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f trust-building took time. this since women, more include to just work our down slowed We men. from loans accept would they that so women in trust build could we way a with up come to hard worked I and colleagues My me. from away ran they more the women, approach to tried I more the But family. her benefit would loan a why explain to try would I So him.” to money the Give money. understands He husband. my to go Youmust life. my in money touched never have I no, “No, said, They loans. accept to reluctant were women first, At challenge. women—a be to program my in banks from borrowers collateral. to: access namely, has person poor no something demanding by poor to the credit blocked absolutely had they Secondly, women. against biased institutionally were banks commercial First, obstacles. major two upon poor, Icame the for to credit access to provide program Grameen the Istarted When INTERVIEW TAKEN FROM KERRY KENNEDY’S BOOK SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER, 2000 MUHAMMAD YUNUS

After overcoming the second issue, I addressed the first. I wanted half of the the of half wanted I first. the addressed I issue, second the overcoming After

Muhammad Yunus, ©2000 Eddie Adams Six years later, proud that half our loans were to women, fiftieth installment, the last one, and she has now paid in full, she we began to see something very remarkable. Money that went can say, “I did it!” She wants to celebrate. It’s not just a monetary to families through women helped the families much more than transaction that has been completed, it is nothing less than a the same amount of money going to men. Unlike men, women transformation of that person. In the beginning of it all, she was were very cautious with money and passed benefits on to their trembling, she was tossing and turning, she felt she was nobody children immediately. They had learned how to manage with and she really did not exist. Now she is a woman who feels like scarce resources. And women had a longer vision; they could see a she is somebody. Now she can almost stand up and challenge the way out of poverty and had the discipline to carry out their plans. whole world, shouting, “I can do it, I can make it on my own.” So Perhaps because women suffer so much more from poverty than it’s a process of transformation and finding self-worth, self-esteem. men, they are more motivated to escape it. Proving that she can take care of herself. In contrast, men were looser with money. They wanted to enjoy You see, if you only look at the lending program of Grameen, you it right away, not wait for tomorrow. Women were always building have missed most of its impact. Grameen is involved in a process of up things for the future, for themselves, their children, their families. transformation. The sixteen decisions is an example: we found that We saw a number of such differences between men and women. Grameen children attend school in record numbers because their We decided to make a concerted effort to attract women clients mothers really take that commitment seriously. And now many of the because we got much more mileage out of the same amount of children are continuing in colleges, universities, going on to medical money. So I created incentives for our loan officers because they schools, and so on. It is really striking to see young boys and girls go had such a hard time convincing women to borrow money from the on to higher levels of education. The program has been so successful bank. Today, 94 percent of our loans go to women. that we now foresee a big wave of students needing loans, so It has worked in ways we never anticipated. For instance, we recently came up with another loan product to finance higher women borrowers decided to commit themselves to a set of education for all Grameen children in professional schools. Now they promises that they called the “sixteen decisions.” These are don’t have to worry about whether their parents will be able to pay commitments to improve the welfare of the borrowers and their for their higher education when tuition is so expensive. families above and beyond the loans. They agreed to send their A recent study in Bangladesh showed that children in Grameen children to school, they decided to maintain discipline, to create families are healthier than non-Grameen children. Scientific unity, to act with courage, and to work hard in all their endeavors. American did a study of population growth in Bangladesh showing They agreed to keep their families small, to send their children that the average number of children per family twenty years back to school, to plant as many seedlings as possible, even to eat was seven, but now it has been reduced to three. What happened? vegetables. These are some of the resolutions created by the Why did it happen? Scientific American has spurred controversy women, not imposed by the bank. These aspirations were critical by claiming the change is due to our program. As women become to their lives. Listening to them, you see what a difference women empowered, they look at themselves and at what they can do. make. They are making economic progress and alongside that, making A typical initial loan is something like thirty-five dollars. The decisions about their personal lives and how many children they night before a woman is going to accept that money from the choose to have. And of course Article 16, Decision 1, says that we bank, she will be tossing and turning to decide whether she is should keep our families small. So this is an important part of the really ready for it. She is scared that maybe something terrible will equation. At the population summit in Cairo all the sessions spoke happen to her. And finally in the morning her friends will come over of the Grameen model, because the adoption of family planning and they will try to persuade her: “Let’s go through with it. If you practices of women in our program is twice as high as the national don’t go, we can’t. We can’t always worry. It was not easy coming average. Now, we are not a population program, but this is a to this point. Let’s go.” And finally, with their encouragement, she beneficial side effect. will come to the bank. There are other side effects. Starting seven years back we When she holds that money, it is such a huge amount in her encouraged Grameen borrowers to participate in the political hands, it is like holding the hope and treasure that she never process by voting. Their first reaction was negative. They said, “The dreamt she would achieve. She will tremble, tears will roll down her candidates are all devils, so why should we vote for them?” It was cheeks, and she won’t believe we would trust her with such a large very depressing that people looked at their electoral process in that sum. And she promises that she will pay back this money, because