Customer Reviews

Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance are Changing the World

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Dear Friends,
I have just finished an amazing and inspiring book that I'd like to make you aware of - Small Loans, Big Dreams - by my good friend, colleague, and advisor Alex Counts, President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation. For those of you who may have read his other book - Give Us Credit - you will love catching up with some of those women from Bangladesh and from Chicago he brought alive in 1996. Women like Shandha, the "mother hen" of her credit center whose son became one of the first recipients of Grameen's high education loan and has now completed his master's degree. Or Omiyale and Queenesta, two African-American woman living in Chicago who were part of a solidarity group called Les Papillons (The Butterflies). You'll love getting caught up with how their lives have been evolving as they continue to face the obstacles and bumps in the road that the poor all over the world face.
Even if you didn't read Give Us Credit, you'll love reading about these women and their struggles now. Alex is an amazing storyteller and you quickly get caught up in their lives as they participate in microfinance programs half way around the world from each other. You see so quickly just how microfinance transforms lives, although not always in the nice, neat way we would like to see it function. Alex is nothing if not honest as he lets his subjects' stories unfold. It is fascinating to see the intertwining of the modifications the Grameen Bank and other microfinance institutions have made over time and the lives of real people as those changes affect their lives and their choices. As Alex says, ". . . their uneven but steady progress has reaffirmed my belief in microfinance, and also my desire to ensure that the model continues to improve and serve the poor better through more responsive products."
At the same time, this book is not just about these women. Rather, it is fundamentally a book about how Professor Muhammad Yunus and the microfinance movement are changing the world. Throughout the book, Alex provides his own insights into microfinance as it has evolved from the origins of the Grameen Bank to that of a broader social and business movement. After reading the book, you will understand much better why microfinance is today at a crossroads, what the divisions are about, and why Fonkoze in Haiti keeps its focus on the core business of microfinance - reducing poverty - by refining and extending the tools (whether financial, educational or health care related) that it makes available to the poor, wherever they are on their journey out of poverty. This is a big book about small loans that will help you understand the gigantic movement they have spawned. When you get the time, do pick it up and take a peek inside . . . it won't be easy to put it back down.
Enjoy!

Anne Hastings
Fonkoze Haiti

You might not think that Chicago, U.S.A. and Chittagong, Bangladesh have much in common, but in his book, Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World, Grameen Foundation Director Alex Counts shows that they do. Each region has determined women of strong spirit struggling for their family's survival. Sometimes, all it takes to set them on the path to entrepreneurship is a small bank loan and a small group of like-minded others to support them and hold them accountable.

This idea is the genius of microcredit: banking for people too impoverished to provide the required collateral for a regular bank account. After achieving remarkable success in Bangladesh, where the Grameen Bank is now sustainable, founder Muhammad Yunus turned his attention to developing the system in other countries, including U.S.A. Alex Counts strings the continuing story of Mohammad Yunus's life and work together with fascinating accounts of women in Chicago and Bangladesh, along with brief histories of the two regions. Development professionals and all good-hearted people will be challenged by the stories of government cowardice in attacking poverty and individual courage in overcoming it. Above all, the book sets forth the larger vision of the common good that is so often lost in today's global society.

--Anna H. Bedford
Little Rock, AR

Alex Counts is one of those rare visionaries who also has the gift of storytelling. As you read the histories of the women in this book, you'll be captivated both by Counts' empathetic connection with them and his passion for the work of Grameen. The author is straightforward about the struggles and successes of a movement which has become one of the most powerful weapons against poverty in our time. After reading it, don't be surprised if you start chasing harder after your own big dreams.

The story of Muhammad Yunus is a great one. There are lots of places to read about Grameen Bank and microfinance.

This is written by the head of Grameen Foundation in the U.S. It is extremely positive but the writing is just OK. It makes an exciting idea a drag. Also it isn't clear who the book is written for. It is a bit too dense for most readers but it isn't technical enough for economists or policy makers.

Also, I didn't see of the criticism of microfinance. There are many. There have been many cases when microfinance didn't live up to the hype and some cases where it may have done harm.

Microfinance and Grameen Bank are extremely important. For someone wanting the technical aspect of microfinance I would recommend The Economics of Microfinance y Beatriz Armendáriz and Jonathan Morduch. An interested layperson could start with the New York Times articles.

Perhaps the best part is the comparison of slum Chicago with Bangladesh. Chicago doesn't look that good in comparison.

Don't misconstrue this review as an indictment of microfinance. And this book isn't horrible, I was just surprised that something so important could be dull.

As an aspiring social entrepreneur and recent college graduate, I am grateful for the insights provided by Alex Counts into the history and inner workings of Grameen Bank and the greater microfinance movement. Having worked directly with the Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus for decades in addressing poverty both in Bangladesh in the U.S., Counts has a unique perspective into this powerful approach to poverty alleviation. He effectively utilizes the stories of the day-to-day lives of women in rural Bangladesh, in juxtaposition with those of women in Urban Chicago, to demonstrate the universal applicability of microcredit as well its potential to unlock the hidden entrepreneurial potential of the poor. I would whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about one of the most exciting movements in the present fight against global poverty.

