Less is More

I wonder if it is possible to teach the world the artistic and spiritual principle of "less is more." In practice, it turns out to be true, I've found. Unfortunately, I've also found it to be a difficult practice to convert into a habit. I get drawn to the carrots dangling in front of me too easily, I'm afraid.

I think everyone of us on this planet wants to be content. So, we believe the advertisements that we would be truly happy if we only had "_________." So, we set out trying to have everything dangling in our faces. Like toddlers we see something shiny and squeal with delight and grab it.

Training our hearts and minds to be content with what is "enough." Spending less time on working to own things that eventually own us gives us more time to be with those we love and more time to love and serve others. Spending less time worrying about the "what if's" of life (being driven by fear), gives us more time to live in the present (not being driven at all), which is all we really have anyway. Throwing less away means more for others and better stewardship of resources. Acquiring less and using only the gas, food, electricity, and water we need leaves more for those who don't have any and more reason to not fight each other for them.

The definition of "enough" is not "more than what we really need," it is "what we need to live." Less greed means more abundance for all.

"Local" is Part of "Global"

Often people share the concern that we need to take care of our needs locally rather than worry about the rest of the world. There is an element of that that is true. Women from the Anglican "Beijing Circles" movement call it, "Start sweeping at your feet."

But, I want to point out that we are ALL interconnected. Attending to the needs of our sisters and brothers who live in poverty is not a choice of either/or, it is a decision of both/and. Paying attention to the local community affects the rest of the world very much. Our neighborhood is a part of the global community and if you want to help provide a cup of cold water to someone in need in another country, one needs to address one's stewardship of water at home. Again, we are talking about sharing and not hoarding.

When a ministry or organization becomes more effective with its resources and outreach, it does so by breaking down the "silo" mentality, meaning the territorial and separate mindset that does not allow inter-action. As the cycle of life is a circular chain where one link must stay connected to the next or the whole thing doesn't work any more, so it is with realizing that our link to our neighbor connects us to the rest of the world.

But a circle moves and as we feed our neighbor at home, and that link begins to take us out into the nation and then the world, it cycles back to us from the world. The reality is that in America, even amidst our current crises we are able to do both with the resources we have and people we have to help. We just need to do it.

It sounds overwhelming? We are not called to fix the aftermath of Hurricane Ike here in Houston single-handedly, nor are we asked to undertake the worldwide struggle by ourselves, but we are asked to do what we can with what we have. Each person's contribution is not evaluated in terms of amount, and that is biblically supported by the parable of the widow's mite. Spiritually speaking, two pennies can have as much power and two million dollars, we must not hold back because it "isn't enough." We are only responsible for what we are given. But, we must respond.

Sept. 25th a Day of Prayer, Fasting, and Advocacy for MDGs

I will be blogging intermittently throughout the day today in support of the worldwide blog effort to bring awareness to the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) and the eradication of poverty.

And what a timely event this is when the world markets are in an upheaval and the US Congress is working on an emergency bail-out of the banking system as I type these words. Greed and poverty: two sides of the same coin.

When I look at the statistics on world resources and finances, I am continually amazed that we are such poor stewards of what we have. There is enough to go around, and yet we cannot figure out how to do it. It's about sharing, yes, but it is mostly about fear.

We don't share when we fear we will not have enough. We allow others to suffer because we fear our own suffering. But, I will never forget the haunting words a Guatemalan woman who lived near the garbage dump, once told me. "We pray for you in America all the time."

"Why?" I asked, still in my white savior mode.

"Because you live in houses with rooms that have no one in them. You have more food than you need, so you throw it away. Yet you are still trying to find happiness. You clearly have not understood the teachings of Jesus."

While there is a misunderstanding among many in Developing Nations that being American automatically means you are rich, it is true that comparatively and percentage-wise most of us are. However, I think the answer for alleviating a lot of poverty in the world is, quite frankly, "simple." I believe there is truth in the saying, "Live simply so that others may simply live."

More later...

