Most of us can’t imagine trying to support ourselves, let alone our entire family, on just a dollar a day. But millions of women around the world are forced to do exactly that because they do not have economic opportunity.

This February, in honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month (March), I left my home in Annapolis, MD and traveled to Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, to try to experience what it was like to live on less than $1 a day.

In Nicaragua, I stayed with a member of FEMUPROCAN, an agricultural cooperative that helps women produce and sell crops in organic, sustainable, and income-generating ways. I met Leticia Mansaranes Lanza, an inspiring woman who lives on less than 20 Cordovas (about $1) a day. Like many Nicaraguan women, unemployment, drought, and unequal economic barriers have left Leticia with little to no income. Without the credit she needs to build an irrigation system for her small plot of land, Leticia is forced to rely on the weather for her entire livelihood: when there is no rain, there is no food. Leticia cannot afford basic healthcare and must constantly choose between necessities. If given tools like credit to build wells, small business training, and access to trade, Leticia told me, she and the other women of FEMUPROCAN can earn the income they need to lift their families out of poverty for the long-term. They have the ability and dedication, all they need are the resources.

Leticia reminded me how important it is that the U.S. invest in women’s economic opportunity. Imagine how many women would get tools like credit and access to trade if we passed the GROWTH Act, for example (click here to learn more and take action!). The possibilities are endless. Our only limitation is the will of the American government to make women’s opportunity a priority.

To learn more about Nicaragua and browse my photo album visit my diary.

-Ritu

This entry was posted on Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Women Thrive, Nicaragua. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.