This books shows us that the lack of access to credit for the poorest of the poor is possibly as bad as lack of food. Without some access to credit they have absolutely no chance to ever get out of the revolving situation that will absorb then and their children. It's a vicious cycle of poverty that will be perpetuated unless they are given a chance to break it. And they all want to break it. Not for themselves, but for their future generations, which will incrementally improve their situation.

On a recent flight, I read an outstanding book called Banker to the Poor Microlending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus. Muhammad taught economics at the University of Bangladesh and saw the poverty around him and felt that that his theoretical work at the university was not solving the problem. What he saw was the small amounts of money loaned to people to allow them to start their business or raw materials could have a huge impact.

He started Grameen Bank and started making micro-credit loans to people in groups using the social pressure to make sure everyone repays their loans. His first loans he saw that 42 people needed $27.00 to buy raw materials and this was his first loan. He had tremendous success repaying the loans and has since grown to almost 2,000 branches and a staff of 11,000 which has loaned $3.9 billion with a recovery rate of 98%.

Impressive results with limited resources.

This is a true book of hope and definitely worth reading.

A well written book about how Yunus successfully lent money to impoverished people in Bangladesh and, in so doing, empowered them to create better lives for themselves. The pages echo Yunus's faith in the human spirit, his dedication to eradicating poverty, and his tenacity to succeed in the face of naysayers cries. He talks about the origins of the banks name, The Grameen Bank and notes that Grameen derives from the word gram, or village.

Yunus denounces typical methods of poverty reduction, such as those that tie funds to skills training. And he acknowledges that he has critics in this regard. He writes, "I firmly believe that all human beings have an innate skill. I call it the survival skill. The fact that the poor are alive is clear proof of their ability. They do not need us to teach them how to survive; they already know how to do this. So rather than waste our time teaching them new skills, we try to make maximum use of their existing skills. Giving the poor access to credit allows them to immediate put into practice the skills they already know - to weave, husk rice patty, raise cows, peddle a rickshaw." (p. 140).

Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
This is a life changing book! This book will change the way that you think about poverty and how to end it. In this book, Professor Yunus tells of his own journey in first recognising that the University in which he lectured in Economics, needed to impact his local community, and secondly, doing something about it. The book has all of the elements of a good novel, humour, romance, and drama, but it is so much more. Buy this book, read this book, and then join Kiva.org to make a difference.

This audio book was absolutely wonderful. I found it really inspiring and engaging. I was really surprised by how interesting it was, I was afraid it would be a little dry but that wasn't true at all. I enjoyed every chapter. This book really did make me want to change my life, it gave me a lot to think about that I'm still working with. In fact I hope I never stop thinking about it and the issues it opened up.

The reader was very good, he had enough inflection in his voice to keep it interesting, but did not over play the words. It was the sort of narration that provided a similar feeling to reading myself, where I could put my own emphasis and voice to the words and not be distracted by the an overly dramatic narrator.

Banker to the Poor is a really clear way of explaining what microfinance is as well as showing the drastic difference that $40 can make in people's lives. Shows the humanitarianism of microlending, why it's better than just giving people money, and how it can be a useful tool to help many people. I really recommend this book for anyone, and especially so for anyone interested in helping others or setting up programs to help others (my church is using microlending now).

Muhammad Yunus constructed a system in Bangladesh to help the poorest of the poor get loans for tiny amounts of money. Since its inception 1980, variations on this system have spread all over the world with great success.

Yunus starts with the premise that credit should be a right, not a privilege, and the people who need credit the most are the ones locked out of the standard credit system. He recounts a story of a woman who makes bamboo stools. She borrows money to buy the raw materials from a middleman, and as repayment for that loan, she is forced to give the finished stool back to him. He then pays her 2 cents for her work. The raw materials cost only 22 cents, and if she just had that capital herself, she could buy her own bamboo and reap all of the profits from the final sale of the stool. But she doesn't have 22 cents and therefore is effectively a debt slave.

Most people who hear about the concept of microfinance for the poor immediately ask, "Why do poor people pay the loans back?" The answer provided in "Banker to the Poor" is multi-faceted and not wholly satisfying, but it is clear that the system does work. Repayment rates are generally higher than loans given to the so-called credit worthy in standard loan arrangements. A rate of over 98% has been achieved.

Repayment is encouraged by a combination of (1) a high level of interaction between bank workers and the borrower's communities, (2) fair and respectful treatment by the bank, (3) the formation local peer groups to encourage repayment, (4) short loan terms with weekly payments, (5) loans primarily to women, and (6) the fact that the borrowers know this is their one shot -- if they shirk repayment, they are screwed. Their *lives* are their collateral.

The book is an easy, entertaining read, and the enthusiasm of the author for the topic is clear. His stories of individuals who have risen out of poverty through micro-loans is stirring, but toward the end of the book, he talks about poverty in a more philosophical way, and one can't help criticizing his idealism. He proposes a version of socially-conscious capitalism that he claims could help eradicate poverty from the entire world. Under his proposed system, corporations would be motivated by the sum of social utility and profit, not just profit alone. It's a nice thought, but it seems a little naive. But perhaps it takes such unbridled idealism to truly make an important difference in the world, as it seems Yunus has done.

I have seen Dr. Yanus speak on the topic of Micro-Lending in person, at a consortium in Los Angeles. I was interested and inspired by both the man himself, as well as his ideas. I think that both he, and his workers at Grameen are deserving of the Nobel Prize for Peace. The book is told in his own words and the reader is exposed to both his humility as well as his fierce passion as an advocate for the poor. I found the book both readable and informative.

RS

There's no question that in most of the world, poor people are left out of the money cycle. Since the really poor don't have anything of value (the thinking goes), how can we trust them with anything? Why loan them money? How on earth would they pay? We'd be foolish to believe they would. Also, what would a person with no means actually do with a loan? They certainly don't need that kind of money.

Mohammad Yunus and his creation, the Grameen (Village) Bank, contradict this traditional banker thinking. This book gives a history of Professor Yunus himself and tells the story of how he came to create and grow the bank that eventually won a Nobel Prize for its microcredit programs aimed at exceptionally poor people, especially women. I found the early chapters, about Yunus' personal life growing up in eastern Pakistan, his time in the US, and his return to a newly formed Bangladesh interesting. They provide an appropriate background for his later work in the village near the university where he taught economics, beginning with the first loan he made himself - $27 to 42 people!

I found it quite an easy read, although it is outside my own field of expertise. I appreciated the pace up to the last couple of chapters, which seemed to come bowling at me with enormous speed (though maybe that's on purpose given the organization's seeming explosive growth in the 1990s and beyond). I would have been interested to also read about how a typical loan actually gets used and repaid - it's difficult for me to imagine what a borrower's balance sheet might look like that she would be able to put the full amount to work immediately and still be able to make a payment in 1 week. How much return would you really see on a goat or whatever in the first week? I just don't know. I also found myself questioning the seeming need for loan after loan after loan - I'm not convinced that this is completely a good thing, but it wasn't dealt with at much length in the book so I don't know how typical that is or what it really indicates. The last chapter, dealing with the future of the bank and Yunus' desire for a parallel economic system based not on profit but on social progress seemed a little weird to me, but I'm not an economist. It seems like more trouble to re-invent the wheel than to put the car we already have on another path.

One thing I found especially compelling is Yunus' development of specific measurable outcomes and goals for his bank's members. The bank's Decisions are interesting in that they seem to have been agreed on by the members themselves, not driven from above. I also appreciated his list of indicators to assess poverty level - although this was somewhat glossed over in the text, these measurable outcomes are applicable to any on-the-ground assessment of functional poverty or non-poverty. If this was the only thing in there, it would still be worthwhile. Read this book. Whether you agree wholeheartedly, scoff openly, or something in between, you'll find it thought provoking.

Muhammad Yunus was born in 1940, the third of fourteen children, to an extremely devout Muslim family in Chittagong, the largest port city in Bangladesh. After studies at Chittagong University, and then University of Colorado and Vanderbilt (where he earned his PhD in economics), Yunus returned to help nation-build in Bangladesh, which had declared its independence from Pakistan in 1971. The independence movement had taken its toll; three million people were dead and 10 million were refugees. In 1974, a famine struck.

As he tried to alleviate the broad and deep poverty in his homeland, Yunus came to "dread" his economics lectures. They were tragically far removed from the everyday lives of normal people. In a theme that would characterize much of the rest of his life, Yunus almost completely abandoned classical book learning in favor of listening to and learning directly from the extreme poor -- the millions of Bangladeshis living off two cents a day. In 1976 he loaned $27 to 42 villagers, and thus was born what eventually became the Grameen Bank (grameen means rural). As of the publication of this revised autobiography in 2003, Grameen and its many replicants had made $3.8 billion of micro-loans to 2.4 million families in over 100 countries. The borrowers themselves own 93% of the bank equity, 95% of the loan recipients are women, and the repayment rate on the loans is 98%. For all that, in 2006 Yunus and Grameen won the Nobel Peace Prize (not to mention more than two dozen honorary doctorates).

Yunus is an excellent writer and story-teller. He shares at length about the many criticisms, myths, and prejudices he's had to face, especially from the "obtuse ineptitude" of governments and the sclerotic bureaucracy of aid organizations (he's particularly critical of the World Bank). He has tremendous faith in the initiative, skill, resilience and creativity of the poor. They're the ultimate entrepreneurs. "Not one single Grameen borrower requires any special training" (205), or any collateral, for that matter. Conversely, Yunus also believes that the poor have many things to teach the rich. When the World Bank's president Barber Conable bragged to Yunus about hiring the best minds in the world, he responded that "hiring smart economists does not necessarily translate into policies and programs that help the poor." Spurning conventional wisdom about development aid and economic categories of the liberal left and the free market right, Grameen's success speaks for itself. As a follow up, see Yunus's newest book called Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism (New York: Public Affairs, 2008).

I had wanted to read this book for awhile and when I finally got to it I was not disappointed. Yunus tells a captivating story that pulls the reader in. While the tone of the book is outspoken, Yunus can back up his tone with real results and a compelling vision for the future of social entrepreneurship and a world without extreme poverty.

He comes down pretty hard on well meaning but ineffective organizations and individuals that are out of touch with the poorest of the poor that he works with. Throughout the book, Yunus shows the depth of his trust in the poor to work for themselves and better their lives without charity.

Definitely a recommended read!

There is no doubt that the author seems to have done a lot of hopeless people a great service. However, this book really struck me as being more about him, why he is so amazing, and how he repeatedly overcame odds dealing with short-sighted, ignorant, selfish bankers doing things the traditional way. The book would have appealed to me a lot more if he had gone further in explaining why traditional methods failed but were maintained. Also, there was very little frank discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of microfinance. Sounds like maybe I should have read the Wilson Quarterly article instead.

The book was a repetitive sales pitch and could have been a lot more.

Yunus with his Grameen Bank initiative has brought a new notion that the bank can be truly too at the total dedication to the poor not just the rich one. Rural poor women are changing the face of the family situation through this initiative of Grameen Bank that not only bring micro-credit to poor people but also keep introducing new opportunities and creative assets for quenching poverty.

Banker to the Poor, is by written Nobel peace prize reciepent, Muhammad Yunus. As a professor in Bangladesh, Yunus, with just twenty-seven dollars of his own money, was the "mid-wife" to micro-lending movement. He parlayed his success into remarkable achievements which have bettered the lives of millions.

It wasn't always easy, and his telling of the story, is inspirational, if somewhat repetitive. You can easily imagine the tears of joy of villagers, who with micro-lending, are able to rise above mere substience living.

He makes the case that much misery is alleviated when micro-lending is available to the poor in the Third World. While Yunus does not say so directly it is easy to extrapolate, that poor people leading better lives do not take up violence. America would be a lot more secure if it took a few millions from "military assistance" and instead invested it in micro-lending.

However, Yunus claims, "everyone" benefits when trade barriers are dropped. Trade barriers have largely been lifted in the apparel industry Consequently, the textile industry in the US employs a mere fraction of workers than it used to. Guess "everyone" doesn't include the tens of thousands of former American texitle workers.

There must be a way, to support the developement of the Third World, without America losing jobs. While Yunus doesn't answer that question, he does have a lot of answers. A five-star book.

One of the most inspiring books I've ever read, and certainly the most eye-openning about how REAL change can be made in the world, on the grand scale--and not through the way that I would think change such as ending world poverty, could come about (through philanthropists, donations, taking care of the poor's needs for them)...but instead through a radically new economic/business model, that simply replaces "doing good" with "making profit" in the traditional capitalist way.

This is clearly written, extremely engaging and down to earth--no lofty economic theories here. These are all the details by the man who has proven simple empowerment of the poor through microcredit is the catalyst needed for widesweeping social change.

As with many people who review the poverty issue, Dr. Yunus has some great ideas. His microfinance ideas are very useful and should be part of aid packages and promoted by the World Bank.

However, it is not the panacea that he sees to ameliorate the world's poverty. This winter's Wilson Quarterly showed that a large part of the microloans made go not toward business but towards home improvement and schooling. Yunus' Grameen Bank has addressed this through creating special loan packages for these purposes. Yet the availability of credit to the poorest of the poor is a great innovation that must be recognized.

Yunus does fall into the usual trap of specialists where their specialty is all we should pay attention to. Hernando de Soto is the same with his opening the bell jar of property, and Sachs argues for spending in his own pet projects.

Additionally, Yunus is quite full of himself. his detracts from the quality of the book as well. However, it is a good read and will make you want to put micro finance on the list of options: 3 and a half stars.

Reading Muhammad Yunus' book, Banker to the Poor, is as close to that as you need to open your eyes to the possibility of a world where poverty is history. This man presents his extraordinary accomplishments and contribution in such a humble, first-person, and, straightforward manner that you cannot help but be moved to think about what each of us can do to make the world we live in a better place. Truly an inspiration!

The first fifth of the book tells the story of his youth growing up in the turbulent period bridging World War II, Indian independence, Pakistani independence and finally the Bengali struggle for independence from Pakistan. Yunus finds himself a U.S. educated economist back in his homeland to teach university when famine hits the country and shakes his faith in traditional economics. He seeks out to tackle understanding the problem of poverty, from the perspective of the poor rather than looking down form the Ivory Tower or down a Social Darwinist nose. What he finds is not a lack of skills, motivation and human ingenuity but rather a lack of access to capital and credit - essentially a failure of the market, rather than a failing on the part of its victims. Yunus goes about conducting an experiment, lending $27 from his own pocket to 42 villagers for various small-scale ventures and cottage industries. His efforts bear fruit and snowball from there, microcredit is born. The story from then on is about how he single-mindedly and judiciously builds on the early successes and incorporates a philosophy of empowerment and deferring to the skills of his staff and especially his clients. Among the poorest of the poor, Yunus finds an incredible fountainhead of innovation and motivation whereby people, if given the chance, pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Many of Yunus' approaches break with tradition and taboo, for example, lending primarily to women, though he is Muslim and operating in a traditional rural context. Likewise, his philosophy and politics do not fit neatly in the typical Left and Right framework - he seems above the divide and willing to borrow or discover what works without regard to ideological boundaries - bearing flak from the Leftist rebels and derision from the banking establishment.

