During the last week of August Atlantans were privileged
to hear Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the 70-year-old Nobel Laureate from Bangladesh,
speak at a number of events around town. “This [visit] is very special,” Yunus
said: “When I go to a city, I hardly spend half a day, so this one is very
special.”
On Wednesday, August 25, the Decatur Book Festival and Coca
Cola cosponsored an event with Agnes Scott College: Dr. Yunus spoke in beautiful
Presser Hall and signed his new book, Building Social Business, for attendees.
Dr. Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott, said, “Dr. Yunus has helped
empower millions of poor people, especially women, around the world. We are so
excited that Agnes Scott students, and members of the Decatur and Atlanta
communities, will have a chance to meet this living legend.”
The next
day he appeared at both Georgia Tech and Southern Polytechnic State University
in Marietta, where 16 percent of the university’s 5,500 students are
international students, including eight from Bangladesh.
On Friday Dr.
Yunus spoke at the Atlanta University Center, where the historically black
colleges and universities (Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, the Morehouse School of
Medicine, and Spelman) sponsored his visit. On Friday evening he was hosted by
the Bangladesh Association of Georgia (BAG) at Lucky Shoals Park, Norcross.
And finally, on Saturday morning, just before his flight out, Dr. Yunus
spoke at a breakfast hosted by the India American Cultural Association (IACA)
and cosponsored by the Gandhi Foundation of USA (GFUSA) and two Bengali
associations, Pujari and the Bengali Association of Greater Atlanta (BAGA).
GFUSA Board member John Naugle noted that, incredibly, Dr. Yunus was in our
midst at IACA exactly on the 47th anniversary day of Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I
have a dream’
Dr. Yunus was on a whirlwind tour, giving examples of how
businesses, small to large, can think differently and make a difference.
Worldwide, even in the U.S., the poor have a difficult time handling money. If
they need a loan, banks don’t lend without collateral. If they go to payday
lenders, interest rates are huge. If they want to save small sums, banks don’t
make it easy: there are minimum deposits, activity requirements, fees, etc. If
they receive a check, they can’t cash it at a bank without an account, so go to
check-cashing services and pay to cash out their own money. Pawn shops and car
title loans are also symbols of the system that does not serve the poor, but
rather, exploits them. In fact, two-thirds of the world’s population does not
have access to the banking system.
When he saw the problems that started
him on the Grameen Bank idea, Dr. Yunus explains, he thought of reversing the
situation: loan to the poor, to women, have few rules, no paperwork, and no
lawyers. It was not smooth sailing. He and his colleagues were accused by
leftists of importing American capitalism while rightists accused them of
spreading socialism. Conservative clergy were unhappy with women being
empowered.
But Dr. Yunus and his colleagues soon found that money going
to families through women was greater and had greater benefit than money going
to families through men, because women put money towards children first and then
towards the future, whereas men put money towards pleasure and things for the
present. So now 97% of the Grameen (“Village”) Bank loans have been made to
women.
He explains that poverty is not natural, but has been created by
the system. We need to change the system, for example by creating an inclusive
banking system. Banking is just one of the examples of the “social business”
model that he has been advocating.
He also created other companies, not
to make money, but to solve problems. Current economic theory teaches that the
purpose of business is to make money, but “human beings are not money-making
machines,” he said. People are selfish and selfless, too. We must build business
on selflessness—this is “social business,” delinked from profit and linked to
solving social problems.
His social businesses have excelled. Dr. Yunus
cited a few examples.
Example 1: There are 150 million people in Bangladesh;
50% of the children are severely malnourished, physically and mentally stunted.
Dannon joined him in putting micronutrients in yogurt and making it cheap. With
just two cups per week over 9 months, a malnourished child becomes healthy. The
business is sustainable; owners get their principal back slowly, but they do not
get rich on the business—that is not the purpose.
Example 2: Adidas
asked him how they could help. He replied, make shoes affordable to all. They
were shocked—but asked him how inexpensive the shoes should be. He replied, less
than 1 euro. The executive said, “You’re a hard man!” He said, no, poverty is
hard. After 2 years of working on the project, Adidas told him they will provide
5 thousand shoes to Bangladesh, to see if the design, materials, pricing, etc.,
is right. If so, the project will expand.
Example 3: In Ghana women
gather shea nuts for very little money. They are ultimately bought by cosmetics
manufacturers like L’Oreal for a lot of money because shea butter products are
expensive and profits are high. His company has stepped in to buy nuts from the
women and deliver L’Oreal’s money, cutting out the middlemen.
