Tammy Barry thinks she has the best job in the world and I can’t blame her. At Mercy Learning Center in Connecticut, moms study English as a second language, prepare to earn their high school equivalency degrees, and learn life skills essential to success in America. Meanwhile, their children spend the day in Mercy’s preschool programs.

But Tammy does much more than just read to kids and keep them out of mom’s hair for the day. She makes the books comes alive and teaches mothers the importance of reading to their children.

I love the philosophy at Mercy Learning Center: “If you educate the woman of the house, you’re going to educate the whole family.”

For the kids, the best part is when they each take home a brand-new copy of that week’s book. Every week they give away 40 to 45 books which Tammy acquires through creative and inventive means. Sometimes she purchases books using grant money from local organizations. Others are donated by individuals or through book drives at local schools. One friend throws an annual holiday tea party. Instead of hostess gifts, guests bring books (Tammy registers the titles at a local bookstore). And Tammy’s kids often request books in lieu of birthday presents.

The Center’s programs focus on empowering women, and providing dignity, economic self-sufficiency and hope to the most vulnerable members of society. By educating these women, Mercy Learning Center provides critical training to help functionally illiterate women improve their skills and earning potential, creating a more hopeful future for themselves and their children.

I love what they are doing and know the incredible impact this can only have on future generations. If you’d like to support this project just visit Mercy Learning Center and find out more!

Did you know that only 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled worldwide? Were you aware that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean?

When on the sailing trip recently to Belize, I was horrified to literally be in the middle of nowhere and on this tiny island, hundreds of pieces of plastic had washed ashore.

One area of excess plastic bags I had never thought of is dry cleaning bags. Probably because I try to live in shorts and t-shirts much of the time and everything needs to go into two suitcases, I never think of dry cleaning anymore. But apparently, they are a large environmental problem.

One woman came up with a solution and as a byproduct created a fabulous entrepreneurial venture. Although it took Jane Wyler 19 years of allowing the brilliant idea to sit on the shelf while she raised a family, she knew the timing was right for taking dry cleaning to a level of environmental friendliness.

They’re called the Clothesnik, a 100% cotton garment bag made specifically for those who love to dry clean but don’t want to add to the 1 billion plastic bags that get thrown away every year.

Designed with a drawstring at the bottom and zipper down the front, just bundle your dirty clothes in the Clothesnik to the dry cleaners or laundry, and they come back clean and ready to go hanging in the same bag. Just like a regular garment bag, but better.

Today, Jane’s company, Reuseniks, sells the Clothesnik all over the world. Her reusable bag has been purchased in large numbers by corporations, by dry cleaners, by top fashion boutiques and fashion designers and by individuals, perhaps like you, who don’t want to leave behind a plastic bag that can take 500 years to degrade.

Do you have any ideas about making a difference that you’ve put on the shelf for various reasons? Perhaps now is the time to take them off the shelf, dust them off and see if they evoke any passion in you? One small idea like this can make a huge difference in the world.

Iranian woman at a protest in Brussels

A global online community is making a massive impact. Last week they made sure that whales weren’t hunted legally and today they are attempting to save an Iranian woman from being stoned.

This organization caught my attention a few months ago and they are definitely one you want to notice. For every person who wants to see a better world but doesn’t know quite what to do, connect yourself with www.avaaz.org.

Avaaz means “voice” in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages. Their mission is to organize people around the world to help close the gap between the world we have and the world most people want.

In just 3 years, they have grown to 5.5 million members from every country on earth, becoming the largest global web movement in history.
They’ve caught the media’s attention but more importantly, I want them to catch yours.

Today I received an email that Avaaz is working desperately to save an Iranian woman’s life. Most of us cannot even imagine being stoned to death for adultery but it is happening everyday in certain parts of the world.

Can you help? Absolutely! Right now they need 50,000 signatures and I mean today!

Yesterday they saved her life. Tomorrow it could be too late. Please go to http://bit.ly/aMqsQb now and sign the petition.

I love what Avaaz is doing in the world and I think you will too!

Photograph: Thierry Roge/Reuters

Almost 20 years ago, Ann Cotton, visited Zimbabwe, Africa to find out why girl’s school enrollment in rural areas was so low. She discovered that the primary obstacle was poverty. Families couldn’t afford to buy books or pay school fees for all their children, so they had to choose who would receive an education. Girls were rarely chosen. The reason was simple: Boys had a better chance of getting a paid job after graduation.

So Ann wondered: Could an economic solution open school doors to girls? Could it lead to economic, social and cultural benefits for rural Africa?

