As I watched this video, I was in complete and total awe of these young men.  They lived in Haiti for 28 days on ONE DOLLAR a day, to experience true poverty first hand.  It changed them, and this is their story.

In February 2010, brothers Matt and Andrew Jones founded “Poverty Resolutions” hoping to help those most affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti.  That May they set out with two of their friends to live along side the Haitians in Port-au-Prince for 28 days, and they were committed to live on only $1 per person per day for food, water, and supplies. They would be filming everything, to show the world what it’s like to live in extreme poverty.  The took a tent, a change of clothes, and little more than that.

Though they went in an effort to help after the earthquake, they found that the bigger problem was poverty, and the lack of jobs, food, medical services, and infrastructure.  As bad as things were for these guys, for 28 days, it is mind boggling to imagine having to live this way all the time.

Matt talks about the Haitian people in our interview,

It was amazing to see how resilient they were, and how they continue to have hope.  I looked around and saw basically no hope after 28 days, and yet they would tell me about their hopes and dreams and they would talk about how they were going to work their way up and out and it was amazing to see that in person after person. So I guess I learned a lot but one thing I really learned is about the people, and that they are resilient no matter what.”

Watch this video they shot of their experience, and see what life is like everyday for the 1.4 billion people that live in extreme poverty throughout the world…

Much respect to the guys that did this, Andrew Jones, one of the organizations co-founders, an R.N. and M.B.A. student at Penn State when the project took place.  Matt Jones, Andrew’s older brother and the other co-founder, was a Grad Student at the time, married, with a baby.  Jon Rose, he had served in the Navy, and was a student at Philadelphia Biblical University at the time, and Chris Matticola who left his job as a bartender to be a part of the experience/project.

We were able to talk with Poverty Resolutions co-founder Matt Jones about the organization, and the groups experiences during their 28 days in Haiti…

In the years since shooting the video, the guys have shared their story with thousands of students at schools and universities across the country hoping to inspire others to take that extra step, and get involved with fighting poverty, whether it be across the world or in our own communities.  Share this story, and it is possible that one day, we can all defeat “One Dollar Poverty”.

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