How much money does it take to change the world?
How much money does it take to make real and lasting progress against global poverty
would a billion dollars be enough 100 billion for one man it took just 27. 27 and a simple
but compelling idea that man is Muhammad Yunus and his idea started a global
revolution that has brought hope opportunity and pride to some of the poorest people on
earth.
So, who is Muhammad Yunus and what was his idea to understand muhammad yunus
you need to know where he comes from Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh is a
beautiful country with a rich culture it is one of the poorest and most densely populated
nations in the world Muhammad yunus was born in Bangladesh in 1940 and he was
affected by the dramatic conditions there but unlike so many of his fellow bangladeshis
muhammad yunus was not born into poverty which gave him access to important
opportunities as a result he was able to go to good schools get a quality education and
even go to college eventually he won a scholarship to study economics in the united
states. While muhammad lived in the united states he witnessed something there that
changed his life he saw the historic struggles of the civil rights movement up close and
he was deeply affected muhammad was particularly inspired by the movement's
powerful commitment to social justice and it stayed with him when Muhammad went
back to Bangladesh he continued to be profoundly concerned about issues of justice
especially poverty and as an economist he wondered why. Why was there so much
deprivation in his country. Why were so many people living in so much misery he
quickly realized that unemployment was not the problem in fact most of the people living
in poverty in Bangladesh were working they worked full-time at back-breaking jobs the
real problem was wages Muhammad yunus came to a profound conclusion about
poverty. What creates poverty what created this situation that human being has to be
brought into this kind of situation where they have to beg for existence is this the fault of
the person repeatedly i come to the same conclusion there is nothing wrong with the
people poverty is not created by the poor people poverty is created by the system that
we have built the concepts that we have created that's what created poverty as
professor yunus studied the problem he began to focus more and more on the issue of
credit and the ability to get loans with wages so low in bangladesh he realized the poor
could never save up enough money to change their lives the only way to rise out of
poverty was to get access to capital with loans the poor could move to better
neighborhoods go to better schools pay for college get better jobs even start their own
businesses but in bangladesh as in most countries the poor do not have access to the
kinds of loans that can change their lives according to conventional wisdom they are
simply too great a risk they have low incomes no collateral no history of credit and
belong to a group that is generally not regarded very highly fortunately professor yunus
was able to look beyond the attitudes of his time and challenge us to see the world's
poorest people in a completely different light and it all started with 27 in 1976 in the
midst of a deep economic downturn professor eunice left the comfort of the university
where he taught and talked to poor villagers in the towns around his city although he
didn't have much money he realized it wouldn't take much money to completely
transform people's lives in an impulsive moment professor eunice gave 27 from his own
pocket to a small group of 42 craftsmen but professor eunice made it clear to these
craftsmen that the money was not a handout he believed that charity only makes the
poor dependent and vulnerable instead it was to be alone that they would have to pay
back and they were more than happy to comply these craftsmen used the money to buy
the supplies they needed to make and sell small crafts they started their own business
and paid back every single penny and that's when muhammad yunus had his
revolutionary insight. He realized that the smallest of loans could dramatically change
the lives of the poor in many cases they just needed a little bit of cash to get some
resources materials for a small startup business that could give them a fighting chance.
However professor yunus knew that there was not a single bank in the country that
would risk lending to the rural poor so he took matters into his own hands and this was
the step that would start a revolution professor yunus started his own bank the
Grameen bank focused on helping the poor and he soon realized demand for help was
extraordinary the grameen bank loaned small amounts of money microloans to a wide
range of poor Bangladeshis including farmers craftsmen and women people who could
not traditionally get loans some villagers bought dairy cows then sold the milk to their
neighbors creating small sustainable businesses others used the money to open
grocery stores or buy materials for making furniture and then in some villages people
took out group loans to construct hand-powered wells that helped supply drinkable
water for the entire community in all of these cases the benefits rippled throughout the
village professor yunus reinvented banking and got rid of as many traditional
requirements as he could he specifically designed his bank to work as well as possible
with the poor whatever it took if a requirement blocked out the poor he simply got rid of
it no collateral no credit checks not even a written contract it was revolutionary the
system is based entirely on trust and the amazing thing about it is that it works
according to bank officials 97 of the loans given out to the poor are paid back in full a
payback rate that has confounded the expectations of conventional bankers over the
years the bank has given out more than 13 billion dollars in loans to over 8.4 million
borrowers helping to improve communities all across rural bangladesh and the system
is clearly working since 1992 the poverty rate in bangladesh has dropped from a
staggering 56 percent to just 31 percent today while the poverty rate is still high it is
moving in the right direction the basic belief of muhammad yunus is simple poor people
have enormous untapped potential and by lending them money we help them break the
cycle of poverty and we can empower them to become constructive and contributing
members to society in a way that benefits the entire nation and perhaps the world the
poor don't have to be a burden in fact they can be an incredible resource it is a powerful
idea and one that has proved to be extremely successful muhammad yunus created a
worldwide movement there are now numerous banks that specialize in micro loans and
there are micro credit programs in nearly 100 countries all across the world as of the
recording of this video in 2014 muhammad yunus is now 72 years old and he continues
to work with the poor and develop new ideas to help them succeed he is a revolutionary
thinker and a role model for our time you