Banker of the Poor

Author: Wu Shihong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-08
Features: He didn't simply donate money to the poor but instead conducted in-depth research to analyze the causes of poverty. In the end, he believed that providing microloans to help individuals start their own businesses was the most effective solution. However, banks followed the rule of lending only to the wealthy and never to the poor. Therefore, in 1983, he founded Grameen Bank, which provided microloans to the poor. Although the loans were small in amount, their impact was enormous. Gradually, the poor gained confidence, and their businesses grew larger. Today, more than 250 institutions in over 100 countries have emulated the Grameen Bank model. He is the immensely admired Bangladeshi economics professor Muhammad Yunus, and this book is his autobiography. In 1983, Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank, focusing on providing microloans to poor Bangladeshis. His goal was to help the poor achieve individual entrepreneurship, enabling them to permanently escape poverty. This vision was born in 1976, when he personally lent $27 to 42 bamboo chair-making women in the village. With just a little money, they could buy raw materials and start their businesses. Yunus's microloans helped them permanently escape poverty. Yunus firmly believed that borrowing was a fundamental human right, and he proposed a simple yet wise solution to poverty: providing loans tailored to the poor, teaching them a few effective financial principles, and then allowing them to help themselves. Yunus's theory was proven by practice, as Grameen Bank has provided $3.8 billion in loans to 2.4 million rural Bangladeshi households. Today, more than 250 institutions are operating based on the Grameen model in nearly 100 countries, and Grameen Bank is leading the global movement to eliminate poverty through microfinance.
A Spring of Hope in the Desert of Destitution – Preface by Wu Shihong
Preface by Wu Shihong
Chapter 1: No. 20, Bokserhat Street, Chittagong
Chapter 2: A Bengali in America
Chapter 3: Back in Chittagong
Chapter 4: Bamboo Chair-Makers in Jobra Village
Chapter 5: The Birth of the Pilot Project
Chapter 6: From Jobra to Tangail
Chapter 7: A Bank for the Poor…