Statement of Senator Mike Enzi
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Leader, distinguished guests and friend of Professor Muhammad Yunus. I want to share some stories with you that I heard from Professor Yunus and that are confirmed in a book called "Banker to the Poor." Our recipient was born in Bangladesh and came to the United States and taught in Tennessee and he watched the revolution happen in Bangladesh and was pleased with the outcome and he returned there to teach the university. That's where he had gotten his undergraduate degree. As he taught economics, he was challenged by students that the theories would not work on the micro level. He met the challenge by visiting the nearby village. The first person he ran into was a lady weaving stools from reds while she took care of her children. He found out that she was given 27 cents worth of reeds in the morning. In the evening she delivered the stool back to the person who provided the material and she would get her 2 cents that she had earned that day. So his first loan was for 27 cents for materials so that she could sell it on the open market and she got over a dollar for it. Professor Yunus concentrated on the poorest of the poor to just the poor and mostly women. Credit given to a woman brings about change faster than when it is given to a man. If one member of a family has to starve, you know it would be the mother. They cannot read or write and have rarely been allowed to step out of their homes alone, poor women they work harder to lift themselves and their family out of poverty. Now when a destitute mother starts earning income, her dreams of success invariably center around her children. I remember Professor Yunus saying that he had asked a lady what she was going to do with this extra money that she had, and he found out it wasn't going to get a better shelter. It wasn't to get more food; it wasn't to send kids to college. With tears in his eyes it was actually to be able to buy a child's pack. Can you -- buy a child back. Bring women out of poverty. Women would have to form a group and guarantee each other’s loans and understand the principles and the repayment method. The economists, as a part of this experiment found that 75% of the people couldn’t read or write. Filling out a form to start a bank account was a ridiculous requirement. He wondered why banks couldn't give them the money and take the receipt. When they needed the money show the receipt and get their money back. Mr. Yunus believes that collateral is a proven willingness to work. Five women can form banking group. All five members have to present themselves to the bank and undergo seven days of training on policies, demonstrate their standing of those policies and then pass an oral examination. Each individual is tested. If one failed, they all have to go back and study some more. But they are looking for courageous and ambitious pioneers. The first loan is usually about $25 in the '80s. The recipient would be terrified huge fear of failure. No woman in her extended family had ever had so much money. The whole package, the experiment that grew is social economics at its best. Successful sense of community that is spreading around the world thanks to Muhammad Yunus.