Small Loans, Big Dreams is a great read on many levels. It reads like an inspiring novel that you just don't want to put down AND it captures the history, current reality and rich potential for the future of one of the most effective programs for empowering the poor - microcredit. Put this on your must read list and be prepared not to be able to put it down until the end.

This book is perfect for people who enjoy reading about everyday heros - regular people who overcome personal and social obstacles to create a better life for themselves, their families and others. It is difficult not to be touched and get a deeper appreciation for our humanity as you read the stories of the women who step out of out what is comfortable and familiar in their culture and become leaders for a new future. Reading the stories of these women creating a new future in the circumstances they have, it is hard not to be left with more courage and commitment to tackle the issues and circumstances in our personal lives and our communities. With simplicity, gradualism, faith and partnership, truly any difference can be made. This book demonstrates this.

This book is ALSO perfect for people who like to read books about real world issues. Alex shares the evolution of perhaps the most effective program of all time to combat poverty and he does it so that the reader has multiple perspectives (Muhammad Yunus's personal history/journey to empower the poorest of the poor, the current economic and social constraints that disable the poor from participating in capitalism and pulling themselves out of poverty, a glimpse of the day to day experience and dedication of the staff at the Grameen Bank and those women who use micro-finance to give themselves and their families better lives). It is useful, understandable and insightful to readers regardless of whether you consider yourself knowledgeable about economics or a complete beginner.

This book would be excellent for book clubs and discussion groups - there is something for everyone to love and so many directions that discussions could take, every reader would have much to contribute and also be left wanting to learn more. I knew nothing of economics before I read this and now I both know more and what to know more. It was interesting to see the comparisons of the programs in the US and Bangladesh and to realize in our American `land of opportunity for all' we literally have more societal and legal constraints that are actually in the way of empowering our poor to get out of poverty.

The original micro-finance programs have been able to be duplicated in many different cultures and countries, which is a testimony to the integrity and resiliency of Yunus' thinking and design and the work of many people. Alex also presents the future opportunity for real social change through the strengths of the networks and relationships. You will be left with both opportunity and optimism for our future.

"Small Loans, Big Dreams" has it all. It's a wonderful book about the story of micro-finance based on Dr. Muhammad Yunus' Grameen Bank model. Several women in Bangladesh and Chicago generously share their personal stories with author/economist, Alex Counts, about how the smallest loan helped get them back on their feet, gave them self-esteem and a sense of purpose, when no one else would take a chance on them. If you have a heartbeat you will be moved by the stories of Amodini, Shandha, Queenesta, and Omiyale.

Counts, who is President and Founder of the US-based NGO, Grameen Foundation, reverently gives a comprehensive history of how Nobel Peace Prize-winner (2006), Dr. Muhammad Yunus, defied all expectations and reached out to the poor in Bangladesh in the 1970's, empowering them to be entrepeneurs. It is a warm, engaging, balanced account of the pitfalls of doing what you know is right despite everyone telling you you're crazy.

I love this book because it blends the human element with the academic, thus making micro-finance accessible to those of us who aren't trained economists. The theory behind micro-lending is so simple: empower the poor to pull themselves out of poverty and you change the world. Whatever the arguments against micro-finance are, I would venture to say this book could convert even die-hard oppositionists. Counts concedes that the system isn't perfect, but there is such accountability, and such a desire to serve its clients well, with integrity, that you're inspired to put the book down, find your nearest micro-lending institution and see how you can help further cause. I don't remember the last time I felt that way.

YS

This is a great book - it brings the human impact of poverty and the importance of effective solutions to a clear light. It's impossible to not feel connected to the women in these stories, and by relating stories of women in Bangladesh as well as Chicago, it also paints a picture of the universality of poverty and the potential and need for microfinance to grow as a solution.

One of the most important insights in the book is the analysis that the author hints at of the limitations to date of microfinance in the US due to outdated and inflexible legislation. This book leaves the reader with a frustration at these limitations, and makes it impossible to not want to see microfinance take giant leaps in scope here and around the world.

I've been interested in microlending since I first heard to Muhammad Yunus 20 years ago. This is a great story of a great breakthrough by an author who was actually there with Yunus when they rolled this out. If you read the earlier Give Us Credit, this is updated in the personal stories and the worldwide spread of this idea. I loved it.

Until recently I considered foreign aid, The World Bank or big private foundations as the ways to assist the world's poor, but Alex Counts changed that. Counts describes an idea too often overlooked by those who are bound by traditional models or who want to hold tight control, but it is an idea too important to miss. An expert in the history and process of providing microfinance loans to the poorest of the world's poor, Counts describes a solution that has been proven to work because it empowers loan recipients rather than makes them dependent on others. The poor as entrepreneurs ... an exciting idea.

In a book about serving the poor, stories alone can be manipulative and facts alone can be lifeless, but Counts combines the two in his engaging, clear description of the history and impact of microfinance. I came away with high respect for Dr. Yunus, the work of the Grameen Bank, and the resourcefulness and courage of the women whose stories he tells. I also finished with new hope that there really are effective ways to break the cycle of poverty for millions.