International Support for Persecuted Women’s Rights Campaigners in Iran

(March 7, 2008) In a strong show of international support for the Iranian women’s rights movement, over 280 leading women’s right advocates and organizations from around the world including six Nobel Peace Laureates have expressed their serious concern about the persecution and prosecution of their Iranian colleagues. They have endorsed a statement calling on the Iranian government to end repressive policies and the persecution of campaigners for equal rights.


“The Iranian women’s rights movement is facing unprecedented obstacles and threats. On the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day, we express our solidarity with Iranian women in their quest for equal rights and an end to pervasive legal discrimination against women,” they stated.
The six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates include Wangari Maathai (2004), Shirin Ebadi (2003), Jody Williams (1997), Rigoberta Menchú Tum (1992), Betty Williams (1976) and Mairead Corrigan (1976), of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, who joined hundreds of representatives of women’s rights organizations from around the world attending a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York and other civil society leaders in endorsing the statement.

A particular target of Iranian authorities has been activists in the One Million Signatures Campaign, which aims to revise discriminatory laws against women. The government has routinely detained and prosecuted the campaigners.

To date, the government has detained and prosecuted 43 members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, claiming they were “endangering national security.” Two campaigners, Hana Abdi and Ronak Safazadeh, have been in detention for over five months. On Sunday, March 2, intelligence agents prevented Parvin Ardalan, one of the Campaign’s founders, from attending a ceremony in Sweden to accept the prestigious Olof Palme Prize.

The statement called on the Iranian government “to remove all restrictions on peaceful assembly and expression as required by the Iranian Constitution and in accordance with Iran’s obligations under international human rights treaties.”
To read the full statement about women’s rights and about other human rights challenges in Iran, visit the website of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: www.iranhumanrights.org.

Iran and Sanctions

New UN Security Council Resolution on IranBy William H. Luers

While Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes the first ever visit of an Iranian president to Iraq, the UN Security Council approved with one abstention its third set of sanctions against Iran. These simultaneous events underline the fact that US policy, and indeed Western policy, toward Iran is missing an opportunity in it dealings with Iran. Read more.

The long-running UNA-USA track-two dialogue with a group of Iranians led to a proposal from a group of the Americans on one option for dealing more effectively with Iran’s nuclear program. In an article in the current issue of The New York Review of Books, three members of the US team in the dialogue with Iran presented a proposal for seeking a resolution to the nuclear standoff with Iran. Today’s International Herald Tribune carried an op-ed from the same three authors summarizing the basic points of the longer NYRB article.

US Caucus Recommended Changes

Agreed Conclusions

Financing for gender equality and the empowerment women and girls of all ages

1. The Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which emphasized the need for political commitment to make available human and financial resources for the empowerment of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities} and that funding had to be identified and mobilized from all sources and across all sectors to achieve the goals of gender equality and the empowerment of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities, } (Based on Platform for Action, para. 345) and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, which called upon Governments to incorporate a gender perspective into the design, development, adoption, and execution of all budgetary processes, as appropriate, in order to promote equitable and effective resource allocation and establish adequate budgetary allocations to support gender equality and development programmes that enhance women’s empowerment. (Resolution S-23/3, annex, para 73 (b))

2. The Commission acknowledges that national machineries are necessary for the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action; and that for national machineries to be effective, clear mandates, location at the highest possible level, accountability mechanisms, partnership with civil society, a transparent political process, adequate {USC Amendment add: sustainable} financial, and human resources and continued strong political commitment are crucial. (CSW Agreed conclusions 1999/II, para. 4)

3. The Commission recalls that the Platform for Action recognized the roles of United Nations’ funds, programmes, and specialized agencies in the promotion of the empowerment of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities} and therefore in the implementation of the Platform for Action within their respective mandates, and noted that the resources provided by the international community needed to be sufficient and should be maintained at an adequate level. (Based on Platform for Action, para. 360)

New 4 {USC amendment, add: The Commission reaffirms the call of the fifty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women to all Member States and the international community, including the United Nations system, and its invitation to international and non-governmental organizations and the private sector to mobilize and allocate all necessary resources, support and efforts, including at the international level, to realize the goals, strategic objectives and actions set out in the Beijing Platform for Action with regard to the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child and the further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as other relevant commitments. (Based on Agreed Conclusions CSW 51 see E/2007/27-E/CN.6/2007/9, para.16)}

