Muhammad Yunus, a Hero to Me

I don't have many heroes. I suppose it stems from my love of fiction where heroes do extraordinary and amazing things to fulfill their role in the story. I take the notion seriously, and very few people I've known or read about fits that role in my eyes.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a hero to me. I thought it would be appropriate to kick off this collection of stories about changing the world one story at a time by writing a story about him. He has many stories to tell, and he tells them quite well. He is credited with the start of microcredit, which are small loans to poor people who have historically not qualified for credit by the traditional requirements needed to secure a loan. The loans are used to encourage the borrowers to become self sufficient, and to learn the principles of economics. This puts the borrower on a path to break the cycle of poverty that traps them.

In 1971, Bangladesh achieved it's independence. Previous to it's independence it was a province of Pakistan know as East Pakistan. As a child who was fascinated by maps, I found it intriguing that one country had two names such as East Pakistan and West Pakistan. I used to think why would once country be separated by such a large land mass such as India? I had no idea of the political and cultural ramifications, and since Google didn't exist, information was much harder to come by for an 11 year old.

Bangladesh's independence according to Dr. Yunus in his book Creating a World Without Poverty (Poverty) stimulated his desire to return to his native country. He wanted to help build a free and prosperous new nation according to page 44 of Poverty. Dr. Yunus, who was born in East Bengal, which Bangladesh was known as in 1940 while under British rule, was an assistant professor at Central Tennessee University in the United States. He resigned his position there in 1972 and took a position as Chairman of the Economic Department at Chittagong University, which is at Hathazari Upazila Chittagong district in Bangladesh. Chitagong is Bangladesh's second largest city, and was Dr. Yunus' hometown.

What happened in 1974 however would change the course of his life, and the lives of many others. Famine struck. Dr Yunus cites a number of contributing factors in Poverty such as floods, droughts, the residual effects of the War for Liberation, and the oil crises of 1973 to name a few. He came to realize there was deeper need in his country for a long term solution. In tvillage of Jobra, which was close to Chittagong, Dr. Yunus first tried to increase agriculture production with irrigation. It worked. Yet the poorest of the poor, as Dr. Yunus refers to them as, received very little benefit. Observing the diligent work that these folks did, along with little benefit to reward their work, Dr. Yunus realized there was a need for something other then agricultural production. There was something else that was holding these folks back. He had to find out.

The answer came from a woman named Sufiya Begum. Dr. Yunus tells the story of how of Sufiya,and her husband both worked. Sufiya crafting bamboo stools, and her husband as a day laborer. They lived with their children in a small hut with a thatched roof that according to Dr, Yunus, leaked. It was through a conversation with Sufiya, that Dr. Yunus discovered that Sufiya was relying on the local moneylender to borrow the money needed for the bamboo that she used for her making her stools, which was her income. The deal was, if she received money for the supplies from the moneylender, she had to sell all the stools back to the moneylender at a price the moneylender decided. This coupled with the high interest rate that she was charged on her loan, left Sufiya with two pennies a day according to Dr. Yunus. When you have children to feed, you can imagine the situation Sufiya was faced with.

She was not alone. Through an investigation with a student of his across a week's time, Dr. Yunus complied a list of of 42 other victims in the village of Jobra who were into this moneylender. The total sum of all the money owed by the 43 victims was 852 taka or $27.00 US Dollars. Dr. Yunus paid the money out of his own pocket to release the victims from this moneylenders. He learned a valuable lesson in the process. While he was teaching the students at the university about the ambitious five year plan that involved billions of dollars, a sum of $27.00 US Dollars freed the lives of 43 human beings from essentially an economic prison.

Just let that sink in for a moment.

It was this experience that spawned the micocredit movement. Dr. Yunus goes on tell the rest of his story about the lessons he learned about microcredit, and how it can change lives for the better. I highly suggest you read his story. It's inspiring to see the hands of fate conspiring to lead someone to a place where a simple gesture can change the dynamics of some people such as the poorest of the poor as Dr. Yunus refers to them, while challenging the conventional thought that pervades a situation such as lending money only to people who have money, and not to those who don't.

Tomorrow I will look at Grammen Bank, the institution that grew out that simple gesture and the impact that it has had around the world.