PROJECT LOCATIONS
Locations for these projects were decided upon based on actual prior visits to these places, prior projects, and invitations from locals and the highest levels of government in some cases.
From Seattle to Mississippi, from the Laos to the countries of Africa, lives will be changed, destinies discovered and dreams fulfilled as people who have been robbed of the value of life are once again restored to a new hope.
UGANDA
Uganda is one of the poorest nations in the world, with 37.7% of the population living on less than $1.25 a day. Despite making enormous progress in reducing the countrywide poverty incidence from 56% of the population in 1992 to 31% in 2005, poverty remains deep-rooted in the country's rural areas, which are home to more than 85 per cent of Ugandans.
People in rural areas of Uganda depend on farming as the main source of income and 90 per cent of all rural women work in the agricultural sector. In addition to agricultural work, rural women also have the responsibility of care-taking within their families. The average Ugandan woman spends 9 hours a day on domestic tasks, such as preparing food and clothing, fetching water and firewood, and caring for the elderly, the sick as well as orphans. As such, women on average work longer hours than men, between 12 and 18 hours per day, with a mean of 15 hours, as compared to men, who work between 8 and 10 hours a day.
HAITI
With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimate of US$6.56 billion [1] in 2009, Haiti is routinely regarded as one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere. Based on estimates by the World Bank in 2005, the percentage of people living below the US$1 per day poverty line in Haiti is 54%, and the percentage of people living below US$2 per day is at 78%.
Poverty affects the Haitians in many aspects of everyday life, including housing, nutrition, education, healthcare, infant mortality rates, as well as environment. Haiti has constantly been plagued with low levels of living conditions, with many Haitians moving into the capital city of Port-au-Prince in a bid to escape poverty in the more rural areas of the country.
SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone is a very poor country. The gross domestic product was amounted to approx. $ 2.5 billion, less than $ 500 per capital. Below the poverty line there is more than 70% of the population. Approximately two thirds of the population lives exclusively on subsistence agriculture. Agriculture provides 49% of GDP, industry - 31% (and manufacturing - only 4%), services - 20%. Deposits of diamonds, chromite, bauxite, gold, iron, platinum, as well as some of the world's largest reserves of rutile (titanium ore) were discovered in Sierra Leone.
The war destroyed much of the country's infrastructure, so that the active development of its mineral resources of Sierra Leone will go on. Today diamonds are mined and the export of it gives most of the foreign exchange earnings. The manufacturing industry is represented by small enterprises of food and textile industries. In agriculture, the dominant plants which grow are: rice, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, peanuts. Fisheries are fairly well developed. The development of livestock is limited to the spread of tsetse flies.
The main foreign trade partners of Sierra Leone are: Belgium, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The capital of the country, the city of Freetown has about 700 thousand inhabitants. It was founded in 1787, one of the cities in the world, located "on the seven hills", and it was called "African Athens." It is the most important industrial and transport center of the country: through its port is the lion's share of both imports and exports of Sierra Leone.
VIETNAM
There are a wide range of causes of poverty; however poverty derives mostly from demographic elements:
The majority of the poor are farmers. In 1998 almost 80 per cent of the poor worked in agriculture.
Majority of the poor lives in rural, isolated, mountainous or disaster prone areas, where physical infrastructure and public service are relatively undeveloped.
The poor often lacks production means and cultivated land.
They have limited access to the state credit and often access through back credit with very high interest the households often have many children but few laborers.
The poor are disproportionately likely to be from an ethnic minority. The percentage of households with heads coming from ethnic minorities increased from 17, 8 percent in 1993 to 40, and 7 percent in 2008. The poor have limited education: people who have not completed primary education account for the highest rate of poverty. Rural households consisting of only women and children are particularly vulnerable to poverty because the number of dependents is relatively high compared with the available labor force.
PERU
The country's total poverty is 30.2%, which includes 13.7% in extreme poverty. This country suffers from low income jobs, poor teaching skills in the rural areas, no full benefits for the primary health care and chronic problems that the country has. The poor people are at greater risks for health illness because of the rural area that they live in due to the lack of clean water and sanitation.
The population has grown, and this is causing more poverty because the country's cities are becoming over crowded. Over the last few years Peru is showing a little improvement with the social welfare system and the consumption poverty rates. The social welfare system is reaching more out to the poor because the government is receiving more funding. The consumption poverty rates are slightly lower from 19% to 15%, but there are still millions of Peruvians suffering from severe poverty
PANAMA
Panama is an international business center, and has the largest economy in Central America. It is also the fastest growing economy and the largest per capita consumer in Central America.
Panama has extremes of wealth and poverty. The wealthiest 20 percent of Panamanians control more than 50 percent of the country's wealth, while the poorest 40 percent control only 12 percent. A worker making minimum wage in some areas of Panama would only earn US