4.5. The Commission recognizes the importance of non-governmental organizations, as well as other civil society actors, in advancing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. (Based on ECOSOC 2006/9)

5.6. The Commission recalls {USC amendment, add: reaffirms} the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional Protocol and draws attention to the work of the Committee towards the practical realization of the principle of equality between women and men. (Based on CEDAW article 2 (a))

6.7. The Commission recalls {USC amendment, add: reaffirms} the outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development in 2002, which emphasized the importance of a holistic approach to the interconnected national, international, and systemic challenges of financing for development –sustainable, gender-sensitive, people-centred development. (Based on A/CONF.198/11, chapter 1, resolution 1, annex, paragraph 8)

7.8. The Commission also recalls the 2005 World Summit, which reaffirmed that the full and effective implementation of the goals and objectives of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly is essential contributions to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration (A/RES/60/1, para. 58)

8.9. The Commission reaffirms the declaration adopted on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which stressed that challenges and obstacles remained in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and pledged to undertake further action to ensure their full and accelerated implementation. (Based on para. 2 of the CSW Declaration, see ECOSOC decision 2005/232 contained in document E/2005/99)

9.10 The Commission is concerned that, despite a growing body of evidence demonstrating that investing in women and girls {USC amendment, add: in all their multiple identities} has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency and sustained {USC amendment, add: social} and economic growth, and despite the calls for gender mainstreaming in economic and public finance processes, adequate resources have not been systematically allocated, and that monitoring and reporting on resource allocations remain insufficient in all areas. (Based on E/CN.6/2008/2, paras. 14, 83 and 87)

10.11 The Commission is also concerned that insufficient budgetary resources continue to undermine the effectiveness and sustainability of both national mechanisms for the advancement of women and women’s organizations in advocating for, supporting, and monitoring the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 86)

11.12 The Commission urges Governments, the United Nations system, and invites the Bretton Woods institutions, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, as well as other civil society actors, including the private sector, as appropriate, to take the following actions:

NEW a. {USC amendment, add: Recognize the importance of gender mainstreaming as a tool for achieving gender equality and to that end the need to promote the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres, and to strengthen the capabilities of the United Nations system in the area of gender. (A/RES/60/1, para 59) }

NEW b. {USC amendment, add: Democratize global economic governance structures through balanced representation and equitable vote allocation for all countries.}

NEW c. {USC amendment, add: Strengthen representation and participation by women and other marginalized groups in international financial and trade institutions.}

NEW d. {USC amendment, add: Strengthen global regulatory frameworks to ensure international institutions’, governments’ and corporations’ adherence to human rights, labour standards and environmental agreements.}

a.e. Strengthen the mandates of national machineries for the advancement of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities} and ensure that they are adequately resourced to carry out their critical mandates in advocating for, supporting, and monitoring the incorporation of gender perspectives in all policy areas and the implementation of gender equality plans and programmes; (E.CN.6/2008/5, para. 90 (f))

b.f. Strengthen the dialogue between ministries of finance and planning and national mechanisms for the advancement of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities including the ministry of education,} gender focal points in line ministries, {USC amendment, add: NGOs,} and women’s organizations {USC amendment, add: and organizations working with girls} to ensure the incorporation of gender perspectives into all economic policies, plans and budgets; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(f))

c.g. Ensure that gender equality is prioritized as a central goal in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all national economic policies, strategies, and plans across all policy areas, including in national development strategies and poverty reduction strategies, and encourage the active participation of national mechanisms for the advancement of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities} and women’s {USC amendment, add: their} organizations in the design and development of such policies, strategies, and plans; (E.CN.6/2008/5, para. 90 (c))

