TRAVEL THE WORLD - NEAR MAHESHWAR, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

This young girl, photographed from the train in India in 2007, would likely be typical of many rural children raised in poverty in that country. The 2001 census reported a rural population of 740 million out of a total population of 1.17 billion. Although fertilizers and irrigation have improved the productivity of the soil, most of India's rural population remain poor, and many are deeply in debt to the extent that suicide is a major problem. Because the debt passes from father to son, their situation appears hopeless. Experts estimated, for example, that there were approximately 17,500 farmer suicides each year between 2002 and 2006. Recently, the government has initiated a program of debt relief for farmers. Though it will no doubt help, it is unlikely to solve such a huge problem.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - DELHI, INDIA

Soon after our arrival in India in late 2007, Paul had his shoes shined in Delhi. It was one of our first encounters with the people of India. My heart went out to this boy. Like many thousands of poor Indian families, his was forced to send their children out to work. When I saw his delightful smile, I wished he could have a life such as any Canadian child would take for granted. I can only hope that, in spite of being poor in material goods, he is relatively well-off when you consider love and the other things in life that really matter.