Fatema Begum and her husband, Badruddin Zaman, cross a flood zone to visit a customer. Fatema has built her mobile phone into a lucrative business for herself – and an indispensable connection for her village. In 1998 she bought a cell phone, through a nonprofit program set up by Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, in partnership with a cellular company called Grameen Phone. Their aim was to sell mobile phones to rural women to provide them with a business opportunity and link their neighbors to the wider world. Fatima took out a loan for $400 from Grameen Bank, on a payback system of 400 taka a week,
Fatema Begum and her husband, Badruddin Zaman, cross a flood zone to visit a customer. Fatema has built her mobile phone into a lucrative business for herself – and an indispensable connection for her village. In 1998 she bought a cell phone, through a nonprofit program set up by Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, in partnership with a cellular company called Grameen Phone. Their aim was to sell mobile phones to rural women to provide them with a business opportunity and link their neighbors to the wider world. Fatima took out a loan for $400 from Grameen Bank, on a payback system of 400 taka a week, about $8, over four years. She paid off the loan in one year. Her income exceeds $700 a year, in a country where the annual per-capita income is about $300. Today, in her mid-30s, Fatema is one of Dhaluarchar’s most prosperous residents. Dhaluarchar, Bangladesh. 2000.
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Photo credit: © Shahidul Alam / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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