Poverty is reality for nearly half the world’s population…almost 3 billion people. And of those, more than 1 billion subsist on less than $1 a day. For them, the smallest of necessities seem impossible – every step is another obstacle to overcome. The statistics tell a grim tale:

• Poverty is the number one killer in the world (British Medical Journal)

• Six-million children under the age of 5 die as a result of hunger and malnutrition every year (UNICEF)

• More than 1 billion people live without access to safe drinking water (UN)

• More than 78 percent of the developing world's urban population now lives in slums (UN - Habitat)

Statistics only tell part of the story though. Behind the numbers are real people. And these are their stories.