After our stay in the villages we traveled to the Grameen Fisheries. These ponds were taken over from the Bangladeshi government because they were "derelict, full of debris and the aquatic vegetation was unfit for the fish culture". Grameen cleaned up the ponds and turned them over to the villagers to fish in them and take the fish to market. The objective is to make the villagers self sufficient, plus provide a constant food source. Many of them have no other income generating activity. The villagers catch the fish and take them to market. From the water they load about a dozen large barrels with fish and make the 1 1/2 hour trip to market.They receive 50 percent of the profit and Grameen gets the other 50 percent. Grameen's share is reinvested in the production of hatchlings, so there will continue to be fish in the ponds.
While at the fisheries, while we were watching the men haul the nets in filled with fish, a local villager approached me and ask where I was from. "America," I replied. Then she asked if she could shake my hand, to which I graciously agreed.
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