As the old axiom goes: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”But . . . teach a woman to fish, and everyone eats for a lifetime. In this firsthand account, Ritu Sharma shares how women can, and are, overcoming the forces that keep them in poverty. She chronicles her travels through four countries — Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Honduras, and Nicaragua — and the intimate interactions she had with the women living there. Sharma’s story not only details her experiences, but also looks at the broader systems that prevent women from leaving poverty behind.