Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Jobra village and Chittagong City honour Nobel laureate Yunus

From The Daily Star
Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof Muhammad Yunus was all ecstatic and full of emotion as he visited his birthplace Chittagong and Jobra village, now a familiar name across the globe, yesterday.

The whole Port City--from Engineers Institute to the economics department at Chittagong University to Jobra village where Prof Yunus' revolutionary concept of microcredit kicked off--was vibrant with people from all strata heartily greeting the Nobel laureate.

The scene was extraordinary in Jobra village in the afternoon as a few of the first borrowers of Grameen Bank loans thronged the Nabajug Tebhaga Khamar premises and accorded a hearty reception to the lone Nobel laureate of the country.

Prof Yunus said he has come first to Jobra after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to convey gratitude and honour on behalf of all Bangladeshis to the people of this great village.

"It is you who actually deserve the honour," he told the residents of Jobra village. "You did a wonderful act of honour for the whole country.

"I am very happy today to be here among you...I have come here to breathe fresh air of Jobra to my heart's content," the microcredit pioneer said.