Perhaps poverty is more common than we think

Maria Pacheco from Guatemala is an organic farmer, social entrepreneur and an accomplished champion of indigenous rural women’s empowerment. In 2004, Maria founded Kiej de los Bosques (Protectors of the Forests) to create eco-friendly economic opportunities for indigenous women. Today, Kiej de los Bosques provides 300 rural women’s associations with invaluable technical assistance focused on small business development and environmental sustainability.

One of my favourite short film-makers, Nik Askew, has made a wonderful short film about Maria and the lessons she has learnt both about poverty and about herself from her work with poor communities in Latin America.