BRISTOL — The One World Library Project, located at the Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol, will present “Understanding Nicaragua’s Struggle with Poverty” on Thursday, April 25, from 7-8:30 p.m. Alex Tuck and Isabel Gamm, co-founders of the Vermont-based nonprofit organization People Helping People Global, will give a talk and head a discussion about the extreme poverty in Nicaragua and how PHPG is working to eliminate it.
The two will discuss the rich, Nicaraguan culture, and share photos and stories — both uplifting and heart-wrenching — of the things they have learned since PHPG began in 2009.
Gamm, born and raised in Fairfax, studied Latin American Studies and Spanish at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. Tuck is originally from Virginia, where he studied finance and economics at Roanoke College. After coming to the conclusion that living abroad was important and helping people out of poverty was a must, the two began their adventure. They started the nonprofit, moved to Nicaragua, and quickly grew accustomed to rice and beans three times a day, extreme heat, the country’s long struggle with machismo, brain drain, lack of employment opportunities, poor school systems, extreme poverty, devastating rainy seasons, active volcanoes, earthquakes, and a notorious president.
PHPG has been helping people living on less than $2 a day start businesses and raise themselves out of extreme poverty since 2009. More about the organization is at http://phpgmicrolending.org.
The One World Library Project is a “world library within a library” with adult and children’s collections of books, films, and other media about world cultures. OWLP items are available for community members to check out at the Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol.