In a Commencement address at MIT on 6 June 2008 Muhammad Yunus included this statement on poverty:“I can tell you very emphatically that in terms of human capability there is no difference between a poor person and a very privileged person. All human beings are packed with unlimited potential. Poor people are no exception to this rule. But the world around them never gave them the opportunity to know that each of them is carrying a wonderful gift in them. The gift remains unknown and unwrapped. Our challenge is to help the poor unwrap their gift.”
“Poverty is not created by the poor. It is created by the system. Poverty is an artificial imposition on people. Once you fall outside the system, it works against you. It makes it very difficult to return to the system.”
“How do we change this? Where do we begin?”
To read the entire Commencement address of Muhammad Yunnus at MIT, the story of his work with microcredit and the Grameen bank, follow this link:
Stories for Speakers and Writers, 10 June 2008.
Muhammad Yunus: Falling Back on Instinct
Dr. Geoff Pound
Image: “Poverty is an artificial imposition on people. Once you fall outside the system, it works against you.”