Lisa

After spending our first night with host families, our group met this morning at 6:15 at the SKS Microfinance office in Hyderabad.  We loaded into two different vehicles to attend meetings and loan transactions at rural villages where SKS operates.  Eight of us went with Sudarsan Reddy (an SKS area manager) to the small village of Namathpally.

As we drove through the Indian countryside, our SKS representative briefed us on the company’s operations in India.  As a registered, limited-liability “non-banking finance company,” SKS provides small loans to poor women.  The women use the microfinance loans to develop productive businesses that provide income for them and their families.  SKS makes loans to individuals within five-member groups.  This allows the company to use a form of social collateral.  If one member is unable to make a loan payment, the group is responsible for coming up with the money for the payment.  Four to 12 groups (20 to 60 members) get together weekly for center meetings.

When we arrived at the village, the women were gathered and seated in a semi-circle waiting to begin the meeting.  Dressed in brightly colored saris, the circle of women created a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors.  We greeted them in the traditional way (we clapped our hands, bowed our heads and said “Namaste”), and then sat down on a mat to observe the meeting. 

The loan officer began the meeting by leading the women in a verbal pledge of commitment.  Each woman signed her name in a book that was passed around to record attendance.  The loan officer called each woman’s name, and they came forward, one-by-one, to make their loan payments, which were recorded in a ledger.  Two women filled out applications for new loans.  The meeting was conducted entirely in the local dialect, so we couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was interesting to watch the women interact.

Once the meeting’s activities were complete, our SKS representative acted as a translator, and we asked the women questions about their businesses and the changes that the businesses have made in their lives.  Some of the women said that they have used the profits to buy cars, expand their businesses, and send their children to better schools.

After the meeting, we walked around the village and saw some of the businesses the women have started.  The businesses we saw included raising goats and buffalo, a flour mill, a grocery store, basket-weaving, and pottery.  Though they could not communicate with us, the villagers were very friendly.  They followed us around and shook our hands.  They let us hold their goats and walk through their homes.  We visited the SKS branch office later in the day, but for me, the highlight of the day was visiting with the villagers and seeing SKS Microfinance in action.