. At the gate, there were five girls playing the popular game (in Italy, called "bell") which you draw on the asphalt with a piece of chalk six-seven-eight boxes, than -using a little stone- you have to jump up to the box where you threw the stone and come back. Four girls shared three little stones, and the last one was jumping up to a little piece of orange skin: this is my very first memory of Dhalpur. The second one: two black crows that eat a died rat just over a baby pink t-shirt spread out on a roof after washing. Third one: the micro-story of Zaki, but Zaki does not know it.

Zaki is a 6 months baby: according to me, he is more than 6, but the mother -Shobana- told me that he was born just 6 months ago. Even about her age, she said -twentyfive-: our women try to reduce their age, here they do not remember or they do not know and they guess. Their micro-story is sad, Zaki does not anything, but Shobana -who knows- is not discouraged. They live in one of the little block (ten-twelve sqm), there is also Souban, 5 years old, and Morjena, the elder sister of Shobana. Morjena is single, and she plays the role of the "dad" in this sad-micro-story. She works for Dhaka City Corporation, a public company involved in several services from washing clothes to building constructions: she is a cleaning woman. Where is the dad? The Shobana's husband is the village, somewhere in the north, far from his family, far from Zaki, because he left Dhaka, he deserted his family, he abandoned Zaki. Without a job, with one more son, he decided to run away just after the Zaki's birth. Shobana was alone, with two sons, thus the elder sister come from their village to help her. Theoretically, Morjena's income (6000taka, 63euro) is enough to cover all the expenditure (4500food,200school,1000housing), but the real problem is a money lender (or better, a loan shark) who is still waiting 20000taka (213euro) back.

Money lenders are able to provide 20000taka in ten minutes(every MFI/NGO requires a previous period of savings and a week for the loan processing). The interest is 5% every month that you wait to pay back the capital, thus after receving 20000taka, you will pay 1000taka every month up to be able to pay the 20000taka.

For Shobana and Morjena the emergency was a serious disease of another sister who lives in the village. They received 20000taka in ten minutes, but in ten months they paid back only half of the amount plus more or less the same amount of interests (1000*10months=10000taka). How did they find the money? They joined in HITAISHI BANGLADESH, "my" NGO, they started to save 50taka per week, they got a loan of 10000taka and in 40 weeks -paying 280taka per week- they repaid the loan. In the maintime, they saved also up to 4800taka. Now, they asked a second loan: but there is no business, it is only another loan to feed the shark.

Anyway, there is the serious possibility for them to be able to repay the money-lender. The micro-credit is helping them, a micro-loan should not be used to pay the interest for another loan, but it could work. This micro-story (made sad by the coward husband) is the story of milions of poor. They are not able to face an emergency, and thousands of taka in ten minutes is a big temptation for a poor family that maybe needs fast cash for a disease or a business opportunity (buy property in the village). Actually, the microfinance system helps them only ex-post-facto, but more and more microfinance institutions are implementing savings programs to improve the poor's capacity to face an emergency, building a brighter future for them.

About Zaki and his family...I cannot guess the color of their future, but a dad is not necessary to grow up and become a man -and a dad better than the one that you had got-, Morjena looks like a man and I think she will work as hard as a man and the loan shark will swim faraway. The main thing is that, now, Zaki does not know it: he sleeps, eats and plays with my behavioral-finance-experiment balls. Because tomorrow Morjena will wash clotehs, the shark will be further away and I will buy two new balls.