THE NEED

Half the population of Latin America lives in abject poverty. The unemployment rate has grown each year since 1990, while the average wage per family has fallen to the 1980 level. These conditions enslave the people to a Chain Of Poverty and enact the harshest toll on The Victims...the innocent children of Latin America. Read what life is like for a typical child enduring these conditions in A Day In The Life.

The Chain of Poverty

Thirty years ago, international economic development projects were launched throughout Latin America, as part of a dramatic region-wide effort to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life for struggling families. 

Now, three decades later, studies show that these programs have had some impact...but not much. Poverty throughout Latin America today is only one percent less than it was 30 years ago.

Seventy-eight million children go to bed hungry each night; many of them don't have access to a bathroom, much less a doctor. Forty percent won't stay in school through the fourth grade.

This is the world that Latin America ChildCare touches every single day!

The Victims

When poverty engulfs a family, the youngest are the most affected and most vulnerable - their rights to survival, growth and development are at risk. A child born today in the developing world has a 4 out of 10 chance of living in extreme poverty. 

This poverty defines every aspect of the child's existence, from malnutrition, lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation, to life expectancy. It is the main underlying cause of millions of preventable deaths and the reason why children are malnourished, miss out on school or are abused and exploited. And it is at the core of a pervasive violation of children's rights. 

Poverty's cycle does not stop in one lifetime. A girl born to poverty is more likely to marry early and have a child while still an adolescent. A malnourished girl becomes a malnourished mother, who will give birth to an underweight baby. And, like their parents, poor children are likely to transmit their poverty to the next generation.

Latin America ChildCare is committed to breaking the chain of poverty that grips these innocent victims...the innocent children of Latin America.

As you've discovered, there is a tremendous need in Latin America. Find out what we are doing and where we are working to minister hope to these needy children. Read the story entitled, "A Sponsor's Love" to get a personal glimpse of lives we have changed.