This deserves its own weblog!

I found a long-lost file of clippings I'd collected very randomly, here and there, about people who were doing good in the world, usually with some kind of small business, or in some other unusual way.

And I'd like to dedicate it to one of my favorite Good Guys, the recent winner of the Nobel Prize and head of the Grameen Bank, Muhammed Yunus, whose work I've been following for many years. What did he do that was ingenious? He loaned money to the poor, without requiring any collateral.

Banks usually consider that a huge risk. They loan money to those who already have enough to be considered good risks: if they don't pay the loan, they've agreed to give the bank something of equal or greater value: a home, a building, stocks, etc.

Yunus has been making loans of $50 to $250 (perhaps more) to the poorest of the poor, and then, always, to women. His philosophy is: if you give money to a man, you don't know where it will end up. If you give it to a woman, the whole family will benefit.

So far it seems that almost all his loans have been returned.

He has people borrow the money in small groups in which each is responsible for the debts of all, and this has also been an ingenious thing to do, but in his recent interview by Jon Steward on The Daily Show, it was clear that he didn't want us to assume that this is the main reason that the poor repay their debts. He didn't get much of a chance to talk, he was hurried off the show for some reason, but he made it clear that the poor are, in themselves, very good risks and should be loaned money to start their own small businesses no matter what the repayment incentive is.

But those groups of 5 are much more useful than just as repayment delivery systems. Because they're responsible for each other's debt, they're highly motivated to find ways for everyone to succeed. As I've always said (regarding my own version of Yunus's small groups, Success Teams ) Isolation is the dreamkiller.

Three cheers for Mohammed Yunus and may we all find ways to follow his example.

Incidentally, a pair of young business school graduates (with hearts as big as their brains) have done it. A year or so ago, I donated a small sum of money to IRC (I forget what that stands for, but I'll find it and come back to fix it), and I've been getting reports ever since from Africa, from the small business people who used it to get their businesses up and running, and have repaid it so it can be loaned to other small business people. It's a brilliant model. I'll go find the link so you can donate some money if you want. It's great fun to get reports from little businesses you're helping with your piddling little loan. For example, one person catches and sells fish, another has a used clothing shop, another might be starting a mechanic repair shop.

HERE'S A GOOD LINK FOR YOU TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YUNUS AND THE GRAMEEN BANK: http://www.grameen-info.org/

Okay, that's all for now. I have to get back to writing my next book.

NEXT TIME: MORE INGENIOUS GOOD GUYS. WATCH THIS SPACE (AND ADD YOUR OWN GOOD GUYS!! I'D LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT THEM.)