What if You Could Play a Roll in Ending World Poverty from Your Living Room?

Passion By Design: Guest, Carmel Jud, Rising International Paula McChesney and Sandy Peckinpah have a full hour of looking at the possibilities of making a difference in the world. Their guest today, Carmel Jud, had a dream to end world hunger. Thus, Rising International was born. This organization promotes ownership of craft-based businesses by women in both impoverished areas of developed nations as well as in developing nations. Their focus is primarily on women in high risk environments such as those in refugee camps, those living with HIV/AIDS, homeless women, displaced immigrants, former slaves, or those in war-torn regions of the world. By selling their handmade crafts and sharing their life stories, impoverished women reach out to the rest of the world, not for charity, but for a chance. Some of the items Rising promotes are traditional crafts passed down through generations, such as the baskets made by Ugandan women who have lost their children to AIDS, while others are new craft lines created for the Western market such as the silk purses which are woven by widows in Cambodia. To date, Rising has helped women and their families in 45 countries move toward a more sustainable livelihood. "We all have the power to make a difference and I believe when we encounter those less fortunate, we have an obligation to help" -Oprah Winfrey _____________________________________