way. the money is the symbol of the trust put in her and she does not So we replied, “Okay, yes, they are all devils, but if you don’t want to betray that trust. go and vote, the worst devil will get elected. So go sit down in And then she struggles to pay that first loan, that first your centers, discuss who could be the worst, what could happen installment, which is due the following week, and the second if he gets elected, and if you find this prospect terrible, then you installment, which is payable the following week, and this goes have an opportunity to choose among all the devils, the least evil.” on for fifty weeks in sequence, and every time that she repays People immediately got excited, and we had almost 100 percent another installment she is braver! And when she finishes her participation in that first election. It was very well organized. All the Grameen families met the Neighborhood men also raised objections, and cloaked the fact morning of the elections, and went to the voting place together, so that they felt threatened by women’s empowerment in religious the politicians would take note of their large numbers, so that they trappings. We carefully examined whether our program was in some were taken seriously. In the next elections we organized Grameen way antireligious. But they were hiding behind religion instead of families to vote themselves and also to bring their friends and admitting that they felt bypassed. It was the male ego speaking in neighbors to vote, particularly the women. religious terms. The result was that in the 1996 election in Bangladesh voter Our best counterargument was just to give it time. It soon participation was 73 percent, the highest percentage ever. And became clear that our borrowers were still attending to their what shocked everybody was that across the board more women religious duties, at the same time earning money and becoming voted than men. In fact, women waited for hours, because when the confident. Women started confronting the religious people. They voting arrangements were made, the authorities had expected only said, “You think taking money from Grameen Bank is a bad idea? half the number to show up. Okay, we won’t take any more—if you give the money yourself. The outcome changed the political landscape. In the previous We don’t care who gives it to us, but without money we cannot do parliament, the fundamentalist religious party had seventeen seats; anything.” And of course the religious advocates said, “No, no, we in the 1996 election, their number was reduced to three, because can’t give you money.” So that was the end of that. women found nothing interesting in the fundamentalist party’s We also received criticism from development professionals program. So that was very empowering, very empowering indeed. who insisted that giving tiny loans to women who do not have Then, in last year’s local elections, we were shocked to see knowledge and skill does not bring about structural change in the that many Grameen members themselves got elected. So I went country or the village and therefore is not true development at around and talked to those people, and asked why they chose all. They said development involves multimillion dollar loans for to run for office. They said, “You told us to select the least of the enormous infrastructure projects. We never expected opposition devils, and we tried, but it was such an ugly job that we got fed up, from the development quarter, but it happened, and became and we started looking at each other, thinking, ’Why are we looking controversial. Because what we do is not in their book. They cannot for the least devil, when we are good people here? Why don’t we categorize us, whether right, left, conservative, or liberal. We talk run ourselves?” And that started the snowball effect which ended free market, but at the same time we are pro-poor. They are totally with more than four thousand Grameen members elected into confused. local office. That’s amazing. And the way they talk is completely But if you are in a classroom situation, you wander around different. I never heard women in Bangladesh talking like this. your abstract world, and decide microcredit programs are silly They are challenging the government. They say, “The government because they don’t fit into your theoretical universe. But I work can’t tell us how to vote. We made commitments to our electorate.” with real people in the real world. So whenever academics or This is the kind of thing that happens. So in health care, in political professionals try to draw those conclusions, I get upset and go participation, in the relationship between mother and child and back and work with my borrowers—and then I know who is right. between husband and wife, there are transformations of society. The biggest smile is from one of those women who has just Now you can open up, you can do things, you can discover changed her existence. The excitement she experienced with her your own talent and ability and look at the world in a very different children, moving from one class to another, is so touching, so real way than you looked at before. Because Grameen offers a chance that you forget what the debate was in the ballroom of the hotel to become part of an institution, with some financial support with all the international experts, telling you that this is nothing. So to do your own thing. Our customers are in a kind of business that’s how I’ve got the strength—from people. relationship, but one that makes such a difference to their lives. Grameen Bank is now all over Bangladesh, with 2.4 million Of course there is resistance. The first resistance came from families. Even in hard times, like this year’s terrible flood, people the husbands who felt insulted, humiliated, threatened that their are willingly paying and we’re getting really good loans. That wives were given a loan and they were not. The tension within the demonstrated the basic ability of the people to do something family structure sometimes led to violence against the women. So that they believe in, no matter what others say. People ask, we paused for a while and then came up with an idea. We started what is the reason that we succeeded, that we could do it, when meeting with the husbands and explaining the program in a way everybody said it couldn’t be done. I keep saying that I was where they could see it would be beneficial to their family. And we stubborn. So when you ask if it took courage, I would instead say made sure to meet with husbands and wives together so everyone it took stubbornness. No matter what kind of beautiful explanation understood what was expected. So that reduced a lot of initial you give, that’s what it takes to make it happen. resistance by the husbands. COMBATING POVERTY LESSON GRADE LEVEL: 6–8 HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE: MICROCREDIT MUHAMMAD YUNUS

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF VOCABULARY: HUMAN RIGHTS: • Poverty • Article 23: Right to Desirable Work • Bank loans • Article 25: Right to Adequate Living • Credit Standard • The 3 Cs • Collateral TIME REQUIREMENT: 160 minutes • Microcredit • Grameen Bank OBJECTIVES: After this lesson, students will be able to: TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED: • Describe “poverty” and its long-reaching • Internet for video clips effects. • Identify factors contributing to the cycle of MATERIALS: poverty. • Chart paper or interactive whiteboard
• Understand banks’ traditional “3Cs” http://blogs.nysut.org/sttp/files/2010/11/ approach to lending money. speaktruth_yunus.pdf • Understand Muhammad Yunus’s • May I Have a Loan worksheet microcredit approach. http://blogs.nysut.org/sttp/files/2010/11/ • Analyze the benefits of microcredit as well speaktruth_yunus.pdf as the challenges it faces. • Activity 1 Reflection Sheet (PDF) • Video clip: Pennies a Day GUIDING QUESTIONS: http://www.YouTube.com/ • What does it mean to live in poverty? watch?v=veaVikY3u98 • What are poverty’s far-reaching effects? • Activity 2 Reading for Information: taken
• How can we make poverty a thing of from What is Microcredit? Grameen Bank the past? -Banking for the Poor, July, 2010 Wdd`͸ώώgggͶVbN]SS^ΝX^T_Ͷ_bVώgWNdΝXcΝ COMMON CORE LEARNING ]XQb_QbSRXdώ STANDARDS: • STTP reading: Muhammad Yunus • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1 www. RFKHumanRights.org / click • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4 on Speak Truth to Power / click on • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7 • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.7 “Defenders” tab • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.9 • Video clip: UNICEF: Microfinance
Promoting Women in Togo CONCEPTS: http://www.teachertube.com/video/ • Economic systems unicef-microfinance-promoting- • Values women-in-togo-181245 • Choice • Empathy • Needs and wants • Factors of production • Justice • Decision-making • Civic values • Human rights

Speak Truth To Power | 4 STUDENT ACTIVITIES

ANTICIPATORY SET: • Ask students to reflect upon Yunus’s approach to loaning money to • Introduce the following questions to the class, telling the students the poor and their own approach in Activity1. these are the guiding questions for the next lesson: {{How is Yunus’s idea different from traditional lending

{{What does it mean to live in poverty? practices?

{{What are poverty’s far-reaching effects? {{What were the benefits to Yunus’s ideas?

{{How can we make poverty a thing of the past? • Distribute Activity 2: Reading for Information • Conduct a short class discussion, brainstorming a definition or http://www.muhammadyunus.org/index.php/design-lab/ description of “poverty” and how it impacts people’s lives. previous-design-labs/43-news-a-media/books-a-articles/232-

{{Record students’ answers on chart paper or interactive is-grameen-bank-different-from-conventional-banks whiteboard to refer to during the unit. on the Grameen Bank. The teacher may differentiate the lesson • Show students the website on poverty: based upon reading levels: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats {{Reading A (taken from What is Microcredit? Grameen Bank- • Ask students for ideas on ways to end poverty. Lead the class to Banking for the Poor, July 2010 is for lower-level readers: the conclusion that those in poverty need money to improve their Wdd`͸ώώgggͶVbN]SS^ΝX^T_Ͷ_bVώgWNdΝXcΝ]XQb_QbSRXdώ

lives. One place to borrow money is from a bank. {{Reading B (taken from Is Grameen Bank Different from Conventional Banks? Grameen Bank-Banking for the Poor, ACTIVITY 1: July 2010 is for stronger readers: • Divide students in small groups. Each group is to pretend they are http://www.grameen-info.org/is-grameen-bank-different- a group of bank managers in charge of giving out loans. from-conventional-banks/ • Distribute May I Have a Loan? worksheets to each group. {{Students could read independently, or the teacher may http://blogs.nysut.org/sttp/files/2010/11/speaktruth_yunus.pdf create groups of students of mixed reading abilities and • Review the indicators banks generally look at in order to determine if a person qualifies for a loan, called the 3Cs, or one’s Character, have the students work together. Capital [or Collateral], and Capacity. • After reading articles, students are to complete the assignments • Instruct the groups to discuss the pros and cons of giving the described on Activity 2: Reading for Information worksheets people described on the worksheet bank loans. including the creation of a Venn diagram comparing and • When finished with the exercise ask students to share with the contrasting the two banking systems. class their decision, identifying whether they would be approving • Students will write a response to the following question: the loan. {{Do banks have a responsibility to help to end poverty? • The teacher will wrap up this class discussion by going back to the {{Should changes be made to loan practices today? earlier discussion and the essential questions: How can we make poverty a thing of the past if banks don’t give people loans? Are ACTIVITY 3: there any other ideas or solutions? • Review students’ Venn diagrams and written responses on the Activity 2: Reading for Information worksheet. Allow students from HOMEWORK: each reading group to share information. • Students should reflect upon their work in class by reviewing their • Distribute Speak Truth To Power reading on Muhammad Yunus to initial answers to the May I Have a Loan? worksheet. Students be read as a class: www. RFKHumanRights.org / click on Speak should complete the Activity 1 Reflection Sheet: What I’ve Learned Truth to Power / click on “Defenders” tab by writing a paragraph in response to the following questions: • Review both the idea that microcredit banking is helping to end the {{Why can’t the poor get bank loans? cycle of poverty and the unit’s guiding questions. {{What other ideas or solutions can you think of to address • Show the video clip UNICEF: Microfinance Promoting Women in this problem? Togo to further help students see the benefits of microcredit on poor women’s lives. ACTIVITY 2: http://www.teachertube.com/video/unicef-microfinance- • Review Activity 1 Reflection Sheet answers in a class discussion, promoting-women-in-togo-181245 summarizing the main problem—how the lack of credit given to the • Ask students to revisit their initial responses to the guiding poor continues the cycle of poverty. Discuss students’ answers on questions:

how to break the cycle. {{What does it mean to live in poverty?

• Show the class the video clip Pennies a Day, introducing {{What are poverty’s far-reaching effects? Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. • Ask students to respond to the following questions in a class http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=veaVikY3u98 discussion:

{{When economic problems are solved, what are the domino results?

{{How might microcredit help make poverty a thing of the past? 5 | Speak Truth To Power Students should choose one of the following activities. EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES: • Students should reflect upon Muhammad Yunus’s new approach to • Ask students: Do you think the microcredit concept would work in combating the age-old problem of poverty. How will students let other places? Would it work in the U.S.? Why or why not? others know about what they have learned? Students can create • Distribute the April 1, 2008, New York Times article “Lending Plan a written or visual piece (artwork, PowerPoint, or movie) to share Won Prize, but Will It Work Here? ” for class reading. with family members. • What special challenges does the Grameen system face

{{Students should be encouraged to “think outside the box” in the U.S.? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/ as Yunus did—how can they spread his message in a unique nyregion/01grameen.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2 and powerful way? Show students the video clip Human • Distribute the July 8, 2010, Newsweek article “The Poor Always Rights Article 28 A Fair and Free World as a model Pay.” This includes an update on Grameen in the U.S. Discuss: Does http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/what-are-human- the bank seem to be progressing? Why/why not? rights/videos/fair-and-free-world.html http://www.newsweek.com/grameen-bank-expands- america-74497 • Students can investigate microfinancing groups and then vote on an organization to support. They can then start a class fund-raising project such as hosting a hunger banquet to earn money to make a loan.