She returned home to Cambridge, England, determined to find a way to help girls go to school in Zimbabwe. She recruited friends and family and sold baked goods to raise money and awareness about the lack of education for girls in Africa. At the end of her grassroots campaign, she supported 32 girls through school.

In 1993, Ann formally launched Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education. The girls supported by Camfed stayed in school and did well, demonstrating that girls’ education was valued by families when the costs were not longer a burden.

What have been the results of this woman committed to making a difference when it would have been so much easier to turn a blind eye?

Camfed’s model has now been replicated in 2,295 communities in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Malawi and Tanzania.

In Tanzania, schools supported by Camfed through the Safety Net Fund showed a 37 percent reduction in drop-out rates between 2005 and 2007.

In Camfed partner high schools in Zambia, pregnancy rates fell by 9 percent between 2006 and 2008, compared to an increase of 38 percent in a control sample of schools.

Since 1993, they’ve improved the school environment for 1,065,710 children, provided scholarships for 42,184 girls to go to high school, trained 4,068 teacher mentors and helped 769 young women go to college.

Their microfinance program has helped 6,084 women start small businesses and 1,449 expand.

They’ve also trained 1,504 community health activists through Cama, the Camfed Association, which has 14,005 African members who advocate for change in rural Africa.

I am sure when Ann was baking cookies back in 1991 to raise money to send a few girls to school, she had NO idea of what the next 20 years would bring. Thankfully, she didn’t let the obstacle of a massive continent, a huge problem and a desperate need stand in her way of just taking the first small step.

I know that in looking at problems in various countries I have visited, I’ve thought, “what can I do to help?” Ann’s example is an amazing role model for all of us to just start. eradicate

Camfed needs your help and they have made it is so simple!

On Facebook Causes, more than 544,000 members have joined their cause “Educate Girls in Africa. Fight Poverty and HIV” and are helping promoting the benefits of girls’ education.

But two anonymous donors want them to do more and have issued a challenge: Reach 1 million supporters on Causes by the end of the year. To sweeten the deal, they will donate 50 cents for each new supporter that joins the Cause, up to $100,000.

So you can make a big difference now, in five seconds or less. Simply visit www.causes.com/camfed and join the cause. Then, share this message and ask your friends to join the cause and recruit their friends. You’ll not only be promoting the benefits of girls’ education in Africa, you’ll help Camfed raise enough money to send 4,000 girls to elementary school!

Will you do that today and make your difference? Please do!

Most mothers would agree that raising a family is a full-time career. Now add to that already full-time job the fact that your children are adopted from a foreign country. That puts an extra spin on things, doesn’t it? How easy would it be to say, “I already have my hands full! I can’t do anything more!”? Probably very easy and honestly, most people would agree with you.

That’s just one reason I was fascinated when I read about Danielle LiVolsi. After adopting two boys from the Ukraine who were vitamin-deficient, Danielle created Nuttzo to help them with their nutritional issues. NuttZo is an Omega-3 powerhouse of nutrition blended into a delectable nut butter.

However, Danielle didn’t stop at just creating a food product which is no small feat with all of the rules and regulations around that, she also created a philanthropic side to the company to help other children in difficult circumstances.

Project Left Behind, is a non-profit organization focused on providing human touch, nourishment and surrogate nurturing tools to orphans all around the world. You have to admire the difference that Danielle is making because I am sure there are moments when she’s tired, overwhelmed by the amount of suffering and would love a few extra hands. But to see the quality of product she has produced AND the impact she is making on young precious lives is exciting. Have a look and be inspired!

Teens Making a Difference

Have you ever thought that you just can’t have your dream? Maybe you’ve always wanted to build a retreat for single moms, or a camp for disabled kids. Perhaps you’ve wanted to go to Africa and help feed orphans or save an endangered species.

It’s easy to think, “I’m too young, too old, too poor, too busy” and a host of other excuses. That’s why when I met this group of teens committed to making a difference, I had to share them with you.

Teens Turning Green is a student led movement. These teens are committed to education and changing the laws, making a difference in their community and schools. They were instrumental in having the law in California become one of the strictest in the US regarding the products allowed in cosmetics.

Teens Turning Green are working to identify and eliminate toxic exposures as you will see on their website. They have got toxin-free personal care products into Whole Foods markets in the States and that is only the beginning.

They started in a small area of California in 2005 and now have a presence at elementary, middle and high schools, universities, and student organizations across the country, as well as a strong virtual platform and media presence.

