Cauldron

Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Other News

Media Credit: Marcella Vasquez Student volunteers and UST President Robert Ivany visit with microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus, 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Microcredit pioneer and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus spoke about the origin and evolution of the microcredit program to a private audience of UST students, faculty and staff before his address to the World Affairs Council on Jan. 14 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown.

The audience was present to witness the dispersement of two loans given out of money earned by the Center for International Studies Microcredit Program in October of last year. The group raised $10,000, twice the amount that was requested by the advisory board.

Amanda Duhon, senior international studies major and program president, said that Yunus was everything she imagined him to be and more. "Dr. Yunus was so humble, genuine and devoted," she said. 

Thomas Mendez, junior international studies major and program vice president, said meeting Yunus was a dream come true. "I became interested in microcredit last year when, I read his book," he said. "I never would have dreamed that I would get to meet him. This experience was simply incredible."

The two loans were dispersed to women in Benin City, Nigeria and Cape Coast, Ghana. The students will be able to keep in contact with the women through the Kiva.org website, which enables individuals to communicate through online profiles.

Duhon said it was truly an honor to meet the father of microcredit lending. "The program shares this mission with Dr. Yunus, and we are inspired by his initiatives," she said. "We are thankful for the opportunity and grateful to the World Affairs Council Houston for its support."

Yunus began his microcredit program in 1983 with the establishment of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The bank makes loans to the poor without requiring collateral, and is based on a system of belief that stresses making use of the underutilized skills of the impoverished.

Yunus said he believes poverty is a product of the socioeconomic system. "Poverty is not created by the poor people," he said. "It is created by the system we live in." Yunus stated that 80 percent of poor families in Bangladesh have access to microcredit. At the luncheon, he spoke on the ability to lift people out of poverty with his theory of social business, which he explains as a 'no loss, no equity' business.

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