The story of Mohammad Yunus is fascinating. He is the man who established the Grameen Bank (means Village Bank) in Bangladesh in 1983 because of his commitment to eradicating poverty. His work started by giving a personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s. Grameen Bank provides micro-loans on terms suitable to the people that they can pay back and that sparks personal initiative to create a flourishing business. Yunus also teaches the people a few sound financial principles such as advancing discipline, unity, courage, and hard work in all walks of their lives. Over 97% of the Grameen Bank's loans are paid back, a recovery rate higher than any other banking system.
We could do something similar at Esperanza. We could give each student a $1-$5 loan to start a business after writing a simple business plan. The students would pay the money back plus a small interest rate. They could divide up their profits so that 10% went to an education fund, 10% went to a charity of their choosing, 30%-50% went to refining and expanding the business, and the rest the student could use for himself or herself.
This plan would reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit that many of our families already have.
1 comment:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/700148991/Immigrants-children-start-businesses.html
This is a great article on the entrepreneurial spirit of Hispanics in Utah.
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