The Poor Tell Their Own Stories

Anirudh Krishna brings the realities of poverty to life through stories he’s heard from thousands of people in the developing world. Here are excerpts from four stories:

Musebezi, a young man in Kikoni village, Ntumgamo, Uganda:

My father died and I had to drop out of school because we had no money to pay for school fees. My father’s land was divided. My brothers and I received our shares. The piece of land that I inherited is too small for me to make a living by raising crops or animals. Furthermore, coffee has been affected by the wilt, and that has additionally reduced my income. Now my family depends on casual labor and on hiring land from other people upon which we can grow something.

Heera Gujar, a farmer in Rajasthan, India:

We were among the more prosperous households of our village. The bad days began when my father fell ill about 18 years ago. They say he was stricken by tuberculosis. We must have spent close to 25,000 rupees on his treatment, but to no avail. When my father died, we performed the customary death feast, spending another 10,000 rupees. We sold our cattle, and we also had to take out some loans. Then, about ten years ago, my wife fell seriously ill. We borrowed more money to pay for her medical treatments. It became hard to keep up with our debts. Then the rains failed for three years in a row, and that was the end of the road for us. We sold our land. Now, my sons and I work as casual labor, earning whatever we can from one day to the next. On some days, we find work. On other days, there is nothing.

Victor Tapara Ancco, Puno region, Peru:

When I was a child, my father and my mother were shepherds who worked for one landowner. We never had any land of our own. My brothers and I could only go to primary school and no further. We also grew up working as shepherds. I got married, and my wife was also a shepherd. Six years ago, the community awarded me with a piece of land and some cattle. Little by little, I have bought more cattle, and now I sell milk to the community cheese plant.

A software engineer in Bangalore, India:

My friends whose parents were teachers or professors or doctors -- their children have done their bachelors, masters, or Ph.D. degrees, because that is what they were brought up to do. They were always very aware of what they wanted to be. People like me? All of us want to get into jobs. We want to start working. We have no clear objective. No clear idea is given to us by our parents. Education is not the biggest hurdle; it is the clarity of vision that one grows up with.