Just a few
days after his Atlanta visit, Dr. Yunus was awarded the SolarWorld Einstein
Award 2010 at the 25th European Photovoltaic Conference in Spain, for the work
of “Grameen Shakti,” a company he founded in 1996 for providing solar energy to
rural homes in Bangladesh. And big business is becoming interested
Dr.
Yunus stressed that businesses can use money to solve problems. “If we remove
the hurdles that people face, they will rise and poverty will be no more. We
will take our children to ‘poverty museums’ to learn about the poverty of the
past, just as we take them today to museums to learn about dinosaurs!”
At the IACA event, to the about 225 who came to see him early on
Saturday morning, Dr. Yunus offered advice for the challenging economic times.
Not charity but public-private partnership to foster entrepreneurship is the
need of the hour, he stressed. He suggested a social stock market where people
can invest in corporations that promote social values.
Today, more than
250 institutions in nearly 100 countries, including India and the U.S., operate
microcredit programs based on the Grameen Bank model. Sounding a positive note,
he said, “The scope is endless for those with ‘I can do it’ spirit.”
In
his introduction, Viren Mayani of IACA had noted, that he had met Dr. Yunus in
New York at the inauguration of a Grameen Bank branch in Jackson Heights, after
which Viren had lobbied him to open a branch in Atlanta. “Dear Dada,” Viren said
on Saturday, “now you can see for yourself the love and respect this great city
has for you, and I formally declare my reengagement of lobbying for a Grameen
Bank branch in Atlanta, today!” Dr. Yunus assured Viren that if all the
variables were made available including money, a core team of interested people,
and a sincere desire to help, he could not see why Atlanta could not be the
beneficiary of a Grameen branch.
[For more on Dr. Yunus, please see his
exclusive interview with Khabar elsewhere in this issue]
– Suzanne Sen
and Mahadev Desai
Gujarat’s Golden Jubilee celebrated by Gujarati Samaj
[AT_Jubilee_krish_311_cropped.jpg]
“Villager” delights audience and
fellow volunteers with his singing and ektara. (Photo: Krish Photography)
[krish1_304.jpg]
Padma Shree Dr. Sudhir Parikh tries out a hookah
with Ramjibhai Desai, who is acting the part of a village leader to show the new
generation what Gujarati villages were like. (Photo: Krish Photography)
On September 11-12, 2010, the Gujarati Samaj of Atlanta (GSA) organized
a Golden Jubilee “Swarnim Gujarat” Celebration for the 50th Anniversary of
Gujarat State. Close to 2500 people attended the event at the Sardar Patel
Bhavan, home of Gujarati Samaj, in Tucker. Messages conveying best wishes were
received from the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi; Minister Nitin
Patel; Gujarat Vidhansabha speaker Ashok Bhatt, and Executive Chairman of
Swarnim Gujarat Celebrations, I.K. Jadeja.
On the sunny Saturday
morning, Jayantibhai Patel of BAPs Shree Swaminarayan Mandir arrived with the
commemorative swarna kalash sent from Gujarat by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Coordinator Ramesh Pandya described the Chharodi Gurukul run by Swami
Madhavpriyadasji, and his other award-winning humanitarian services. Swamiji
exhorted all to join in offering salutations to Gujarat in the famous words of
poet Narmad, “Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat.” Gujaratis are known for making money, but
also for their acts of philanthropy. It is the land of two Mohans: Dwarika’s
Lord Krishna and Porbandar’s Mahatma Gandhi.
After a flag hoisting
ceremony and a moment of silence for the 9/11 victims, the U.S. and Indian
national anthems were sung, and special guests spoke.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh
is the only Indian American to receive three significant awards: the Ellis
Island Medal of Honor; the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, and the Padma Shri. A video
clip highlighted his medical career, community service, philanthropy, and his
work for enhancing Indo-US relations. Dr Parikh said “Today is a day of pride
for us?. Gujarat is a land of Gandhi, Ravishanker Maharaj, Morarji Desai, Sardar
Patel, Dadabhai Navrojee, Vikram Sarabhai, Dhirubhai Ambani, Narsi Mehta and
Kavi Narmad, to name a few.” As Chairman and Publisher of Parikh Worldwide Media
Inc., he stressed the importance of promoting Gujarati culture and language, and
appealed to the audience not only to read the Gujarat Times but also to
contribute articles and poems.
