Her lot in life!

She sat there on the sidewalk with her little daughter right next to her. She tried, though not very hard it seemed, to sell chewing gum to bypassers. Poorly dressed as she was in her rags, she definitely did not fit in with the average person walking by. They were dressed designer suits, dresses and heels, hasting from one place to the next in pursuit of the goals of the day. The contrast was stark. If you stopped to ask for her goals you would likely be met by silence.

And honestly, what could she have said when comparing herself to society's elite that whizzed past? She was just a young woman who had not had the same chance at life as them. She had come to the city from the rural highlands in search of a better opportunity to make a living, but was absolutely not prepared for city life and its expectancies and requirements. Besides, if she succeeded in landing a somewhat decent job, what would she do with her daughter?

Well, what about education? Out of the question for two reasons. There is no way she would be able to afford it and who would care for her daughter while she was attending classes? Besides, "you don't educate yourself after you have children" it was said where she was raised. Her only alternative was to try to get a job where she could take her daughter along, except she couldn't really afford that either. She needed to sell chewing gum to earn something so she could buy food for the little girl and looking for work would take away costly time from the sale. That in turn would mean that both she and her daughter would go hungry. It was just difficult!

Poverty is still a problem in Peru, especially in the rural regions in the Andes

I, too, have passed by this young woman and her little daughter several times, but I never stopped to buy chewing gum or to drop some coins to help her. 

And why not?

The short answer is that I don't like chewing gum. The better answer is that it doesn't help her! Dropping a coin off to help her now and then is only going to reinforce her impression that sitting on the sidewalk is her lot in life, and that thought will lock her in place. It will keep her poor.

This woman needs three things:

1. She needs to change her view of herself and life in general. She needs to understand and believe that it is indeed not too late to get an education. That may take the help of an organization which can support her in changing her outlook at life.
2. She does indeed need some form of education or vocational training to acquire skills in some sort of trade. Once again, a humanitarian organization is her best shot at getting affordable training.
3. She needs ”Grameen Bank” and the whole concept of micro financing. A small, affordable loan that can help her set up a small business in which she uses her skills to earn money.

That will turn her world right side up – and that of her daughter's, too. That will get her off the street, that will give her daughter a real future. It may not get her riches in abundance, but it will eliminate her poverty. No more will she have to say the sidewalk is her lot in life.