Last night I watched Oprah at Studio 23 and one of her guest was Dr. Muhammad Yunus, a visionary and developer of the unique microcredit concept. He is really an inspiration and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his Grameen Bank and I just want to share with you this amazing bank that he has developed.
Yunus first involved himself in fighting poverty during the 1974 famine in Bangladesh. Yunus discovered that very small loan could make a significant difference to a poor person's ability to survive.
The first loan he gave was of $27 from his own pocket. He lent it to 42 female basket weavers in the village of Jobar near Chittagong University. He discovered that they could repay the amount very quickly by selling their goods in the market.
Before this, they used to take loans from village loan-sharks with high interest rates. In some cases, the interest rates stood at a staggering 10% a week.
However, banks were not interested in giving tiny loans to poor people and they considered the poor to be bad borrowers.
In 1976, Yunus launched the activities of Garmeen Bank and started giving loans to poor Bangladeshis against the advice of banks and the government. He carried on giving out micro-loans and in 1983, he officially formed the Garmeen Bank, meaning village bank, on the principles of trust and solidarity.
The Garmeen Bank's method of giving out loans is now used in projects in 58 countries, including US, Canada, France, the Netherlands and Norway.
In 1997, Professor Yunus led the world's first microcredit summit in Washington, DC.
http://www.bangladeshnews.com.bd/2006/10/14/profile-dr-muhammad-yunus/
Yunus first involved himself in fighting poverty during the 1974 famine in Bangladesh. Yunus discovered that very small loan could make a significant difference to a poor person's ability to survive.
The first loan he gave was of $27 from his own pocket. He lent it to 42 female basket weavers in the village of Jobar near Chittagong University. He discovered that they could repay the amount very quickly by selling their goods in the market.
Before this, they used to take loans from village loan-sharks with high interest rates. In some cases, the interest rates stood at a staggering 10% a week.
However, banks were not interested in giving tiny loans to poor people and they considered the poor to be bad borrowers.
In 1976, Yunus launched the activities of Garmeen Bank and started giving loans to poor Bangladeshis against the advice of banks and the government. He carried on giving out micro-loans and in 1983, he officially formed the Garmeen Bank, meaning village bank, on the principles of trust and solidarity.
The Garmeen Bank's method of giving out loans is now used in projects in 58 countries, including US, Canada, France, the Netherlands and Norway.
In 1997, Professor Yunus led the world's first microcredit summit in Washington, DC.
http://www.bangladeshnews.com.bd/2006/10/14/profile-dr-muhammad-yunus/
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