Small loans, big dreams : how Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus and microfinance are changing the world / Alex Counts.

Originally published in 1996 by Times Books as: Give us credit.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-392) and index.

Muhammad Yunus -from Vanderbilt to Chittagong -- The birth of the Grameen Bank -- Zianpur Bazaar -- Las Papillons -- Amena Begum's dream -- Omiyale Dupart -- The Haldar Para -- The Maxwell Street market -- Krishna Das Bala -- The hip hop shop -- Dry money in a monsoon -- The black on black love festival -- The sixteen decisions -- "We're here for you".

Micro-financing is considered one of the most effective strategies in the fight against global poverty. It can be implemented on the massive scale necessary to respond to the urgent needs of the world's poorest. And now, in this book, the author looks at the lives of micro-lending borrowers from the Grameen Foundation in Bangladesh and Chicago. All of the borrowers profiled here are women of little-to-no means, each struggling to gain financial independence. Readers will discover how, in Bangladesh, these women face off against very poor living conditions and the prejudice of men, while in Chicago, they must overcome crime and other hurdles that come with life in the inner city. A comprehensive look at the concept of micro-financing, it reveals how Muhammad Yunus and his concept of micro-financing has helped those living in poverty achieve real financial independence