Listening to world events play out in the news each day can be depressing. In spite of a planet so clearly filled with turmoil and grief, there are still many great things happening, and wonderful organizations that are making a massive difference to help others. We wanted to share with you some of the ones we admire and support, and hope that you will take a moment to visit their websites to find out how you can help too.

Amnesty International - The Stop Violence Against Women Campaign

We are dedicated to supporting other organizations in their efforts to eliminate violence against women. Everyday around the globe, (and in our own neighborhood), women are threatened, beaten, raped and mutilated. Too many are killed and the ones lucky enough to survive are left to live with the scars of the psychological trauma for the rest of their life. To find out how you can make a difference please visit:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/index.do

Campaign Against the Trafficking of Women and Girls

Trafficking - the illegal transport and sale of human beings for the purpose of exploiting their labor is a slavery- like practice that must be abolished. As we sit in our comfy homes women and children around the world are being forced into sweat shops, prostitution and domestic servitude against their will. Today the figures recorded of victims taken against their will have reached epidemic levels and is fast becoming a global phenomenon.

Women are often lured into the hands of their captors with the promise of a good job in another country. In many cases women are tricked, believing that going with their perpetrators will end the cycle of poverty for them and their family. Other tactics are frequently employed to capture women into the slave trade. This may include intimidation, use of physical force, deception, and debt bondage where the captors lend the women or her family a small sum of money which the women then has to 'work' to pay off. The structure of this type of arrangement is such that women never get into a position where they actually work off that debt, and are 'owned' for years by their captors. For more information and up to date statistics on this alarming trend visit:

http://www.catwinternational.org

Operation Smile

Operation Smile volunteers repair childhood facial deformities and conduct medical missions throughout the world. The work they do is remarkable and life changing. To find out more visit.

http://www.operationsmile.org

Facing The World