Books and Beyond

Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
Author: Muhammad Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank

I found out that Muhammad Yunus wrote this book while browsing around www.kivafriends.org, a community of Kiva (see www.kiva.org) users, staff and supporters.

In this book Muhammad Yunus shared his experiences in founding Grameen Bank, really from zero to hero. He was so concerned that the academic world cannot solve the condition of the many poor people and after learning in great surprise that little loan was what really needed, in 1976 he personally lent $27 to 42 villagers in Jobra nearby Chittagong
University, Bangladesh, where he headed the Economics Department. He then approached a bank to get more loans for the poor in Jobra and got that loans which required him as a guarantor. Later he managed to get some banks to open branches that he and his staff could use to give loans to the poorest of the poor. Finally in 1983 a bank to the poor, Grameen Bank (Grameen means village), an independent institution, was born.

Despite many skepticism, cultural and other obstacles, Grameen Bank has helped many poor entrepreneurs, mostly women. We will find some touching stories of Grameen borrowers in this book, the hardworking Grameen staff and Muhammad Yunus’ resourcefulness. Grameen Bank has developed other companies along the way: GrameenPhone, Grameen Shakti (Energy), etc. The success of Grameen brought the replications of Grameen-style micro-finance institutions around the world.

In the end of the book, Muhammad Yunus shared his view that poverty does not belong in civilized human society, that we should and could build a poverty-free world.

Muhammad Yunus also told little stories of his childhood in Chittagong, Bangladesh (he was born in 1940), then his time studying in USA, the time when Bangladesh was struggling to be independent from Pakistan, and other personal stories, but not so much. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank received Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below". (This book was published in 2003, originally in 1997).