Ok, enough said - go get the book, thank me later.

Dr. Yunus in this book chronicles the hurdles that he and the workers of the Grameen bank had to overcome. The book is a very good explanation of the economic model that he created to help the poor of his country Bangladesh.

Their is a wonderful critique of the economic models that the World Bank and many other like organizations use. The greatest part of the whole story is that the facts of the Grameen bank prove Dr. Yunus's economic model. It also shows that his model is more efficient than the mainstream models that are out there.

Everyone needs to read this book, it not only provides a solution to world poverty, but it also provides a framework for one's own community to increase its economic prosperity. All this has been done without any kind of welfare type program.

Dr. Yunus's idea that the government needs to promote a system where volunteer can be awarded high honors for their work is a wonderful idea.

Although a not a complex book on economics, it is still a profound work that needs to be read by economists, bankers, politicians, laymen and everyone else.

In this world of anarchy and chaos, one wonders why aren't the leaders of today utilizing the path Mo Yunus took to change the world around him. This book serves as a great mentor and guide to all those who believe in making a change and creating a difference with their intellect, passion, perserverance and relationships. I wish that all the poor countries in the world gain some ideas from Mr. Yunus. A very engrossing read. You have to finish the book to read through Mr. Yunus's journey in its entirety. The book is simple, sweet and takes you through all the cities and towns of Bangladesh, gives you an insight into the mindsets of both men and women of that society...the struggles, the pains, the successes and the accomplishments. As a reader, I truly wished and prayed that there are many more men and women out there in the world with Mo Yunus's spirit.

I bought this book because I had already read a library copy, and had to have my own. I remember hearing about this remarkable man and his work in the 70's, but to read the whole story, and to know how far his hard work has brought the cause of really helping the poorer than poor was so inspiring. It has engaged me and my family so much so that most of our Christmas giving has been to this cause. I consider it a blessing.

It is a good read, and a powerful reflection of some of the faults of our modern day financial system. The depicted ideas are begining to spread in the corporate world. And the most significantly felt i think, would be Ebay's recent move into the Microfinance industry. Hopefully, this is just the start!!

Mohammed Yunus, the primary author of this book was catapulted into world fame after the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.This book by him was written in 1998, a good many years before the Nobel recognition. By that time, his project plan had matured significantly and served as a pilot case for small loans in several other countries, distributed over all the continents of the world.

In this book, Mohammed Yunus talks of his life in the context of the microcredit programme in an intimate, no-holds-barred autobiography. He begins with his childhood as one of twelve siblings in small town Chittagong before independence, goes on to his life as a Fulbright student in the USA, at the end of which, he lobbied actively for the independence of his home country from the clutches of the then West Pakistan. He then recounts his return to Bangladesh and taking up a professorship at the University of Chittagong.

Somehow the academic status and lifestyle did not satisfy the young professor. He wanted to reach out to a wider clientele, to put his knowledge to practice in helping others improve their standard of living. So he started going out to the nearby village settlements and interact with the people on a one-to-one basis in order to find out what they needed and ho he could help them.How this seemingly small step led to the establishment of micro-credit and the Grameen bank as a viable means of global financial interaction is the subject of this book.

The journey was not easy. The author was confronted with an incredible amount of resistance at every stage.The author, however, was no fool and his first steps wer cautious and discreet in the extreme. The first spurt of activity was triggered by the famine of 1974, when he took on the daunting task of helping farmers grow a higher yielding variety of rice. This was done, without the benefit of any agronomical background. The above illustrates the lengths the author went to abandon traditional learning methods, taught in University environs. By late 1975, he was "conceptualizing many CURDP programmes including a mass literacy project. I encouraged my students to go down with me into the village and see how day-to-day life could be improved. They could choose a topic and write a research paper for a course credit."

As one reads ahead, one notices what the mere will to initiate can accomplish. The first hurdle itself was gargantuan.Establishing a line of communication with the woman in the most poverty ridden families was itself a forbidding task. Much suspicion and mistrust at different levels had to be overcome. There was the natural reticence of the village women dictated by the purdah. To get the women to talk of their lives was in itself a huge step forward. Then came the menfolk who sensed that the initiated changes in their women's self assertiveness, were compromising their own standing in the family. There was also threats from the religious sector, who were finally impelled to give way under relentless pressure from the village community. All in all, this series of small steps leading to big ones, leading to bigger, even gigantic leaps is reminiscent of the lines,
'Little drops of water, little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean and the distant land.'

In later sections of the book, the author discusses how the microcredit scheme have worked in different countries. In particular, he elaborates on how microdredit cannot work in developed countries where social welfare is predominant. He attributes the failure to the connection between state sponsored benefit and state required guarantees, showing how these can severely limit the choice available to the citizen living on welfare.

