Chicken for Supper

My family and I had chicken on the grill for supper last night. It was very good and there was a lot of it. But I almost forgot to remember. Protein sources (beef, chicken, pork, eggs, lamb, legumes, etc.), while commonplace in the U.S., aren't in most of the world.

It wasn't that long ago when I was in Nicaragua visiting some of Self-Help's 'micro-credit enterprises.' That term makes it sound so clean and efficient. Here's a picture of a very successful micro-credit enterprise. It's a chicken coop, if you can't make it out... concrete, posts, tarp and wire. But this business provides eggs, meat, fertilizer and income to a woman and her family. Because of the $100 investment we (was it you?) made, this family has more than a chance to break the poverty cycle... they have hope -- hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday, hope that their daughter can stay in school past the age of 12, hope that this new-found financial independence can lead to more.

We're not talking about building up their 401k for retirement. Financial independence (for them) means being free of the high interest charged by the local money-lenders. It means standing on your own. It means being self-reliant. And that tastes pretty good no matter where you live.