ABSTRACT
Countless people in developing countries are desperately poor. This means they have little or no access to materials, facilities, and services that they can use to safeguard their social and economic resources, improve their circumstances, or bootstrap their children’s chances for a better life. Nonetheless, many people, at least in South Africa, do improve their lives and those of their children. And they did, even during the most stifling years of Grand Apartheid; this is clear from the descriptions given by people like Sindiwe Magona (1990) of the way families, and particularly women, persevere in their efforts to educate and advance themselves and their children. This fact is testimony to the hidden potential of knowledge, skills, and resources in people, families, and communities.
