Against the background of a popular revolt called the "Gas War," "The New Silver" shows how the lack of capital represents a heavy chain hanging around the necks of the poor of Bolivia and the Bolivian government alike.

While the new director of the State Oil & gas company Jaime Barrenechea needs billons of dollars to exploit the Bolivian gas reserves and provide household connections to the poor, an indigenous woman, Maria Cabana, and a strong-willed lower middle class entrepreneur Thomas Bravo struggle to get a small loans to kick start their small businesses.

Bolivia provides the setting for a penetrating look at how Tomas, Jaime and Maria show an enormous entrepreneurial spirit in their urge to survive. They have 'guts', talent and an amazing potential to make something out of nothing. Ultimately this film is a story about the struggle for 'ownership' and self-determination.

 

This episode includes downloadable "discussion guides" and features question and answer segments with experts from the Center for Global Development, a non-partisan "think-tank" working on development issues.

In "The Price of Cotton" we meet cotton farmers Ibrahima Coulibaly from West-Africa and James Machan and his family from Texas who are in competition with each other on the world market.

Ibrahima Coulibaly, is a representative of the farmers union of Mali and feels 'trapped,' not only because the market is unfair but also because it was imposed on him. We follow him from the field of his dusty native village, to the village of Molobala where he meets with the poor cotton farmer Sédou Dembele. Sedou is an average Malinese farmer of his region. Since cotton is the only available cash crop, Sedou is lucky if he actually makes his one dollar a day.

In the USA we meet the Macha's. At first they seem to be the opponents of Coulibally. Felix and his wife Monica are retired cotton growers in Texas. Their sons Steven and Jim, who took over the 3000 acres of cotton from their father, live next to them. We visit their irrigated fields and huge cotton picking machines. They also are angry and frightened. Their argument is that their costs are higher and therefore they need some compensation, to stay competitive. They say they need the subsidies to stay in business.

 

This episode includes downloadable "discussion guides" and features question and answer segments with experts from the Center for Global Development, a non-partisan "think-tank" working on development issues.

"The Strongest Link" illustrates how community healthcare workers are filling in the gaps in places where the healthcare system breaks down. The gaps, however, are overwhelming in the shantytowns of South Africa. Bulewa Princess Cima, 28 years old, 6 months pregnant and diagnosed HIV+ does not want to wait for the Government or anyone else to help her. After discovering her illness, Bulewla became an active member of 'Self-Help', a NGO set up to support women living in the townships. Bulewla's keenest wish is to give birth to a healthy child...

In essence this Mother and Child's story of hope in the midst of the daily struggle for survival is a metaphor for the hopes of all impoverished African women and children. What do the distant governments words mean to a woman living in shantytown? Will Bulewla's child be born healthy? Bulewa and animatedly outspoken physician Virginia Azevedo both try to challenge illness, poverty and taboos that exist in South Africa.

 

This episode includes downloadable "discussion guides" and features question and answer segments with experts from the Center for Global Development, a non-partisan "think-tank" working on development issues.

In "Made In China" we meet Wayne Petersen as he scans the labels at a Target store; "Made in China? No thanks!" The manufacturing jobs this ex-miner sees disappearing to China stand for new opportunities for the young Li-Jieli to improve her and her families living conditions.

Sacrificing her education to earn money for her family, and suffering drudgery, loneliness and displacement, Li Jieli must leave her rural Chinese home to work in a far-away factory where she is only a number. Li's story gives us a look behind the factory gates. Will her job provide her a basis for growth and personal fulfillment? She has only been back home once in the last three years.

In the depressed Iron Range of Minnesota, Wayne Peterson and David Olson are also forced to make difficult choices to survive in a job market impacted by global trade. The local iron mine had shut down due to high labor costs but has recently reopened because of demand for iron from China. Pensions and benefits from the previous owners are gone. Questions of corporate responsibility in both countries come into play as Wayne and David must decide about where their security lies in a shifting global economy.

 

This episode includes downloadable "discussion guides" and features question and answer segments with experts from the Center for Global Development, a non-partisan "think-tank" working on development issues.

"Bombay Jungle" looks at Access to Basic Needs in a city of opportunities and dreams. People come to work in the Bombay to earn their living, which they can't earn back in their villages. But nothing is free in this metropolis.

For grandmother Kurshida Bano, who lives in a shantytown on the edge of a National park, meeting the most basic needs of food, water and a place to relieve oneself is a daily challenge. Proud Kurshida is also confronted by the High Court that gave a ruling that the national park needs to be protected and ordered for eviction of over 80-thousand families from the slum. After the government has tried to evict her with bulldozers Khurshida is fighting for the survival of her family against all bureaucratic odds. What right does she have and how can she execute them?

Architect P.K. Das with his housing rights organization and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority of Bombay are trying to find ways to relocate them. They work together with private developer Ramesh Shah. But the bureaucracy and corruption in the system is rampant. The slum dwellers fight with pride for their right to exist: but there are winners and losers.

"The Tunnel and Other Lies" illustrates that Access to Good Governance is key to escaping the poverty trap. In post-war Bosnia to be in the right does not mean getting your rights, that's a matter of long-windedness. While influential people succeed in defending their interests in the bureaucratic maze, the average citizen still pulls the shortest straw.

Amidst the rubble of this war-torn landscape, Omer Bjelonja's family is seeking way to reposes the home they sacrificed to this country's war effort. Their home served in the war as the entrance/exit of the legendary Sarajevo tunnel. Redjo Seferovic is also fighting an unjust and biased system that allowed him to be fired from his job as a security guard because of his race. The common element in their stories, and their mutual pillar of hope, is their courageous lawyer, Branka Inic, who is willing to challenge the corrupt system in her representation of its many victims, despite the monstrous roadblocks in their paths.

While many people recognize that surviving on a dollar a day is a struggle, very few understand the nature of poverty. In addition poor people are often not recognized for the creativity and resourcefulness they possess.

"A Dollar a Day" is a poignant six-part international series of 50 minutes programs that shows what it means to live under the poverty line. The series revolves around themes of "Access" - Access to Capital, Access to Basic Needs, Access to Markets, Access to Jobs, Access to Healthcare and Access to Good Governance.

These programs illustrate that while poor people may lack money, education, security or healthcare, they do not lack creative and courageous initiatives, knowledge and willpower. The world is full of stories of those desperately poor who transform their lives and living conditions.

The films of "A Dollar a Day" are an excellent resource for individuals and groups that want to learn more about the causes of poverty and what can be done about them. Four of the episodes include downloadable "discussion guides" and features question and answer segments with experts from the Center for Global Development, a non-partisan "think-tank" working on development issues. Purchase these programs individually or buy the whole series and get a discount.

Perhaps the greatest value of this series is that you get to know some people who live on a dollar a day. They become real human beings and not just "the poor." In knowing them you discover that they are not so different from us.

 

Episodes and themes include: