Word: grameen
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...proverb goes, Muhammad Yunus taught Bangladesh how to fish. Beginning only with $27, the 66-year-old former economics professor from Chittagong built an institution which uplifted impoverished millions in his country and, if you listen to him, portends the end of global poverty. His Grameen Bank-which is named after the Bengali word for "village"-extended credit to rural poor, empowering entire communities, and especially women, to work, earn income and improve the conditions of their lives. He spoke to TIME moments before hearing the news that he and the bank he founded had been awarded the 2006 Nobel...
...Investors and philanthropists have been astonished that your impoverished clients repay 99% of these loans on time. How does the Grameen Bank work...
...Each branch is self-contained, its own Grameen Bank, made up of a community of borrowers and local staff who all know each other. We have a total staff of 20,000, lend $800 million a year to 6.6 million members nationwide. The Bank is very close to its community; there is a relationship of trust and the system as a whole encourages repayment. There is no attempt on anyone's part to outsmart anyone. After all, everyone wants to keep the door open to opportunity and we present that opportunity...
...think someone like Muhammad Yunus, who founded the Grameen movement, should be TIME's Person of the Year for pioneering microfinancing for poor women, helping dramatically reduce poverty. Unlike men, women can be relied on to pay their debts on time...
...people like Xu Shoucong. This past March, Xu's family organized 17 people to create a fund that rotates credit to all participants, who use the cash for anything from weddings to starting small businesses. Huis loosely resemble microfinance schemes of the kind made famous by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, and millions of people participate in Zhejiang and neighboring Fujian province. Because the pressure to repay derives from social networks that are as strong as rebar in Confucian China, borrowers rarely default. In the past, Xu has used his hui money to invest in a relative's clothing store...