Yale SOM International Experience
In 2010, Professor Mobarak took students to Bangladesh & Malaysia. In Malaysia, students met with officials at Bank Negara, the national bank, to discuss lessons learned from the currency war with George Soros. In addition to meeting with investment firms and government officials, students visited prominent NGOs such as the PT Foundation, an HIV/AIDS awareness organization founded in 1987 by a group of gay men after the first incidence of AIDS in Malaysia was diagnosed. Students also toured a palm plantation and refinery to get a flavor of sustainable agricultural practices as Malaysia brings its resource sector into the twenty-first century. During the Bangladesh portion of the trip, students met with top officials at Grameen Bank (the Nobel Prize winning microcredit institution founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus) and BRAC (an NGO engaged in micro-finance, health, and empowerment of the ultra-poor). At these institutions, students learned about the foundations, progress, and impact of micro-finance. Finally, students visited the evergreen tropical forest of Bhawal National Park, an agri-university, and cultural sites, such as the Liberation monument and a pottery village.