What I Learned from Muhammad Yunus
I watched a Charlie Rose interview with Muhammad Yunus and then Annie Leibovitz. I was tempted to skip the first interview because I was more interested in hearing what Annie Leibovitz had to say, but I’m glad I didn’t! Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker who developed the idea of microcredit or microloans that essentially loan small amounts of money to those in poverty to spur entrepreneurship. This enables the poor to become business people and get themselves out of poverty. Mr. Yunus says that better than charity is a “business to do good to people” rather than just make money, and he believes that we will one day see poverty in a museum, as a thing of the past.
What does this have to do with photography? Not a lot really, but a point that Mr. Yunus makes relates well. In the beginning of the interview Muhammad Yunus talks about the people who were not supportive of his ideas, saying it sounded nice, but it won’t work.. Among many other things. However, Mr. Yunus pressed on, and after about 20 years from the beginning of the Grameen Bank (the bank Yunus founded to carry this ideal out) Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
I guess that goes to show… Giving up on the things you want never got anyone anywhere…
“The secret of success is focus of purpose.” ~Thomas Edison
I just heard about Yunus in one of my classes! A film just premiered at Sundance about him. It’s called “To Catch A Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America.” It follows how the Grameen Bank model was brought to New York City and the women whose lives it has impacted. The film’s website is tocatchadollar.com.