Such humbling numbers

My previous post stands totally corrected. I accepted offer from University of Wisconsin-Madison finally.I fluctuate a lot between extremes. Anyways this post is not on rambling about my decision.

Of course I do not have anything to do at work and I am reading a book by Muhammad Yunnus, "Banker to the Poor". In the sixth chapter of the book, he is talking about how motivated his bank managers and how they chose the job at the Grameen bank as opposed to other high paying private bank jobs. In order to substantiate the commitment and dedication of his workers, he gives an example of what a typical working day was like for his bank workers in 1995 which I have reproduced below:

Name: Akhtar Hossain
Age:27
Monthly Salary: 2,200 taka($66)including housing, commuting and medical allowances
Bonus: One month's salary paid on each of the two Eid holidays

6:00 am, Akhtar wakes up, washes, prays and eats breakfast.
7:00 am, Akhtar fetches his bicycle,other documents,and carrying bag from the branch and pedals to a center.
7:30 am, Forty borrowers await Akhtar at the center. He collects repayments from them.
9:30 am, Akhtar pedals of to another center for his second meeting. He visits 400 such centers over the week and is responsible for collecting repayments for general, seasonal or house loans.
11 am, Akhtar visits borrowers at home and offers advice. This is a critical step to keep track of borrowers' needs and problems.
Noon, Akhtar is back at the office. He fills out all reporting forms and fills out ledger.
1:30 pm - 2:00 pm, Akhtar takes a lunch break with his fellow workers.
2:00 pm, Funds collected in the morning are disbursed as new loans in the evening.
3:00 pm, Once the loan disbursements are finished,Akhtar and his fellow office mates record the new loan information in the ledgers.
4:30 pm,Akhtar takes a tea break and chats with his friends
5:00-6:30 pm,Akhtar visits a center that is experiencing problems with loans or organizes an educational outreach program for children.
7 pm, Akhtar returns to the office, finishes some paperwork and retires for the day.



I melted when I realized that a typical worker would work for 12 hours/day for six days at a week for a monthly salary of sixty six dollars. Such humbling numbers.