d.h. Cost and fully resource national gender equality policies, strategies and plans, and ensure that they are incorporated into overall national development strategies, and reflected in relevant sector plans and budgets (Based on E.CN.6/2008/5, para. 90 (e)), {USC amendment, add: including gender responsive budget allocations to achieve optimal human development and human rights for critical social sectors, such as physical, emotional, psychological, health, psychological, spiritual and educational services};

e.i. Improve sex-aggregated data collection and development performance indicators to measure progress in financing gender equality and empowerment of women at national level; {USC amendment, add: Improve the collection of data disaggregated by age, ethnicity, abilities, race, class, sex and marital status (based on Agreed Conclusions CSW 51 see E/2007/27-E/CN.6/2007/9, para. 14.16) in all sectors, including accounting for women’s contributions to the care economy. Furthermore, develop performance indicators to measure progress in financing gender equality and empowerment of women}; (E.CN.6/2008/5, para. 90 (h))

f.j. Allocate resources for capacity-building in gender mainstreaming within finance and relevant line ministries, to ensure that domestic resource mobilization and allocation is {USC amendment, add: are} carried out in a gender-sensitive manner; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(g))

g.k. Undertake and disseminate gender analysis of macroeconomic policies, including taxation, public expenditure, investment, and finances; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(b))

h.l. Develop methodologies and tools to systematically incorporate a gender perspective into results-based public finance management, including thorough analysis of both revenues and expenditures, as well as developing tools to monitor and evaluate public financial management systems; (Based on E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(c))

i.m. Assess the gender impacts of revenue raising measures, including user fees as well as the taxation structure and composition, and develop mechanisms to ensure gender-sensitive revenue raising, {USC amendment, add: such as implementing progressive taxation measures, including stiffer taxation regimes for arms and further monitoring and reduction of tax havens}; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(d))

NEW n. {USC amendment, add: Impose taxes on the movement of short-term capital flows and review foreign reserve structures to build global public funds to finance development with gender equality objectives}.

j.o. Initiate transparent expenditure reviews, with the participation of civil society, which link the allocation of resources to overall development goals, including gender equality, and evaluate impacts on the poor, in particular women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities}; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(e))

k.p. Incorporate gender perspectives in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of trade policies, and facilitate the active participation of women decision-makers and women’s organizations in national, regional, and international trade decision-making structures and processes; (Based on E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(i))

NEW q. {USC amendment, add: Implement regulations to end agricultural export dumping and establish international commodity agreements setting stable base prices for products in order to protect women’s livelihoods and right to food.}

NEW r. {USC amendment, add: Strengthen multilateral frameworks and national policy spaces to manage foreign direct investment with the end of ensuring technology transfer, restricting repatriation of profits, upholding labour standards and promoting gender and racial equality.}

l.s. Carry out gender {USC amendment, add: and age}-sensitive assessments of labour laws and standards, with particular attention to export processing zones, and establish policies and guidelines for the employment practices of foreign investors, including global corporations, building on existing agreed multilateral instruments, including the International Labour Organization conventions (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(j)) {USC amendment, add: and the provisions of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols, in particular the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children; (Based on Agreed Conclusions CSW 51 see E/2007/27-E/cn.6/2007/9, para.13(b))}

m.t. Take measures to develop and implement gender-sensitive programmes aimed at stimulating women’s entrepreneurship and private initiative {USC amendment, add: by ensuring equitable access to productive resources} and assist women-owned business in participating in and benefiting from, inter alia, international trade, technological innovation, and investment; (CSW Agreed Conclusions 2002/5/A, para. 5(w))

NEW u. {USC amendment, add: Reduce remittance transfer costs, eliminate double taxation of migrants, and conduct studies on the long-term implications of remittances for development and gender equality.}

n.v. Increase the share of development assistance specifically targeting gender equality and women’s empowerment, through both gender mainstreaming and targeted activities {USC amendment, add: for social development}, and strengthen mechanisms to effectively measure resources allocated to incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of development assistance; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(l))

