Saturday, October 28, 2006

A Tribute To A Great Man

Muhammad Yunus



Who is this man? I have never heard of him before but it seems he has been busily cracking his head to help the poverty stricken in his homeland - Bangladesh. It was the famine in 1974 which devastated the country that triggered this mans' desire to help the poor and needy. He is an Economics professor who quickly learnt that the book economics he was teaching wasn't helping the poor people in Bangladesh.

He went to the root of the problem by visiting the people most affected by the famine. It was there he found out about the middle men and the money lenders who were squeezing the life out of these people. The loan was given on condition the price for their work would be fixed by the money lenders and the goods must be sold to them only. The were as good as slaves under these terms. They wanted to work and do business but had no capital and the existing financial systems were not helping. The banking system did not consider the poor as good investment and as such refused to give out loans to them. It was then that Yunus decided to give them the loan, as little as $27.00, to start a business that was income-generating to support themselves. Initially he targeted women as they were the most under-priviledged and discriminated against by the banks.

The success of this scheme started the formation of the Grameen Bank in 1976 which lent small sums of money to the poor without collateral thus helping millions of poor families start income-generating projects which made them self supporting. This scheme is called microfinancing and due to its great success in Bangldesh, it has been adopted by the Asian Development Bank to help the poor in other countries. Ashok Sharma, South Asia head of microfinance at the Asian Development Bank in Manila, said that Yunus and his bank threw out all the conventional rules of banking, and succeeded in making people view poverty from a different perspective.

Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank were the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winners. They deserve it. The world needs more people like Yunus who use their knowledge, their talents and their time to help the helpless and the needy.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

What Does Love Mean?

What does Love mean? From the mouth of babes....

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:


"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is
handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

What more can I say!