Not having experienced a life of poverty it would be easy to have many unrealistic ideas of such a life. Many, perhaps most, people not having experienced this poverty have very little understanding of the difficulties. Even the simplest things can be difficult, such as having to use the comfort room (toilet) in the middle of the night when it's totally dark. You might think to bring a flashlight but what if you can't afford even a flashlight, yet alone constantly afford the batteries for it.
This particular page of this website is a bit different. Instead of telling you personal stories I have opted to give you examples of the types of things many girls/women felt they had to do to survive. Many girls/women didn't want their personal stories told out of fear of possibly being arrested and/or because of the shame they felt for the things they did.
It is extremely rare to meet a woman/girl that has no shame for selling her body on the internet doing webcam shows. I've met girls that have worked as "GROs", which means "Guest Relations Officer - often a polite term for a girl possibly working as a prostitute in a club/bar. Some girls will sometimes call themselves "entertainers" but this is not to say that all are prostitutes but it's very, very common that they are.
Typically GROs (often called "bar girls") that work in a bar or club try to convince a patron (customer) to buy drinks, that is often one of their duties. There may be a certain quota they are expected to meet... A patron can "bar fine" a girl, that is the patron can have the girl for the night by paying a fee to the bar/club. What happens afterwards between the girl and the patron is their own business but this is often how the prostitution occurs, as the girl may then be offered money for sexual services.
Finding good work or a job can be very difficult if you have little or limited education. I've heard many stories of the odd jobs people have worked. Many poor teens have had more jobs and can tell you more life stories than many adults in the United States (or many other Western nations). Many have had to stop their education to support their family or sometimes stop so they could save for school tuition and resume school later. It is not uncommon for find people in their twenties (20's) or in their thirties (30's) in High School.
I think at this point it would just be easier for you the see the videos of the anonymous interviews. You will hear the life story of a girl, her sister, the odd jobs they had and the homes they've lived in - all before they became 18 years old.
The video is dark to protect the identity of the girl being interviewed.
To see the first (1st) interview click interview one.
To see the second (2nd) interview click interview two.
You will hear stories of how they've made and sold banana-que, almost got killed while trying to catch fish to sell, having left their family to go work for relatives selling food on the streets for up to 16 hours a day, earning 50 pesos (a little more than one U.S. dollar presently) per day, etc. All the while giving almost all of their money to their family.