“Human beings are born to make impossible possible. So if you say it cannot be done, I get very excited.”
Born in Bangladesh in 1940, Professor Muhammad Yunus grew up in a village where poverty and hunger were a part of life. Yunus was determined to change this. If only for one person.
Driven by the struggles within his community he chose to study economics, earning a master’s degree and eventually becoming a teacher before being offered a scholarship to study in the US. Whilst there he was deeply impacted by the way social injustices were being challenged at the time and in 1971, when Bangladesh became an independent country, he decided to move back to help try and improve things.
What he expected to see was progress. Instead, he was faced with even more challenges as loan sharks preyed on the poor. Witnessing this stark reality, Yunus felt compelled to take action and started lending money from his own pocket to those most in need. This initial act of compassion laid the foundation for what would later become his legacy. He envisioned a world where access to financial resources was not a privilege but a fundamental right, and in 1983 he set up his first bank for the poor, Grameen Bank, meaning ‘Village Bank’. Today this has reached all 80,000 villages in Bangladesh and has enhanced the lives of millions typically ignored by traditional banks.
In 2006, Yunus was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering work in microfinance. His concept of ‘social businesses’ has inspired countless individuals and organisations worldwide to address some of the world’s most challenging problems through innovative solutions.
But you don’t have to help millions to be successful. Even helping just one person is success and this is something Yunus emphasises. We as humans may have limited time on this planet, but we have unlimited capacity. Use it to create a better civilisation built on empathy and sharing. Step by step, little by little, it can be done.
