In the summer of 2003, I interned with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, where I had the privilege of meeting a young boy named Saddam.  At the time, Saddam could not attend school. As a result of difficult family circumstances, Saddam, at age 10, was the sole provider for his family.  To keep his family afloat, Saddam served as a tea boy and sold pittal outside a local Grameen office.  Despite the hardship of his youth, or perhaps because of it, Saddam displayed wisdom beyond his years, and extraordinary empathy towards his peers and younger brother.   Nevertheless, because his family was poor, Saddam was treated as second class.  Having observed Saddam's potential, and the injustice of his position, I put aside part of my own scholarship income, and raised funds among friends and family to provide Saddam with a Grameen scholarship.
 
With the additional income he received from the scholarship, Saddam was able to reduce his work hours, and attend school.  Despite the gaps in his early education, Saddam rose to the top of his class in secular studies. I h hope that Saddam will remain devoted to his studies so that in the long term, he will be able to pursue higher education and job opportunities that would enable him to lift his family out of poverty and give back to his community.