Marquerivi is a village of about 240 families south of La Paz, Bolivia's capital city. But the unending expanses of arid, treeless plateau are located more than 12,000 feet above sea level, and the bumpy, dusty roads make the village feel much farther away from the city than it actually is. According to the report, the number of people living in poverty worldwide has grown over the last 20 years to more than 1.2 billion. The overwhelming majority living in poverty are women and children, who are poorer now than ever before. This news falls disappointingly short of the goals set a decade ago by the UN in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Bolivian farmers grow potatoes and wheat and raise cows, sheep, and llamas.
Depleted soil conditions, poor irrigation, limited credit, and lack of new technologies all limit the capacity of families to support themselves. Children, especially girls, drop out of school before completing fourth or fifth grade in order to help with household chores or work in the fields, tending crops or animals. In the few communities where there are schools, the teachers commute from urban areas. Low levels of education and poor health compound the cycle of poverty. Thirty percent consume less than the recommended 2,250 daily calories.