Mr. Chandu K.Patel (CK) is president of
Vishwa Umiya Patidar Parivar, president of National Federation of
Indian-American Associations (NFIA), and founder of the Southern California
Hotel-Motel Association. Patel said, “Gujarat’s 65% population lives in its
18,000 villages. When I saw the impressive model village in the exhibition
section, it brought back memories of my early days in my small village in
Gujarat. I applaud Gujarat’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the rapid and
progressive transformation of Gujarat’s villages in the past ten years. To give
one example, through Jyotigram Yojana, all the villages have now been
electrified with a 24 hour electricity supply. But a lot remains to be done. It
is our duty to help the villages.”
Dr.Vithalbhai Dhaduk, Senior Vice
President and Founding Partner of Core Pharma and a neurologist at the Medical
College of Pennsylvania, continued, “I strongly urge you to adopt a village or a
worthy village project and extend your help. Recently when I met Narendra Modi,
he commended Gujarati Samaj for honoring Sardar Patel by installing his bust. He
also [announced that there will be] a Police Unity Tour in Gujarat in 2011 when
50 Senior Police Officers from the U.S. and India will show their solidarity in
the fight against terrorism by riding their bikes from Karamsad, the birthplace
of Sardar Patel, to the BAPS Mandir in Gandhinagar.”
Arvindbhai Joshi is
the Founder of the Academy of Indian Culture in Los Angeles, which has trained
more than 1,000 artists in light, folk and devotional music and drama. He
stressed the need to preserve and nourish Gujarati language and traditions. He
recited a poem ‘Dil ma divo karo (Light a lamp in your hearts).’
Kanjibhai Patel, member of Rajya Sabha, a former minister in Gujarat,
and in the National Executive Committee of BJP, lauded Narendra Modi’s
leadership and his role in enhancing Gujarat’s stature.
The President of
Gujarati Samaj, Vipul Patel said, “Gujarat has emerged as a model state in many
ways. Its progress and achievements are envious to even some developed nations!”
“Today’s Gujarat is tomorrow’s India.”
After 29 years, GSA is a robust
Samaj with over 1000 family members. It was long time member and dedicated
volunteer, Shree Ram Mangaldas Motibhai Patel (Mangalkaka)’s dream to install
the bust of Sardar Patel in the Sardar Bhavan, and he has generously sponsored
it. In a stirring speech, 88-year-old Mangalkaka paid tribute to the ‘Iron Man
of India’ Sardar Patel, who played a major role in India’s struggle for freedom
and later in forging a unified India from 565 princely states.
Ramesh
Pandya recognized Atlanta’s performing arts promoter Mustafa Ajmeri, who is
recovering from a serious illness. Pandya said that it was his dream that
Gujarati Samaj ought to organize Golden Jubilee celebrations. Pandya also
recognized Girish Patel (Mukhi), Vinod Kaswala and Rasik Bhimani for setting up
the educational village exhibits, and past-President of Gujarati Samaj,
Vinodbhai Patel, who has attended every event of the Samaj and helped in every
possible way.
Two dance items were presented by Kumud and Sandeep Savla
of Nritya Natya Kala Academy: the first was choreographed to a prayer by poet
Narmad, and the second was a scintillating raas (Gokul aavo Girdhari). Gujarati
Samaj ladies then performed a traditional form of garba known as tippani.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh and beaming donor Mangalkaka unveiled the bust of
Sardar Patel, garlanding it and showering it with flower petals, to the beat of
drums. Vinodbhai Patel and Girish Patel (Mukhi) got the 100 kilo bust by
sculptor Dhruv of Ahmedabad to Atlanta. Navinbhai Patel arranged for soil from
Sardar’s home to be placed underneath the bust. Gujarati Samaj Atlanta has the
honor to be the first among organizations in the U.S.A. to install Sardar’s
bust.
The exhibition section featured, on one side, panels displaying
original pictures of Gujarat’s scientists, literary figures, saints,
researchers, entrepreneurs and patriots, with quotes, poems, and other
information underneath. On the other side was a replica of a village with huts,
well, ox-cart, cradle, temple, musical instruments, cooking utensils, pots, rope
swing, rope charpoy, spinning wheel, etc. Volunteers in costume acted as a
tailor, cobbler, barber, etc.
An afternoon entertainment program and
video were followed in the evening by Arvind Joshi and his troupe of Kirti Dave,
Rekha Dave, Noopur Dave, Kirti Patel, Mayuri Patel, Harsh Thaker, Hemant Ekbote,
Darshak Joshi, and Jayshree Gohil presenting a Geet Gurjari musical program with
vintage songs, such as, “dhuni re dhakhavi,” “taari aankh no afini,” and “chhanu
re chhapnu.”
The organizers at GSA were particularly happy and proud of
the free admission for visitors to the entire event including the exhibitions,
the meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as the entertainment.