One of the most sincere stories shared at the Forum was by Skoll Award winner Roshaneh Zafar who told us of a young woman who had been empowered through microfinance.  Later in the session, we heard how recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus,  inspired Roshaneh to start the Kashf Foundation (meaning miracle in Arabic).  When people told Roshaneh that microfinance would not work in Pakistan, Professor Yunus told her, “You Must Believe in Yourself.”  Now, more than 100,000 families have since been taken out of poverty through microfinance opportunities offered at Kashf.  She not only believed in herself, she believed in all the women in Pakistan who were worthy of being empowered by what she was about to build.

______________________________