Excerpt from a "Yes" interview with Mohammad Yunus

Reporter Sarah: From what I understand, the work you're doing leads to changes in people's lives that go beyond their immediate economic well-being. These are changes that enhance people's capacity, strengthen community, affect their relationships, outlook on life, and perhaps even their spiritual experience. Can you talk a little bit about the changes you see?
Yunus: This work is not just about loaning money, paying it back, and hoping that things will change. We also engage the people who borrow from us in discussions about the social problems that they face in their lives and the kind of solutions they imagine for themselves.
Something we call "The 16 Decisions" emerged out of thousands and thousands of these sessions. For example, one of the 16 Decisions says, "We shall grow vegetables all year round, eat plenty of them, and sell the surplus." This decision helps to overcome malnutrition; a lot of children have night blindness due to vitamin A deficiency. Another one is, "We shall send our children to school so that they can become educated."

Studies show that Grameen families adopt family planning practices at twice the rate of the national average.