The author is also against the mega funding agencies such as the World Bank. He has refused help from them on more than one occasion, preferring to stick to his own independent assets, even so under pressure from his own country's government.

All in all, this book is a riveting read and would grace any bookshelf by its presence.
Warmly recommended.

Not wanting to repeat the accolades mentioned in the reviews posted I would like to instead share how reading this book and meeting Yunus was a catalyst to some actions I took both on a personal and professional level. The intent is not self promotion or to showcase my efforts. Instead, I am providing ideas and addressing those of you who may find, as I did, that after finishing the last page you are left with a desire to do something. The dilemma was what could I do ......I am not a bank or live in a developing country. I did give copies of the book to friends, colleagues and family but I wanted to do something more concrete. Well, with micro finance "on my radar" I took some actions both on a personal and professional level that I hope are making a difference and are in some ways increasing the visibility and awareness of micro financing.

First a little background and comments on the book.....I had the great honor of meeting Muhammad Yunus shortly after he received the Nobel Peace prize in 2006 at an event in Paris sponsored by Planet Finance. Yunus is truly an inspirational person, charismatic in a subtle way, who has touched the lives of many. His enthusiasm is contagious. The book Banker to the Poor is a fascinating read.... humorous, touching and informational as it traces the evolution of the micro finance model from concept (starting with Yunus lending the equivalent of $27 to stool makers) to what it is today with over 7.2 million clients. What resonates with me is the idea of lending versus aid dumps from the World Bank, UN, NGO's and charity organizations. I don't want to discount the millions given as direct charity to the needy but the concept of micro finance creates a sense of pride and responsibility not to mention innovation and creativity. Micro finance can also generate incremental improvement versus charity or outright donations which, in many cases dries up, is short term and results in dependence instead of empowerment.

Some actions I took:

* I became aware of KIVA (www.kiva.org) an organization that facilitates micro loans (as little as $25) from individuals like you and I to a specific entrepreneur in a developing world empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. These individuals are in fact showcased on the site where you can see a picture and read about the entrepreneur you have chosen. KIVA is founded by an impressive team of "Social Entrepreneurs". Using technology, KIVA brings the lenders and borrowers together and provides an online community for lenders who are also showcased on the site. Involving my daughter (10) in the decision process we are lending to an entrepreneur in Samoa, so she can buy timber to improve her greenhouse for her flower business.
* As President of my alumni association (Thunderbird) I organized an event around Micro Financing with the Managing Director of Planet Rating, a microfinance rating agency, as a guest speaker.
* At a university in Paris I run a project based course involving teams of MBA students. Proposing a project related to micro finance the students were enthusiastic and completed a study on micro finance in Europe.
* Professionally, I work with individuals in career transition and entrepreneurs in helping them to identify their unique strengths and values and message their brand appropriately both online and offline. Fundamentally, I find that people have a social conscious and want to do something concrete. To this end I suggest lending to a KIVA entrepreneur as a way to concretely incorporate a social conscious into their brand.
* As part of my involvement in a Global Telesummit entitled a Brand You World www.personalbrandingsummit.com I am involved in raising $100,000 in loans for KIVA entrepreneurs in the developing world. Incidentally, Kiva was featured on Oprah and is mentioned in Clinton's book "Giving".



Having shared how I was inspired by reading this book I would be more then interested in hearing how it inspired you and what actions you took.

Bernadette

Bernadette Martin
www.visibilitybranding.com

Muhammad Yunus believed that every human being had a basic right to credit. He believed in the human spirit and peoples' hard work and honesty when given a chance to sustain themselves above poverty. His accomplishments have proven his theory over and over in several countries to millions of people. Micro-lending will surely be a part of the future success in Africa, Asia, and South America. A modified form of Mr. Yunus' model has worked in the USA, unfortunately, we as Americans aren't schooled nor molded to be basic entrepreneurs. We must change our school systems from teaching how to become good employees to how to become entrepreneurs as well. Mr. Yunus' model includes 5 person groups to help each other and support each other when one gets behind in loan repayments and/or family crisis. This is a very important requirement to micro-lending and must not be excluded when trying to duplicate the success of the Grameen Bank.
Thank goodness we have people in our world like Muhammad Yunus to teach us how to treat other human beings.

This book is a testament to the good one can do to millions of people!

Poverty belongs in museums! One day, thanks to humanitarians like Muhammad Yunus, poverty will be something of the past and totally extinct, and the next generation will wonder how poverty was ever allowed to exist within our midst. Indeed that will be a glorious day!

Professor Yunus recounts his early life living in India, Bangladesh, and then in the United States. He was born in 1940 in British-ruled India. He was one of fourteen children born to devout Muslim parents. His mother was often ill, but despite this, his father never left her. Yunus later obtained a scholarship to study in the States, earned a Ph.D. in economics at Vanderbilt University, and later became a professor. He once commented to his students, "What good were all my complex theories when people were dying of starvation on the sidewalks and porches across from my lecture hall? Nothing in the economic theories I taught reflected the life around me."

As a young man he was very involved in the independence of Bangladesh when hundreds of thousands died, and many more after Bangladesh declared itself independent. The country was devastated, and stripped of its natural resources. Professor Yunus quickly left the US and headed to Bangladesh in order to help create a government, and thus get international help and support.

He was very concerned about the poor, and decided to help them. He was surprised why banks did not lend them money. Also the majority of the poor couldn't write or read, so they couldn't even fill out the forms required by banks in order to obtain a loan.

Grameen Bank (The name means the "bank of the village") was thus started in 1976 as an experimental project to combat rural poverty by providing credit to the very poor. Professor Yunus loaned $27 from his own pocket to forty-two stool makers living in a tiny village. These women only needed enough credit to purchase the raw materials for their trade. Yunus's small loan helped them break the cycle of poverty for good. Throughout the book you'll read of many such success stories.

Professor Yunus faced a lot of obstacles in creating his bank. He was accused by the Muslim clergy (Mullahs) of wanting to destroy Islamic traditions, and of promoting Christian values in Bangladesh. Some of his staff were even threatened. This was due to the fact that the bank encourages women to take loans and work, something of a taboo and highly unacceptable to Muslim women living in Bangladesh. In fact, many women were beaten by their husbands for the mere mention of money, let alone taking a loan. Women were also not encouraged to receive an education or work. Professor Yunus says, "All her life she has been told that she is no good, that she brings only misery to her family, and that they cannot afford to pay her dowry. Many times she hears her mother or her father tell her she should have been killed at birth, aborted, or starved. But today, for the first time in her life, an institution has trusted her with a great sum of money. She promises that she will never let down the institution or herself. She will struggle to make sure that every penny is paid back (65)."

In 1983 Grameen Bank (GB) was officially established. It is unique in that it has reversed conventional banking practices by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust. It promotes credit as a human right. Its mission is to help the poor families to help themselves to overcome poverty by issuing them with microcredits (very small amounts, like $7, something a conventional bank would never do). It is offered for creating self-employment for income-generating activities and housing, as opposed to consumption. It is particularly targeted towards poor women. It provides service at the door-step of the poor based on the principle that the people should not go to the bank; the bank should go to the people. This principal is helpful in a Muslim society where women are not allowed to leave their homes without the approval of their husband, and are not allowed to speak with men.

In order to obtain loans a borrower must join a group of borrowers, with each borrower recommending another. If one member of the group defaults on payment of his loan, then the whole group is denied further loans! However, to encourage destitute members to join, he/she does not have to belong to a group, no saving is necessary, no weekly repayment is necessary, his/her loan terms are decided by him/her, in consultation with his/her mentor.

A member is considered to have moved out of poverty if her family fulfills the following criteria:

1. The family lives in a house worth at least Tk. 25,000 (twenty five thousand) or a house with a tin roof, and each member of the family is able to sleep on bed instead of on the floor.
2. Family members drink pure water.
3. All children in the family over six years of age go to school or have finished primary school.
4. Minimum weekly loan installment of the borrower is Tk. 200 or more.
5. Family uses sanitary latrine.
6. Family has adequate clothing for everyday use and for winter, and mosquito-nets.
7. Family has sources of additional income, such as a vegetable garden, so that they are able to fall back on these sources of income when they need additional money.
8. The borrower maintains an average annual balance of Tk. 5,000 in his/her savings accounts.
9. Family has three square meals a day throughout the year. No member of the family goes hungry any time of the year.
10. If any member of the family falls ill, family can afford to take all necessary steps to seek adequate healthcare.

Professor Yunus distrusted dealing with the World Bank. According to professor Yunus, the world bank, with its headquarters away from Bangladesh, does not see poverty, but relies on theories. He also was wary of how they took full control of a country's financial needs.

There were a number of major natural disasters in Bangladesh. The 1998 flood was the worst of all. Half of the country was under flood-water for ten long weeks. Grameen borrowers lost most of their possessions including their houses because of the flood. Soon borrowers started to feel the burden of accumulated loans. They found the new installment sizes exceeded their capacity to repay. Grameen Bank repayment started to show quick decline. This was a good opportunity to design a new Grameen methodology, incorporating all the lessons learnt. As a result, Grameen Bank II was created.

The bank believes that the poor always pay back their loans, unlike the very rich. On some occasions they may take longer time to pay back than it was originally stipulated. Many things can go wrong for a poor person during the loan period. According to professor Yunus, since the borrower is paying additional interest for the extra time, where is the problem?

Grameen Bank has introduced higher education loans for all students who can enter into the higher educational institutions (medical, engineering, etc). Students are made responsible to repay the loans when they start earning. Half the scholarships are reserved for girl students. The remaining 50 per cent is open for both boys and girls. Each year Grameen Bank gives out 3,704 scholarships.

Grameen believes that poverty is not created by the poor; it is created by the institutions and policies which surround them. In order to eliminate poverty, all we need to do is to make appropriate changes in the institutions and policies, and/or create new ones.

Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank of Bangladesh won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

As of May, 2007, Grameen Bank had 7.21 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. With 2431 branches, it provides services in 78,659 villages, covering more than 94 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh.

About 3 billion people live on less than $1 per day. Professor Yunus' vision is of eliminating poverty by 2050.

This is really a fascinating book and I highly recommend it.

After reading, we bought multiple copies to give away to colleagues working in various capacities in poor areas of the world. Yunus' ideas and experience need to be examined and considered. This is no World Bank/UN/WMF big program aid-dump, but a reasonable, realistic, measured path from poverty to empowerment for the world's poor.

Learn how limiting entrenched Eurocentric thinking can be. Be inspired by the lateral thinking of Muhammad Yunus! A heartwarming read with just a touch too much description of the complexities of beaurocracy, but a must read nevertheless.

I'm very impressed with Mohammad Yunus. He created an entire network of microlending without ever selling out his dreams or ideas to the larger banks or even the World Bank. I found his passion to help the extreme poor to be inspiring. I have a new found understanding and respect of Bangladesh and its' people through his eyes. He is most deserving of the Novel Peace Prize.

This book arrived on time and in great shape, which I was pleased with since it was mailed to a friend as a gift. Thanks!

A saga of how one man can truly transform the lives of millions of a lesser God. The eminent Nobel Peace Laureate, Mohammad Yunus elucidates his path-breaking business model of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which lends without any collateral to the financially and the socially ostracized. His ideology - access to credit is a fundamental human right. What is interesting to note is that 98% of the borrowers are women (way to go, ladies!) and the impressive repayment rate of 97%, which is way superior to that found in traditional banks. I relished the success stories explicating how these industrious women entrepreneurs were able to free themselves from the viscious cycle of poverty not to mention the happy escape from the exploitative and manipulative money lenders and come out on top. Very heart-warming indeed! The borrowers own 90% of the bank. Convinces you that micro-credit is an incredibly powerful tool for eradicating world poverty. Little wonder, Dr. Yunus' successful business model is implemented by so many other countries today.

Ergo, this book deserves a chance if you are intrigued by the concept of micro-credit or feel the inclination for some inspiration, you will not be disappointed.

you should read this book not because its exceptionally well written, because it is only competently written. You should read it because it is written by a man who has challenged our business model of helping the poor (and make no mistake, helping the poor is a business model more than a charity model)>

There is a reason these ideas rated a Nobel Peace prize, and reading about the thoughts and ideas in the firsst person is more powerful than others' interpretations.

So read it to learn, and to expand your thinking.

Mr. Yunnus details how he helped people slowly and on a small basis and with that foundation helped people on a larger scale. The discussion of failure and politics and buercracy are invaluable here. A great book especially if you are studying economics and banking.

This is a truly inspirational story. After reading the book, you will realize the power you have to change the world around you. With passion, patience, and, hard work, anything can be achieved. This is the message that I got from the book.

Muhammad Yunus's story is truly inspirational. In a world where we all too often accept situations as beyond our ability to influence, he demonstrates what one man can achieve with enough compassion and ingenuity. We read so much that is critical of the Muslim world, this book is a timely antedote. We could all learn a great deal from this man's life.

This story is really about courage and strength of conviction. Dr. Yunus showed his courage when he stood up with his peers and helped create the state of Bangladesh. After that, he returned to his country rather than stay in the USA in an easy safe place.
That move put him in the middle of the poverty and starvation of his country, and he again showed the strength of his convictions by facing down the beaurocrats and rich classes to begin changing lives. The reason he succeeded is because he used the realism of economics and a reasoned approach. No dreamer, he knew that (as global economics has proven) if people were given access to a free market, and supported in their efforst, they could rise above poverty.
I've given my first two copies away, and bought a third. Maybe I can read this one before I give it away!! Read his story and be inspired.

An excellent autobiography of a very interesting man, Muhammad Yunus, a Bengali economist and pioneer of microlending, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. The book deals with the story of his life: his childhood in Chittagong (his father was a jeweller) in the newly independent East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), his university education in the United States, and most important, how he decided after a horrible famine in 1974 to leave the ivory tower world of academia (he was by then the director of an economics department in a university in Bangladesh) in order to start a program of microlending that would become a huge success, and offer hope to millions of people living in poverty. Thirty two years later, the Grameen Bank he founded would become known throughout the world for its approach to microlending, and get Yunus a well deserved Nobel Prize.

An excellent autobiography of a very interesting man, Muhammad Yunus, a Bengali economist and pioneer of microlending, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. The book deals with the story of his life: his childhood in Chittagong (his father was a jeweller) in the newly independent East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), his university education in the United States, and most important, how he decided after a horrible famine in 1974 to leave the ivory tower world of academia (he was by then the director of an economics department in a university in Bangladesh) in order to start a program of microlending that would become a huge success, and offer hope to millions of people living in poverty. Thirty two years later, the Grameen Bank he founded would become known throughout the world for its approach to microlending, and get Yunus a well deserved Nobel Prize.

