For the last 15 years, Lal Mohammed has worked as a rickshaw puller in Kolkata, India. In rubber sandals and shorts, he ferries passengers and packages through the city streets, earning less than $2 a day. He supports his wife and three children with his small income. But he and his wife have big dreams for their children, hoping that they will grow up and get an education and a higher paying job than he has.
Ndikumana Gervais is a fisherman in Bugesera, Rwanda. He supports his wife and three children with his income is of about 1500 Rwandan francs per day (about USD $1.73). While his life is hard, Gervais is working to improve his family’s future. He is raising a herd of goats, farms a plot of land, and belongs to a village savings club which allows him to take out small loans.
Awoke Mose is a smallholder farmer in Work Amba, Ethiopia who grows teff, wheat, chickpeas and maize. He, his wife, five children, and his mother all live the same one-hectare plot. He saves whatever money he can for his children’s education. His oldest daughter recently graduated from college.
