In 2006 Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize for giving microcredit loans to women. Now he’s gone on to pioneer a whole new movement - social business. Microcredit is just the tip of the iceberg!
What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality?
To some, it sounds impossible, but Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is doing just that. Bonsai People is an emotionally compelling look at how microcredit loans empower several women. Through their stories, we see what Yunus saw – microcredit is an important tool, but financial woes are not their only problem – they have needs which simple “social business” solutions can help fulfill.
Yunus’ social businesses provide access to everything from healthcare to alternative energy.
WATCH THE TRAILER
(or buy/rent via Vimeo and support the filmmaker!)
MEET THE BORROWERS
Shahnaj
Shahnaj lost her mother and was married off at 10. We meet her after a string of tragedies and see how she uses microcredit to turn her life around. However, due to previous financial debt, her road to recovery is long and bumpy.
Through her story, we see why Yunus felt the importance of moving beyond microcredit to healthcare and education.
Melancho
Melancho starts the program as a shy young woman, after a year, she has gained confidence as she learns to manage her finances. She says, “It feels good having my own money. I have 2,000 Taka ($30) in savings now.”
With time, she begins to enjoy her position as the chairwoman of her village bank center and gain confidence in the process.
Aroti
Aroti is microcredit at its finest. Over 15 years, she’s created several income streams from selling irrigation water to renting out homes. She is a proud mother with both sons attending university, something uncommon for a family that started out in poverty.
After lifting herself out of poverty, she has time to give back by serving on her local village council - rare for a woman of rural Bangladesh. Exemplifying the message of women’s empowerment that access to credit provides, she fights for other women’s rights.
Ayesha
Ayesha is in Grameen’s “struggling member” program. She took an $8, zero interest loan, but two years later still struggles to pay it back. It has helped her to stop begging as she sells vegetables door to door, providing much needed food for her family. However, she is fighting to get beyond survival.
She lives crowded in one room with her kids. When her son breaks his arm, she is once again held back from moving out of poverty.
Anarkali
Anarkali’s story adds humor and reveals a surprising sense of business savvy. She personifies Yunus’ belief “that all people are born entrepreneurs, it’s part of being a human being.”
She even muses that some of the other women talk about her saying “Why does she have 20 saris, when I only have one?” Anarkuli and her husband have the winning combination of solid teamwork that is seen in the most successful borrowers.
Solidarity is the key to success.
Surjobano
What happens when your gender, age and social status determine your quality of life? After a lifetime of hard labor, Surjobano, a widow, survived the past 13 years by begging, bringing much shame to her family. When she joins Grameen’s “struggling members program” it’s a step in the right direction.
She lives in a hovel that would break anyone’s heart, yet she’s thankful for a solid roof over her head. We are left wondering if, at her age, if she’ll ever be able to overcome her current state.
“Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong with their seed, society never allowed them the space to grow as tall as everybody else.”
— Muhammad Yunus
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“RATHER THAN JUST READING ABOUT YUNUS' WONDERFUL WORK, YOU CAN NOW SEE IT FOR YOURSELF”
— Richard Branson
“UPLIFTING AND INSPIRING”
— David Suzuki
“FASCINATING”
— Whole Life Times
“IT WILL MAKE YOU STAND UP AND CHEER”
— NYC Movie Guru
“A MOVING TRIBUTE”
— The News Blaze
“CAPTURES YUNUS' TRUE SPIRIT OF COMPASSION AND HIS TRUE PROBLEM SOLVING GENIUS”
— Astronaut Ron Garan
“A MUST-SEE”
— Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson)
“ENLIGHTENING”
— Spirituality and Practice
“THOUGHT PROVOKING AND INSIGHTFUL”
— Jason Viso, Louisiana Public Broadcasting
“SPECTACULAR”
— Union Weekly