Episode Information

With its 120 million people, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries. It is found in one of the world's biggest river deltas. 85% of its population lives below the poverty line. In 1983, Bengali professor Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, which lends money to the poor and landless only. Today the Bank works in 35,000 villages and has more than 2 million borrowers, 94% of them women. Signature of Change follows three of these borrowers: Uzifa, Awsha and Momensa. By following them in their day to day activities, we see the considerable social and economic consequences from the Grameen loans, not only for its members but also for the community at large. But many Bengali men are radically opposed to the Bank. The rich are even more adamantly opposed. The poor are becoming less dependent on them as they learn to take care of themselves. In this documentary Professor Yunus examines the founding, development and future of the bank.