Jet lag hadn’t even kicked in when the phone rang and the voice on the other side said, “Hello Kamili?”-my real name being Camila- “Yunus Centre is waiting for you in the lobby, please come down.” Waiting for me? I thought, I was not expecting for anyone to be waiting for me, but either way I am already late. Great way to make my first impression. I put my converse on without even tying my shoelaces, I sprinted down the stairs.
Before I knew it, we had arrived to the 6th Social Business Day welcome dinner. You may guess I did not get the memo of formal attire so I was simply wearing my Incan printed t-shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. As I entered the building with another intern I asked, “I wonder when we will meet Yunus…” and just as I turned my sight, there he was. The one guy who I have been following for a while now and have been watching youtube videos was now in front of me. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate professor, with genius and innovative mind. I had to think fast. I wanted to cause an impression on him, but still wasn’t sure on what exactly I should say. Luckily the “selfies” surrounding him gave me sometime to think.
When I approached him, I was ready to blurt out something smart or something funny, but before I had a chance he stretched his hand out and with a warm smile asked me where I was from. Proudly, I said Bolivia. I don’t even remember if I threw in there that I was currently in UT in order to try to impress him even though my major is not in McCombs School. He then told me he had a couple of friends in Bolivia and all I replied was “well Sir, you have acquired one more right here” while I firmly shook his hand.
6th Annual Social Business Day
The next day turned out to be the biggest event I have yet been a participant of. From ambassadors dressed in elegant business suits to the Grameen Bank women owners showing off their colorful saris, from businessman and investors to young minds and social entrepreneurs full of ideas this day left me full of inspiration and food for thought.
1600 people, 32 countries, 219 delegations all gathered at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre to tackle the popular subject which is a major global threat: unemployment. However, in this social business day, the approach to such an issue took different angle. “We are not job seekers, we are job creators” was now the new motto being promoted.
Professor Yunus challenged all participants to create a world of three zeros: 1) zero poverty 2) zero unemployment 3) zero carbon net emissions. He argues that human beings are active “go gathers” rather than passive sedentary beings. As he shared his speech, I could blur out the spotlight on him and the decorations on stage to transport him into a UT auditorium as I could see him as an economics professor who raised awareness on the flaws of the current economic system and further raised question on the sustainability of our current system. As I sit there, I realised the power of the message he was trying to send. Inspire youth to take leadership and become an entrepreneur. It is in fact true, that historically human kind survived because they worked for food, for development, for survival. For me however it also comes down to a question of “survival of the fittest” and recognising that if you have a leadership quality or work on leading skills we must be aware of the people surrounding us and help them raise as well.
So besides many other interesting and instigating speeches, the keynote ties back to the nobin udyokta– the new entrepreneur. Professor Yunus coins the term as the children of the Grameen Bank Members who are now living examples of the gradual change occurring. Nobin udyokta, a group of young entrepreneurs with different businesses such as beauty parlours, tailoring and handcrafts, and a computer store are now starting to create jobs in their own villages by pursing their own business projects.
By this point I felt overwhelmed with a feeling of inspiration, by a challenging voice that I believe will not stop until I can achieve my own greatness. Surrounded in venue holding over 1600 people, I stared at the copula. Thoughts on all the speeches and all I had heard where speeding through my head and suddenly it clicked. The nobin udyokta challenge is not an alienated concept for a twenty-year-old Bolivian student in Bangladesh, let alone it should not be a foreign concept for any of you. Our generation now faces the biggest challenge. Of course we need to tackle major social and environmental issues, and I have faith in human kind that many of those will be soon overcome, but the biggest defy we now face is redefining success. Will our personal and professional decisions be according to a profit measuring stick? Or will those decisions be risk-taking and innovative to find ways to shift from a profit measuring stick to a quantified way of measuring positive impact generated by our actions.
nobinudyokta 