Yesterday began and ended with activities related to a candlelight vigil for peace that seems to be a tradition around the Nobel Peace Prize celebration. In the morning, Dr. Yunus took part in an event in an auditorium with several hundred children where he lit the candle for a procession that ended later that day in a candlelight vigil outside the Grand Hotel. With the vigilers gathered, he, Taslima Begum, and his immediate family waved to the people (including many Bangladeshis) from a balcony and the crowd naturally roared (and some broke out into Bangladeshi songs including the national anthem).

A few minutes before he appeared on the balcony, my wife Emily and I were walking through the hotel and bumped into Dipal Barua, Dr. Yunus’ colleague of 30+ years. Suddenly, Dipal invited us into a room with Dr. Yunus as he prepared to go to the balcony and wave to the crowd. Before we knew it we were with him. Affable and unpretentious as ever, he fell into easy conversation with Emily, a nutrition specialist for the U.S. government, about the exciting joint venture with the Danone Group and his strategy for ensuring it has a massive impact on malnutrition in Bangladesh.

Then Dr. Yunus’ two daughters (Monica and Deena) arrived and I had the presence of mind to take a picture of them soaking up the moment that had been so long in coming. What a day!

[Monica, Dr. Yunus and Deena; Dr. Yunus waving to the candlelight vigil from the balcony of the Grand Hotel.]

[Dr. Yunus with schoolchildren just before he lit the torch for the procession and vigil to follow.]

This entry was posted on Monday, December 11th, 2006 at 1:02 am and is filed under muhammadyunus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.