It's a tough climb out of poverty...
Grameen Bank began with a simple but revolutionary concept:
Loan poor people money on terms that are suitable to them and encourage
them to use savings and sound financial principles so they can achieve
financial self-sufficiency. It was created in 1976 when Professor
Muhammad Yunus, then head of the Rural Economics Program at the
University of Chittagong, loaned $27 from his own pocket to 42 people.
The borrowers repaid his small loans promptly and inspired Yunus to
establish the Grameen Bank Project, which was transformed into an
independent bank by in 1983. The bank is founded on a belief that
credit is a basic human right and that borrowers are not simply
borrowing from a bank, but are committed to a philosophy built upon four
core principles: discipline, unity, courage and hard work.
As of June 2010, Grameen Bank has disbursed more than $9.4 billion to
over 8.1 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women. There are now 141
Grameen replication projects in 38 countries. The Grameen concept has
created an effective and sustainable response to world poverty and the
Bank's success has advanced the concept of microcredit around the globe.
In 2006, Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and
social development from below." In 2009, he was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Barack Obama.
"New York City is the world capital of banking. In these skyscrapers,
they control world finance. What I pointed out is that they do the
banking with the world but they don't do the banking with their
neighbors. We are here to show that there is nothing wrong with doing
banking with neighbors. So we hope we will create some confidence in
them. If we change the banks' mind, the whole world will change." -
Muhammad Yunus, May 17, 2010, Grand Opening of Grameen America's
Manhattan branch
Grameen America opened its doors in New York City in January 2008.
The nonprofit organization was founded upon the belief that the system
with remarkable results in the villages of Bangladesh could work in
America to serve the 40 million people who live below the poverty line
and have no access to banks and mainstream financial institutions.
Grameen America has experienced considerable growth in less than 3
years, lending over $12M in micro-loans to over 5000 borrowers across 3
branches in New York City and one in Omaha, Nebraska.
For more information visit http://grameenamerica.org/