NEW w. {USC amendment, add: Establish and strengthen institutional aid frameworks to increase aid effectiveness and mutual accountability of donor and receiving governments.}

o.x. Eliminate conditionalties in debt relief initiatives and debt financing measures that lead to the perpetuation or exacerbation of {USC amendment, add: poverty and} gender inequalities, and earmark resources released by debt relief {USC amendment, add: introduce gender responsive budgeting to liberated resources} to address specific targets and benchmarks agreed upon in the Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(k))

p.y. Ensure that international financial institutions take gender perspectives into account in loan approvals, debt servicing and debt relief, in compliance with commitments to gender equality; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(n))

q.z. Take measures to incorporate gender perspectives in new aid modalities and efforts to enhance delivery mechanisms, including through the Development Cooperation Forum; (Based on E. CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(m))

r.aa. Increase resources for gender equality work throughout the United Nations system, including gender mainstreaming (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(q)) and for the interagency work on gender equality to enhance coherence and coordination; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(r)) {USC amendment, add: and for the creation of a consolidated, stronger and fully-funded UN entity for women led by an Under Secretary General that combines normative and operational functions to effectively enhance results at the country level; (based on A/61/836 para.17 and 18)}

s.bb. Develop a more coherent and transparent system for tracking financial resources across the United Nations system, including on gender mainstreaming, {USC amendment, add: and} programs for women, and institute systematic reporting on resources invested; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(p))

t.cc. Ensure that resource allocation is incorporated in all evaluations and audits of United Nations entities’ implementation of gender equality policies and programmes; (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(o))

u.dd. Ensure that direct funding goes to {USC amendment, add: girls and} women’s organizations to advance their autonomy and sustainability, and increase support for women’s funds which provide small grants to {USC amendment, add: girls and} women’s initiatives. (E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(s))

13. The Commission requests Member States, with a view to strengthening financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women {USC amendment, add: and girls in all their multiple identities}, to fully incorporate gender perspectives in the preparations for and outcome of the “Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus”, and to fully reflect these Agreed Conclusions therein. (Based on E.CN.6/2008/2, para. 88(a))

NEW 14. {USC amendment, add: Recalling the General Assembly resolutions 55/186 of 20 December 2000 and 56/181 of 21 December 2001, both entitled “towards a strengthened and stable international financial architecture responsive to the priorities of growth and development, especially in developing countries, and to the promotion of economic and social equity”, as well as its resolutions 57/241 of 20 December 2002, 58/202 of 23 December 2003, 59/222 or 22 December 2004, 60/186 of 22 December 2005 and 61/187 of 20 December 2006,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration and its resolution 56/210 B of 9 July 2002, in which it endorsed the Monterrey Consensus of the international Conference on Financing for Development, and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and related resolutions and actions,

Recognizing further that achievement of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals is inextricably and equally linked to global and national financial systems, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls of all identities,

The Commission therefore calls on the Secretary General to assign a high level rapporteur to participate in and report on discussions on international trade, transnational banking, capital movements and, in particular, the International Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar, with responsibility to:

(a) promote the use of gender budgeting principles and techniques;

(b) promote an economic agenda which provides opportunities for governments to improve overall economic growth while meeting agreed national poverty reduction and gender equality commitments, including the Millennium Development Goals;

(c) promote investments that enhance economic activity and address the gaps in women’s economic participation, equality, and empowerment;

(d) promote investments that expand national and international economic activity by providing services and infrastructure that facilitates women’s access to employment, education and health services;

(e) make recommendations for amendments to incorporate gender equality and women’s empowerment into the [current] draft resolution on the international financial system and development [A/C.2/62/L.47]; and

(f) prepare a report to the 53^rd Session of UNCSW and member states on the impacts on women and girls of all identities of decisions and potential decisions from these international discussions.}

New 15. {USC amendment, add: The Commission requests that Member States take all appropriate measures to include and fund women in all levels of creating, negotiating, and maintaining peace, and building a civil society; and take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in other areas of peace making in order to ensure a basis of equality of men and women. (USE LANGUAGE IN Res. 1325 and show how it benefits gender equality.)}

