A Dollar a Day

Check out this great post by Dave - a Peace Corps volunteer, who, like I did when I earned a similar amount in Vietnam, has come to the conclusion that even on his stipend salary he's still one of the lucky ones.

He writes:

"So, given the money that most people are living with, my salary of $6.67 per day puts me at a level that very few in Nicaragua reach. Tack on to my salary the health benefits I have through Peace Corps and an American credit card, and I'm one of the most fortunate persons in my town, despite living at a level that is lower than any I've experienced in my life. And though I now have a better idea of what one dollar a day means and I can see everyday the people living at that level, I'm convinced I could not do it. Whether I'm sitting in a $720/month apartment in Ann Arbor or a $27/month house in Nicaragua, one dollar a day is not right."

Comments

[minxlj]

It's amazing to read about stuff like that. I know in the UK we're overcharged for everything, and things like travel are just ridiculous when compared to other countries, but even on $90 a day I'd say I'm only average here, I still can't afford to save anything. I cannot ever imagine having to exist on only a few dollars a day, never mind only 1. But I am very thankful for it, and to be able to pass on what I can afford to others.

As we have such a gap between the poor and the wealthy, the amount of wealthy people here living on way, way more than I am is scary. And I'll bet they couldn't even imagine 'slumming it' and living on $90 a day like me, never mind the dollar a day. It's sad that most people won't appreciate what it's like.

[ourman]

The gap between our life styles is huge. I lived in Vietnam on a VSO allowance of $250 a month. I was aware that I was earning two or three times more than colleagues.

And that didn't include my rent and healthcare.

Like Dave, I occasionally also used my own money when I needed some luxury.

To have nothing to fall back is frightening. So many of the kids we dealt with at KOTO in Vietnam were from subsistence farms. They were doing fine until a family member got sick, then all the money went on doctors bills.

That's why natural disasters hit the third world so hard...there is no buffer. No insurance, no savings, no one to bail you out.