Their latest project called Project Lunch will start this fall. It’s an ambitious project to work with schools to create lunch programs that are locally grown, organic when able, nutritious and zero waste.

When I learned about this group while researching my upcoming book on breast health, I wanted to celebrate the impact this group of teens has already made. Check out Teens Turning Green today and let their enthusiasm inspire you.

It feels like forever since I sat down and wrote my blog. I have actually been waiting for my web gal to make some changes so I could let you know what was happening. Beginning about the middle of June, this will again be a very regular blog but with a new theme. This theme is much more in line with the new websites that are being worked on and a much more focused market.

One of the things that I have loved about my life over the last ten years is being able to make a difference. And one of the most exciting things I have noticed about people is that they love to make a difference too. When you ask for help or a contribution, people love to feel they are doing their part. What I have also found is that there is so much bad news out there, that all the good things that are happening on the planet often go unnoticed. We need a lot more “good news”.

So this blog is dedicated to a celebration of people making a difference in the world. I am excited to look for stories to entertain you, inspire you and help you appreciate your value. If you are doing something that you want me to share, let me know. I believe the more we hear good things, the better this world will be.

In the meantime, I leave on Friday for Seattle and then Sunday morning, Greg and his 98-year-old mother are driving to Sedona with me and staying for a week. It will be interesting. I haven’t seen Jeannette since the airport in Puerto Vallarta last June. It will be nice to have the company for the trip and a great time to spend some quality time with Greg, although he has promised to go through my new book manuscript with me. I’m holding him to the promise!

Once settled with the manuscript turned over to my editor, I will be back here full-time. In the meantime, with about 80,000 words written since April 5th, my hands hurt, my shoulders ache and my arms need whatever rest I can give them.

Have an amazing few weeks and talk to you soon!

I really have tried to stay away from the media on the Gulf oil spill because it is too upsetting. Already up to my eyeballs in research that at times has made me sick to my stomach, had me crying or downright outraged in the area of breast health, dealing with the oil spill has felt like the icing on the cake.

However, through a few emails from my database, I realize that I cannot ignore the devastation that is taking place. Here’s one email that I received with some valuable information.

“The original estimate was about 5,000 gallons of oil a day spilling into the ocean. Now they’re saying 200,000 gallons a day. That’s over a million gallons of crude oil a week!

I’m engineer with 25 years of experience. I’ve worked on some big projects with big machines. Maybe that’s why this mess is so clear to me.

First, the BP platform was drilling for what they call deep oil. They go out where the ocean is about 5,000 feet deep and drill another 30,000 feet into the crust of the earth. This it right on the edge of what human technology can do. Well, this time they hit a pocket of oil at such high pressure that it burst all of their safety valves all the way up to the drilling rig and then caused the rig to explode and sink. Take a moment to grasp the import of that. The pressure behind this oil is so high that it destroyed the maximum effort of human science to contain it.

When the rig sank it flipped over and landed on top of the drill hole some 5,000 feet under the ocean.

Now they’ve got a hole in the ocean floor, 5,000 feet down with a wrecked oil drilling rig sitting on top of is spewing 200,000 [gallons] of oil a day into the ocean. Take a moment and consider that, will you!

First they have to get the oil rig off the hole to get at it in order to try to cap it. Do you know the level of effort it will take to move that wrecked oil rig, sitting under 5,000 feet of water? That operation alone would take years and hundreds of millions to accomplish. Then, how do you cap that hole in the muddy ocean floor? There just is no way. No way.

The only piece of human technology that might address this is a nuclear bomb. I’m not kidding. If they put a nuke down there in the right spot it might seal up the hole. Nothing short of that will work.

If we can’t cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this?

We’re so used to our politicians creating false crises to forward their criminal agendas that we aren’t recognizing that we’re staring straight into possibly the greatest disaster mankind will ever see. Imagine what happens if that oil keeps flowing until it destroys all life in the oceans of this planet. Who knows how big of a reservoir of oil is down there.

Not to mention that the oceans are critical to maintaining the proper oxygen level in the atmosphere for human life.”

It was when I read the paragraph about the politicians creating false crises that I realized that part of my complacency is that our governments have “cried wolf” too many times. The swine flu is a perfect example of that. So I tend to not pay alot of attention to the media and all the hoopalas it manages to create just to stir up the pot of fear in people. However, it appears that this one is for real and we need to do whatever we can.

At this point, our prayers and positive healing thoughts for our dear Mother Earth may be the most appropriate. As this author concluded his comments that we need a miracle, I’m inclined to agree. If anyone wants to share what they have heard or comments, it feels like this one would be a good one to pursue as far as discussion and involvement.

Have a blessed Mother’s Day.

This morning with tears in my eyes I watched Jamie Oliver’s 20 minute talk to the audience of TED. Please take 20 minutes out of your day and watch this amazing young father, activist and social entrepreneur. There is a powerful message in what he has to say but he also is a fabulous model for following his passion, speaking his mind and making a difference.

Jamie must have the Sacred Gift of Simplicity because he never gets dressed up, not even for a well-to-do audience. Not interested in impressing people with his hair or fancy clothes, Jamie is truly a model of placing far more emphasis on the message rather than the messenger. I learn alot from this out-spoken activist. I’m trust you will too.

Have a watch and let me know what you think. http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

The other day I saw a slogan that said, “I’m not opinionated. I’m just always right.” I haven’t stopped smiling about it. Especially as I am writing a particularly controversial book, it is impossible to not be opinionated. As a matter of fact, I absolutely need to be.

In looking at whether it is being opinionated, passionate or dogmatic which has a negative connotation of being arrogant along with being opinionated, it can be hard to know when you’re supposed to “go with the flow” and when you’re supposed to state your opinion.

What I have noticed is that many people have lost the feistiness, the spark that lights up their eyes and fuels the passion in their soul. Being more concerned about fitting in, not rocking the boat or the fear of being seen as opinionated, radical or maverick can over-ride the knowingness deep in our soul that what we feel is right and to say something about it. It can be much easier and safer to just stay quiet. It also takes a lot of energy to have an opinion and even more to vocalize it.

It’s a subject that best-selling author and activist Marianne Williamson raises frequently. In speaking about the apathy of the women in America (I apply this to both sexes in developed countries) and their desire to change something, she says: “they are disconnected both internally and externally from their power and the collective power of women to make the change”.

She explains that the female hyenas surround their cubs until they are fed and don’t allow the males anywhere near the food. Today with 17,000 children dying each day, one every 5 seconds, Marianne simply asks: Can the women of America not do better than the hyenas? In other words, will we find our power, our passion and our opinion personally and collectively to stand up for what we know is right?

Complacency is a subtle enemy. It’s like the frog in the water that doesn’t jump out because the water gets gradually warmer and warmer and eventually he is boiled to death. We’re being boiled to death as we tolerate more and more, gradually becoming accustomed to what would have horrified us before.

If you doubt that fact, just look at the current rating of movies or the television shows including the nudity and graphic language that is currently allowed on TV. We would never have tolerated much of what is now accepted as the norm a few decades ago.

Having an opinion can definitely be offensive when it is coupled with arrogance, that “if you don’t believe my way, you’re wrong” or a lack of respect if someone doesn’t believe the way you do. My dear dad is about as dogmatic as one can be about the rightness of his religious beliefs and the dangerous, deadly path I walk in my spiritual path. There is nothing subtle in his emails to me and he completely ignores that I am an adult entitled to my opinions. However, at 87 years of age, I just send him love and know he really thinks he’s saving me.

On the other hand, there are so many issues I believe we need to get opinionated about. I’ve just chosen one tiny little issue in my upcoming book but I could think of a hundred things I could stand up and be passionate about. What about you? If you’re having a hard time thinking of anything that you would stand on the mountaintop and declare with all of your life force, then you may need to recharge your opinion battery.

What good comes from having an opinion? Lots! First of all, I believe we are here for a reason. Especially, if you are reading newsletters like mine, you did not come to twiddle your thumbs and contemplate your navel. Trust me, you are here for a reason and it’s probably bigger than you are currently thinking.

So having an opinion lights the fire in your soul, finds your passion and sets you on your purpose. It gets you using your sacred gifts, your talents and blessings you are here to share with the world. It gives you a reason to move beyond yourself and your problems and challenges. It’s why you get out of bed in the morning with energy and vigor. An opinion will help you find meaningful goals and the fuel to reach them.

Yes, having an opinion does all of those things.

Are you ready to get opinionated? I hope so! We need more energized, passionate, driven people in the world who have a cause they are opinionated about and are willing to share with others. These are exciting times! You really need to find those opinions inside of you and start sharing them with others. See what they say, how it fine tunes you and makes you stronger and even more passionate.

And remember the next time someone shares an opinion with you, even if you don’t agree with it, bless them for having the courage to speak up and thank them for sharing it with you.

We can do better than the hyenas, can’t we?