The God Father of Microfinance - Dr Mohamed Yunus

The God-Father of Microfinanace is Dr Mohammed Yunus. His book,'Banker to the Poor' is the model upon which I have created the Blighty Bank. Depressed at the (minimal) results of my previous attempt at charity I discovered this book on the recommendation of a friend. It taught me what I had failed to do previous ie help others but in way that was time, money and effort efficient.

Dr Muhammed Yunus was born into a wealthy Bangladeshi family. After a period of time abroad he set about trying to help his fellow countrymen from the blight of poverty. Through a remarkable process of trial and error he tried something previously unheard of e.g lending money to those with no assets. At first everyone thought he was mad so without any support he lent his own money to the poorest of the poor. He discovered what I (and hopefully you too) will discover. He discovered that when you lend to those who need it most then actually your money is safer than you imagine. Yes they may have no assets but what he gave them by lending money was the funds to match their own hope and determination. He found that people would work hard to help themselves and respect the money he had lent them. His book is remarkable and a great read. A must for anyone considering creating their own bank. This book should be on the reading lists of all schools and education/economic institutions. And every CEO of our traditaional western banks should have a copy of this on their bed side table!

Dr Yunus' bank - the Grameen bank (grameenbank.org) has now grown into a large organisation lending to many thousands of people all over the world. It is a great testament to his idea that slowly many other organizations based upon his model (like Blighty bank) are springing up all over the developing world.