Thirty years ago, in a remote village of Bangladesh, a modest economics professor took thirty dollars out of his own wallet and loaned it to a group of women looking to start a small business. Told by nay-sayers that he'd never get the money back, the amount was repaid in full. Muhammad Yunus went on to found Grameen Bank in 1976, out of a conviction that it is small acts like this one can move people out of poverty. Today he is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who, starting with one simple loan, has influenced millions.

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  • samir

    I,as a Bangladeshi,really appreciate the brilliant works of Dr.Yunus.But he is also infamous in Bangladesh as a "Theif" for stealing money from those who are among world's poorest.His lending system,with his eyes of a Big lending businessman which is nothing different than a regular bank,sucked the blood of too many super-poors.Those super-poors does not have ability to express their losses to world media. So world media never put any attention to it.This is another leader like many before who rose to top and then fall down.

  • Supun

    "the system IS DESIGNED to WORK" is a great quote from the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2slVM8u_gi4 and expresses the affirmation of this line of thinking. People communicating and "working with eachother" and the 16 lessons they discover is the key I learned from reading about this stuff. Iti's desinged so that almost everyone (99%) can pay back the loan and not be alone in the bondage of a lifelong lonely lone.

  • Jerry

    I am a 64 Yr old American male artist/poet and just watched the Youtube presentation of Prof. Yunus. And the kids doing the music with the indiginous people. This is world changing and I just wanted to say I believe in you and what you're doing. Thanks

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  • Read article, watch videos, and learn more about this Nobel laureate from Bangladesh.
  • Try microfinance for yourself by loaning small amounts of money--less than twenty dollars--to people in developing countries through Kiva.org.
  • Experiment with microfinance in your own community by gifting small amounts of money to local youth and challenging them to use it toward positive social change. Find ideas here.

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