I loved the cover of the February issue with the African children playing and pumping water (“Fighting Global Poverty: What Works,” by Stephen Smith). They looked so happy and well. I only wish their future lives will be that happy.
Elsewhere in the article was a section on the “Girls’ Dreams Program,” which gives girls a chance for self-expression. Here there is some hope. I have become convinced that many of the world’s poor lack dreams. While working with the poor in the United States, I came face to face with this poverty of dreams. Most of the young people I met had no great hopes or desires for the future. I feel less blame than sorrow; nobody has taught them to dream and hope. Without dreams, sometimes even outrageous ones, and hopes, sometimes impossible ones, people cannot break through the limitations placed on them.
Lucy Fuchs
Brandon, Florida
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