What fascinates me most about Yunus is that he is a do-er, not just a theorist cranking out research papers. This is not a how-to book, but rather a story about Yunus's struggles and successes while starting and expanding Grameen Bank. It is more of an ideological foundation (you can't ignore those attacks on the World Bank and United Nations), but inspirational nonetheless. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in microfinance.

This book reads like a memoir. It's inspiring and yet factual. Individuals can make a big difference!

Mohd Younous is my hero. Social engineers like Younous are changing the face of the earth in a positive manner. Through his courage and faith in ordinary people, Younous has shown that the poor are creditwrthy and its the lack of credit taht keeps them poor. I love it when Younous debunks all the fancy economic theories and puts his faith in the poor into practice. It must be noted that the Mullahs in Bangladesh are a powerful force and have opposed Mr Younous. But Mr Younous is a true Bengali liberal and a fighter and has shown that welfare of the people is the true religion.Younous is no less than Tagore and Kazi arul in that respect. I share Younous' vision that one day our children will go to museums and see poverty as an extinct phenomenon. I gather that some people have been critical of Grameen. May be they have a point, may be they ahev an agenda. I am no economist to judge. But what I do know is that Younous's vision and courage has an ennobling effect on the reader and motivates many social engineers

I enjoyed Muhammad Yunus's story about the formation of Grameen Bank but it did begin to drag a bit at the end. Not that the story grew less noble with the telling but because it became a repetition of the same story as the concept of micro-lending to the poor was applied to other countries. Yunus deserves so much praise for the idea and making it happen. As much as anything this is a story of overcoming the odds and one man's commitment to an idea.

I really enjoyed this book from an inspirational standpoint. I wasn't necessarily a fan of the writing style but the message is powerful. I think what Mr. Yunus is espousing in terms of micro-loans and showing people "how to fish" is accurate. Quite obviously it has worked for his bank. I believe it would work well in the US if we had more of an entreprenuerial spirit. We teach our young to go to school, get a good education and to work for some one else. This country was founded by entreprenuers and somewhere along the way we lost that vision.

I have purchased another copy of this book to give to away. I have highlighted a lot of areas that are powerful...which is most of the book.

It took me several weeks after starting this book to actually get into it. It starts with Yunus childhood but then gets into the political climate of Bangladesh, which is quite boring. Once the author starts talking about Grameen bank and establishing its microcredit system, it gets interesting. Yunus is both an idealist and practicalist and has strong opinions on what government should and shouldn't do. As a government employee for 10 years, I found his opinion on the mark. I found that I worked in bureaucracies that spent money on studies rather than directly helping people, for example. His discussion of socially responsible business is quite interesting, but has a huge obstacle of overcoming the idea that the poor can't/won't help themselves...overall, a great book on a great economic initiative that has directly helped the poor all over the world.

Consulting to the banking industry, I always admire those who find innovative approaches to building profitable financial services businesses serving the poor and unbanked. There are great examples in South Africa and the US. The Grameen story is so inspiring. It provides a ray of hope to the world's impoverished and, by extension, to the entire world.

Inspiring story of Muhammad Yunus's slow, sensible evolution of micro-lending, based on his respect for the poorest of the poor, his common sense approach and his ability to challenge established norms and patterns of finance. The track record of success speaks for itself..poverty can be greatly reduced when poor people have access to capital (no matter how small) and people who give them a chance. Inspiring, hopeful, easy to read.

In 1974, while Muhammad Yunus was teaching economics in Bangladesh, the country was ravaged by famine. Increasingly uncomfortable teaching abstract theories while starving people shuffled by outside his classroom, Yunus realized his economic education was incomplete. To complete it, he went to local villages to "learn from the poor" about what they actually needed rather than what a textbook said they should have. The answer was credit, so Yunus founded a bank to provide it - Grameen Bank. The name means the "bank of the village." Today, Yunus is a Nobel Peace Price winner and Grameen Bank has extended credit to more than 2.6 million people. This down-to-earth, unsentimental autobiography recounts what inspired him, the obstacles he overcame and the ultimate success of this project, his life's work. We highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know how one person's efforts can have a huge impact.

Yunus' book is engagingly written, drawing the reader in via first hand accounts of the poor and the seemingly miraculous transitions out of poverty that his micro-lending concept has achieved. So basic, so successful! A very inspirational book. He deserved the Nobel Prize!

This book eloquently describes the political and economic systems that keep the poor impoverished - and it describes the problems encountered in solving the problem. Muhammad Yunus is an inspirational, compassionate, intelligent role model who has lived and `walked his talk' in every way. I think this book should be compulsory reading for every senior school student born into a privileged, first world country. The fourteen-year old who whines for more pocket money would do well to understand and respect how it is for those born less fortunate; and we may benefit from their increased social awareness.

In this complex world, it is important to think outside of the box. This book details the business enterprise of just such a thinker. It is a book of good economics aligned with good human spirit.

Mr. Yunus is truly an amazing person and this book shows how one person can make a difference in the lives of many. After reading this book world poverty is something that does not need to exist.