Global girlfriends : how one mom made it her business to help women in poverty worldwide / Stacey Edgar.

Peace Corps reject -- 911 -- Friends in low places -- God turns his head on the Indian highway -- Namaste notions -- Believe -- Oh la la fair trade -- The painted priest of La Palma -- Life's fabric -- Haiti -- Africa at last -- Further afield.

Start small, dream big, change lives, this is the story of how one woman harnessed the power of fair trade to help women in poverty help themselves. Seven years ago, the author had a $2,000 tax return and a deep desire to help provide economic security for women in need. She knew that of the 1.3 billion people living on less than $1 per day, seventy percent are women. What she didn't have was a business plan, or a passport. But that didn't stop her from creating a socially conscious business that has helped poor women in five continents feed their families and send their children to school. The business has grown into a multi million dollar enterprise that specializes in handmade, fairly traded, ecoconscious apparel, accessories, and items made by women all over the world. This is the author's story of following her convictions, as well as her passionate argument for simple actions we can all take to eliminate extreme poverty. She refused to be paralyzed by the size of world poverty; she started by taking several small steps, personal responsibility firmly in hand, and never looked back.