From Nicaragua: What Its Like to Live on Less Than a Dollar a Day

Worldwide, over a billion people—1 out of every 6 human beings—live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.

In Nicaragua, this is enough for a woman to buy a bus ticket to get to work …
In India, this is enough for a girl to buy one notepad for school …
In Nigeria, this is enough for a mother to buy one loaf of bread for her children …

Most Americans can’t imagine trying to feed their families, send their kids to school, or take care of relatives on only a dollar a day. But millions of women around the world are forced to do exactly that. Even though women are more likely to spend income on food and education for their children and, in many countries, produce the majority of the food supply, they face unequal barriers that prevent them from earning enough money to escape poverty. Giving women economic opportunity turns this cycle around.

Year round, Women Thrive Worldwide (the organization I co-founded and am President of) advocates for policies that give women the economic opportunity they need to escape poverty. On February 24, in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8) and Women’s History Month (March), I left my home in Annapolis, MD and traveled to Nicaragua where approximately 831,000 people live on less 20 Cordovas, the equivalent of one U.S. dollar.

Once in Nicaragua I traveled to the rural region of Terrabona, which suffers from extreme poverty. There I stayed with members of FEMUPROCAN, a local women’s agriculture cooperative working to empower Nicaraguan women. Keeping a diary, camera, and video camera, I documented the lives of two extraordinary women, Leticia and Betilde, both struggling to survive on far less than twenty Cordovas, or one U.S. dollar, a day.

Watch an interview with Leticia Mansaranes Lanza, a FEMUPROCAN co-founder.

Continue and read an excerpt from my diary when I stayed with members of FEMUPROCAN in rural region of Terrabona.