Mr. William H. Gates, Chairperson of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in computer software, and wife Mrs. Melinda Gates, visited BRAC programmes in the Uttar Mugda para of the Shobujbag thana of Dhaka city earlier this morning. Mr. F. H. Abed, Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, accompanied the couple. The visit was part of a daylong trip to Bangladesh to meet with several NGO’s as well as representatives of the Government.

The couple arrived in Dhaka earlier this morning and soon thereafter made their way to a BRAC Village Organisation (VO) site in Shobujbag, where they were received by Mr. Abed and Mr. A. M. R. Chowdhury, Deputy Executive Director, BRAC. Several other senior members of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with journalists from the New York Times, Le Monde and other reputable foreign newspapers, accompanied the couple.

Mr. and Mrs. Gates expressed keen interest in BRAC’s holistic approach to poverty reduction and took part in the weekly microfinance meeting of the Mugdapara VO group, where they were informed of the various income generation activities being initiated by poor urban women using BRAC loans. With the help of Mr. Abed, the couple engaged the women borrowers in a lively discussion about their socio-economic situation. While Mrs. Gates expressed awe at the members’ commitment to repaying their loans on time, Mr. Gates was amused to learn that the women and not their husbands, were the main providers for their families. Members of the monthly health forum were also present at the meeting, along with the community’s Shasthyo Shebika, with whom the couple discussed health issues and the steps taken by BRAC, with the help of its many health volunteers, in combating illness and raising community health awareness.

As part of its current focus on improving neo-natal mortality in the developing world, the Gates Foundation is actively campaigning to raise awareness and provide support to initiatives geared towards neo-natal health. In relation, the couple then visited the Ante Natal Clinic being held next door, being conducted by a BRAC Health Programme Organiser. The couple talked to several pregnant women present at the ANC about health and social issues related to pregnancy and newborns.

The VO group members accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Gates to their car. On the way, they stopped to chat with another BRAC VO member who had set up a tailoring stall on the road. The couple also visited a local drug store to learn about the types and prices of medicines and immunization available in the country. Before leaving the area, Mr. and Mrs. Gates thanked the programme participants and expressed their appreciation of BRAC’s initiatives to improve the condition of the poor of Bangladesh. The couple are expected to leave Bangladesh later this evening.

© 2005 BRAC Bangladesh
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