Tie following tale of a savings group meeting is a sketch drawn from many sources.

The village Kouloukoura and its economy, environment, and social structures were crafted from a composite of villages in its region that have been closely studied by Oxfam America, Freedom from Hunger, Innovations for Poverty Action, and the University of Ari­zona’s Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology. The characters featured here are themselves composite sketches, drawn from case studies of and interviews with savings group members and data that indicates what a typical group in this area may look like, including its members’ livelihoods, fam­ily structures, and finances.