The Nobel Laureate and professor of Economics, Muhammad Yunus, founded the Grameen Bank in 1983. The professor saw real-world problems as opportunities and was willing to act to solve the problems. He encountered extreme poverty and famine amoung villagers in Bangladesh. Yunus' solution was to loan small amounts of money, micro-loans, to poor women in the villages, so they could start small businesses and eventually pay back the loan, with a small amount of interest. New loans and a greater number of loans could then also be offered to other women in similar circumstances. The Grameen Bank also gave the villagers an alternative to local loan sharks who charged unreasonable interest on loans even though the amount borrowed was very small. With only a small amount of money 'paid forward', he was able to make a big difference to a lot of people.