This is shaping up to be a three-day party, but one with a purpose. I just had tea with Grameen Foundation’s Board Chair Susan Davis and Muhammad Jameel, arguably the leading businessman and philanthropist in the Arab World today, and someone who has been an active supporter of Grameen and microcredit for years. (My wife Emily also joined and took the picture of the three of us.)

Of course, we basked in the glow of Dr. Yunus and his Nobel Prize. We also discussed with Jameel the just-announced program he is supporting at M.I.T., his alma mater. Named for Professor Yunus, it creates a process and a prize to encourage students to come up with breakthrough ideas to address socio-economic problems in developing countries. Jameel also told us of his very recent visit to Egypt, where he was depressed by the rampant poverty but hopeful after visiting two Grameen Foundation partner organizations there, both led by social entrepreneurs working in the spirit of Dr. Yunus.

Jameel mentioned how a woman with absolutely nothing had built a house using bricks that had fallen off of delivery trucks, and then used a micro-loan to raise ducks and earn additional income. Today she is a respected businesswoman. While this weekend is in part about celebration, it is also about developing strategies to multiply successes stories like this millions of times as a tribute to the achievements of Dr. Yunus and the women his work has already touched. Now, off to a dinner to see old friends from Bangladesh, more than a few of whom have never been to a foreign country before this week.

Alex

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 9th, 2006 at 3:39 pm and is filed under nobelceremony. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.