One of the key reasons I wanted to apply to graduate school, and definitely one of the key reasons I chose to attend the Global Human Development (GHD) program at Georgetown was for the opportunity to force myself out of my comfort zone and try something completely different. The summer internship component of GHD presented an opportunity to travel to areas I never imagined of going to as a kid—such as Kigali, Rwanda.
My focus going into the summer internship applications was primarily to focus on an organization and role that excited me. I wanted to make sure that wherever I ended up working, I would be able to learn about the organization, immerse myself ,and gain real working experience in an industry where I had none. This was going to be my opportunity to test the waters and explore whether I could see myself working this new environment.
I was able to get into contact with the organization BRAC, a Bangladesh-based international development organization, which was starting operations in Rwanda and needed someone to assist with the social impact aspect of their microfinance operations. I was offered an opportunity to work with the Social Performance Management team of BRAC International Microfinance (BIMF), where my role would be to assist with research and analysis to show how microfinance can provide more than just financial benefits but provide lasting social impact as well.
I came to realize that this was the perfect opportunity for me. Not only was social impact the focus of my concentration at Georgetown, but microfinance had been an ambition of mine from when I was growing up. As a high school student in Karachi, Pakistan, I had an ambitious dream to get my school’s chapter of the National Honor Society to sponsor a microfinance program in Karachi. I remember feeling that this type of project would contribute to the community around my school. I discussed the idea with a group of friends, and we felt motivated to pitch the idea to the advisor of the NHS. She could sense the optimism and then explained all the baseline information we would need to provide in order to make this a realistic option to discuss in further meetings. But I was a kid, and I had no idea where to even begin looking. This dream dissipated over time as life began to sink in. College applications, homework, and life as a teenager got in the way and my initial fervor vanished. Now, I find that same passion seeping back in. No longer a wide-eyed teenager with dreams of making the world a better place, I now have the tools and understanding of what it takes to make a difference.
I quickly accepted the offer with BRAC and began my preparations for travel to Rwanda. I had no idea what kind of challenges working in Kigali would bring and how difficult it would be operating in a brand-new country. The first big challenge we faced had to do with actually starting operations: BRAC had not received its full operating license in Rwanda and therefore could not fully launch its microfinance project. In the first couple weeks, I could sense that the team was anxious to get the ball rolling and to begin the loan distribution process. During the two-week period when the organization was waiting for its full operating license, the office had its arms tied.
Within Kigali, however, we were at least able to begin surveying neighborhoods and talking to potential clients. The organization was looking for women who could prove they had an existing household income and who needed a small loan to assist in further developing their own enterprises. The silver lining was that women were immediately sold on BRAC’s services, especially as they would receive 5% compounding interest rates on savings accounts. The women who BRAC initially picked to begin the microfinance process were incredibly eager, but they were forced to wait on their loans due to the licensing delay.
Finally, once we were able to get the full operational license we were full steam ahead. The Kigali office quickly started emptying out as the regional managers and officers headed out to their respective locations. The only branch currently in Kigali is in the Kimironko neighborhood, a large residential area near the international airport. BRAC’s focus is to be able to reach as many people in rural areas as possible, but while also making access as easy as possible: Kimironko met all of these factors. With programming underway, I was able to attend the first loan disbursement meeting, where you could just feel the energy and excitement from everyone involved. The clients were ecstatic to be receiving their first loans, and the branch officers were thrilled to get started. All the higher-management staff from the BRAC-Rwanda country office were present for the first disbursement meeting and gave speeches to thank everyone involved in the process.
After the first disbursement, my job felt a lot more relevant and impactful. No longer was what I was working on just purely hypothetical: it would have an impact on the organization and clients moving forward. My research included but was not limited to developing a mechanism for clients to be able to complain about problems with the system; researching how we could create a standardized definition of urban and rural branches; creating documents for clients to explain how the loan and interest rates work; and finally, explaining to clients all the terms and conditions of receiving a loan. Through my research I was able to understand how BIMF is able to simultaneously ensure they are receiving loan repayments on time while also developing policies that focus on having lasting social impact for the communities where they operate. I went from only understanding the theoretical aspects of what microfinance sought to do, to having a firsthand look into exactly what the loan life cycle looked like from the first survey to the final loan repayment and everything that goes in between.
My research felt impactful, and I felt like I was making headway helping the organization. However, once I began having meetings to discuss my research, I began to also realize how difficult it is to start operating in a brand-new location. While the team was eager and ready to begin collecting and analyzing data, external constraints blocked the ability to carry out some of their more complicated ideas. The team was also learning what capacities and tools were available to them in the country. While I would have loved to see all the strategies I researched be implemented, I realized that this was just not realistic. The process to begin developing these strategies would take time and require a lot of support and resources.
In the end I was able to learn a great deal about the organization and how it functions, as well as about microfinance in general. The experience of attending initial disbursement meetings and understanding how microfinance can create lasting social impact was invaluable. In the end, I have the satisfaction of finally knowing that I was able to come good on the ambition of working in a microfinance organization that I had when I was a teenager in Karachi.