New 16. {USC amendment, add: The Commission encourages the Committee on the Rights of the Child to include in its list of issues and questions prepared as part of the consideration of Member States parties’ reports explicit requests for information on resource allocation for gender equality; (Based on Agreed Conclusions of CSW 51, see E/2007/27-E/CN.6/2007/9, para.15) and invites Member States to include information on resources allocated to the practical realization of the principle of equality between girls and boys. (Based on Agreed Conclusions of CSW 51, see E/2007/27-E/CN.6?2007/9, para.15 and CRCarticles 2 and 4).}

New 17. {USC amendment, add: The Commission calls on the Secretary General to take steps to ensure that gender equality and the empowerment of women have equal weight with other factors, such as scientific analysis, broad based economic considerations, and legal considerations, in discussions and negotiations on climate change, including requiring gender budgeting of all proposed actions.}

Yunus’ poverty plans prove perfect

by staff writer Jardin Telling--High School Senior in The Woodlands TX

Muhammad Yunus plans to eliminate poverty with the Grameen Bank.
2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus spoke to a group of more than 1,200 people at the Woodlands Marriott last week. Yunus was invited by AP Human Geography teacher Susan Hollier.
He spoke for an hour on his desire to eliminate world poverty and on Grameen Bank, designed by Yunus specifically as a ‘bank for the poor.’
Grameen Bank, which now has more than 2,500 branches, 27,000 staff members and seven and a half million followers, is considered to be the complete antonym of a conventional bank, targeted specifically for the poor in hopes of the reduction of poverty and the extension of personal loans.
Ninety-seven percent of the bank’s followers are women. Yunus is frequently asked why more women than men represent the majority of people who take out loans. Amused, Yunus is quick to reply.
“Funny you ask, [as] nobody ever asked the other banks, why 100 percent
men?” Yunus said.
Yunus is not concerned that Grameen Bank will not make enough money, but rather emphasizes the importance that all individuals have been helped.

Yunus, a native of Bangladesh, began his journey in 1976 after witnessing women from the village of Jobra walking around shoeless, attempting to make a living off making and selling bamboo furniture. Saddened by this sight, he emptied his pockets, pulling out $27 to give to the 42 women present.
After a while, Yunus began to notice a change in the way the people of the village looked at him as he walked through. He noticed he was no longer being looked at despairingly but rather
hopefully in the knowledge that he was working on a way of pulling these people out of extreme poverty.
“Why be an angel when you can be a ‘super-angel?’” Yunus said. “If you can make so many people happy with [just a simple loan of $42], why shouldn’t you do more of it?”
Originally mocked and denied by the head of the Dhaka University’s bank system,
Yunus never gave up in his attempts to create a loan system
(now known as microcredit) for the poor.
His efforts did not go in vain as he was ultimately able to officially establish the Grameen Bank in October of 1983.
Yunus was told that his idea of lending loans that would be paid back in full to the poor ‘[could not] be done’, Yunus only pushed harder.
He realized that even after proving to the University’s banking leader that his idea did indeed work, starting with loans to one village, increasing, to two, three, five, ten, etc. villages gradually, he shouldn’t be trying to gain approval from one man who had no importance to Yunus’ efforts what-so-ever.
His own self-fulfillment was not measured by the opinions of that one man, but by the improvement of human life and the poverty reduction of people helpless to their situation.
“Poverty is not created by the poor, but rather by the institutions and systems we have developed,” Yunus said. “Poor people are a result of the problem we’ve created.”
Yunus wrapped up his hour-long speech by comparing the situation of the poor to that of a bonsai tree.
“Poverty is like a bonsai tree: If a seed is planted in a flower pot then [obviously] it’s not going to grow as well as if it was planted in the earth,” Yunus said. “People are the seeds of the tree; there’s nothing wrong with the seed, it just all depends on where you plant it.”
Yunus puts his faith in the expression that people ‘have to believe’ in a world without poverty.
“And only through believing can we begin achieving,” Yunus said.
His message is clear, and he has now been working with Grameen Bank for over 31 years.
His book, Creating a World Without Poverty, is available in all bookstores.
To find out more information on Yunus and his plans to eliminate poverty, students can log onto www.wachouston.org.