Astonishing that 1 in 5 US children live in poverty. Poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for thousands of international organizations such as Hidden Choices. Extreme poverty is a global challenge and in all parts of the world. It can be found including the developed economies. Poverty is In 2008, the World Bank estimated that 1.29 billion people were living in absolute poverty. Of these, about 400 million people in absolute poverty live in India. It is estimated that 173 million people in China live in absolute poverty.
Traveling, living and working abroad for 37 years has given me a unique perspective on this challenge of impoverishment and destitution. Witnessing poverty at the most extreme levels in third world countries, massive slums, abject hunger, street children as young as babies and toddlers, thousands upon thousands of orphaned children abandoned by parents and family, lack of sanitation, naked, crying, diseased, begging, alone with no one to care, horrific living conditions of squalor, sleeping in ditches or dirt streets, serious health issues, children and people trafficked for slavery and sex, abused, uneducated, starved. All that I have seen has broken my heart for those who have no voice – the defenseless, the lonely, the abandoned. The impetus to start Hidden Choices over 17 years ago was to be a voice. A voice for the defenseless. A voice that I dreamt someday could make a difference. Hidden Choices is making a difference in the lives of children and women. You can make a difference to alleviate poverty for the helpless and those who have no hope. It is a passion of lifework you can also make as yours.