{{Women’s Trust, Pokuse, Ghana http://www.womenstrust.org/

{{The Microcredit Summit Campaign http://www.microcreditsummit.org/

{{Kiva Loans that Change Lives http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance

{{Kick Start—A Poor Person’s Top Needs is a Way to Make Money http://www.kickstart.org/what-we-do/

• Students will apply the lessons learned from Muhammad Yunus’s work to a local poverty issue by researching current events. • After finding statistics or information on local poverty, students should reflect on the questions:

{{How is poverty affecting your local community/state?

{{Could microcredit be a solution to approach this problem?

{{Students should write a letter to the editor or to a local bank explaining what they have learned about microcredit and why they believe it can be beneficial to ending local poverty.

{{Background information for this project: 2010 New York State Poverty Report http://nyscommunityaction.org/poverty-in-new-york/ povertydata/

Speak Truth To Power | 6 BECOME A DEFENDER

Students should choose one of the following activities. • Students will apply the lessons learned from Muhammad Yunus’s • Students should reflect upon Muhammad Yunus’s new approach to work to a local poverty issue by researching current events. combating the age-old problem of poverty. How will students let • After finding statistics or information on local poverty, students others know about what they have learned? Students can create should reflect on the questions:

a written or visual piece (artwork, PowerPoint, or movie) to share {{How is poverty affecting your local community/state?

with family members. {{Could microcredit be a solution to approach this problem?

{{Students should be encouraged to “think outside the box” {{Students should write a letter to the editor or to a local as Yunus did—how can they spread his message in a unique bank explaining what they have learned about microcredit and powerful way? Show students the video clip Human and why they believe it can be beneficial to ending local Rights Article 28 A Fair and Free World as a model http:// poverty. Wdd`͸ώώgggͶi_edWT_bWe]N^bXVWdcͶ_bVώgWNdΝNbSΝWe]N^Ν {{Background information for this project: 2010 New York bXVWdcώfXRS_cώTNXbΝN^RΝTbSSΝg_b[RͶWd][ State Poverty Report Wdd`c͸ώώ^icQ_]]e^XdiNQdX_^Ͷ_bVώ • Students can investigate microfinancing groups and then vote on `_fSbdiΝX^Ν^SgΝi_bZώ`_fSbdiRNdNώ an organization to support. They can then start a class fund-raising • Muhammad Yunus has helped Bangladesh combat poverty. project such as hosting a hunger banquet to earn money to make However, microfinance alone cannot rid the world of poverty. What a loan. else can be done?

{{Women’s Trust, Pokuse, Ghana {{Have students research Yunus’s newest theory for ridding http://www.womenstrust.org/ the world of poverty, called “Social Businesses,” which

{{The Microcredit Summit Campaign encourages businesses to reinvest profits in helping others. http://www.microcreditsummit.org/ (The Conversation: Can Microloans Change the World?

{{Kiva Loans that Change Lives May 19, 2010) http://abcnews.go.com/WN /microcredit- http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance changingworld-tiny-loan-time/story?id=10687817

{{Kick Start—A Poor Person’s Top Needs is a Way to Make {{After conducting research, students can write letters to Money http://www.kickstart.org/what-we-do/ companies who have partnered with Grameen Bank such as Intel, Adidas and Dannon, congratulating them on their efforts, or to other companies of their choice asking them to become part of the partnership.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Grameen Bank: The Microcredit Summit: http://www.grameen.com/ http://www.microcreditsummit.org/ Offers information about the history of microcredit and explains, in The first Microcredit Summit was held in February 1997 in Washington, a more in-depth fashion, the current function of the bank and how it D.C. It launched a nine-year campaign to reach 100 million of the continues to help people with access to credit. world’s poorest families, especially the women in those families, with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services, The Yunus Centre: by the year 2005. Summit organizers almost reached that goal in http://www.muhammadyunus.org/ 2005 and have since re-convened to set out new goals. The website The Yunus Centre, Dr. Yunus’ personal organization, works toward provides extensive information about the summit and its ongoing creating a poverty-free world. Their website works as a hub for campaigns. information and opportunities related to Yunus’ work and other social business and micro-finance-related enterprises. MicroCredit-NH: Wdd`c͸ώώgggͶQ_]]e^Xdi[_N^Te^RͶ_bVώ A U.S.-based microcredit group that works specifically in New Hampshire to bring small loans to small businesses.

7 | Speak Truth To Power