Muhammad Yunus - creator of dreams
A gesture of solidarity lasting 30 years has brought 100 million families out of absolute poverty.
Plan caught up with Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner, on his recent visit to Madrid to talk about how his microcredit schemes have changed the lives of millions of people.
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| Mahammed Yunus - meeting Macarena Céspedes of Plan in Spain during his visit to Madrid |
 | 30 years ago, in a remote village of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, a modest economics teacher, took 30 dollars from his wallet and gave them to a group of women wanted to set up a small business. Someone told him he would never get it back, but the improvised group of borrowers returned the loan in full. Yunus never imagined that such a mutual gesture of goodwill would be the seeds of "a genuine social revolution".
Today, "the banker of the poor" runs the Grameen Bank and his system of lending has been adopted by many organisations in developing countries.
"56% of our borrowers are now living above the poverty threshold. Why would we wait for governments to do something if we can do it ourselves?" says Mr Yunus. His microcredit system chooses its clients from amongst the poorest, primarily women, and does not require guarantees, signatures, papers or even expensive branches and headquarters. It is based entirely on trust and it moves to the places where it is needed.
The Queen of Spain, Sofia, is one of the passionate supporters of Mohammed Yunus in his crusade against poverty. Since 1998 she has been the honorary co-president of the Global Campaign for Microcredit. "What fascinates Queen Sofia" says Yunus, "is my belief that the power belongs to the poor, and that people don't have disadvantages, rather possibilities. She consistently supports our work."
Empowering the poorest
When Yunus talks about "our work", he is referring to a revolution that started 30 years ago with those 30 dollars. The Grameen Bank, the bank of the poor has become a new type of financial institution run above all for women, 96% of its clients, and with a motto that reflects its principles: "If you have little, we will pay you attention; if you have nothing we will pay you much more attention."
Since then, the Grameen Bank has delivered small credit at low interest rates totalling more than 4 billion Euros. All have been effective, some invisible and others as high-profile as "Fashion for Development", the project with which Bengali ex-model Bibi Russell is giving work to 30,000 Bengali tailors and seamstresses. The rate of return is 99% and the support of the bank is being directed at beggars at the moment: the Grameen Bank proposes that rather than begging, they sell food and basic goods in remote villages. They receive loans of 9 dollars, which often makes the difference between poverty and survival.
Lady phone
The model has not just been exported, Grameen has created a trusteeship which, since 1998, has been supporting 121 similar organisations throughout the world. In Bangladesh, Mohammed Yunus country, microcredit schemes have reached a new peak. One of the simplest businesses is known as "lady phone". There are more than 80,000. The loans requested are used to buy a mobile phone. When someone wants to locate a person in the area, they call the mobile. The mobile owner walks to the village where the call recipient lives and charges a small amount for the use of their phone.
Interview by Lourdes Garzón
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