2007.04.22: April 22, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Thailand: Diplomacy: Hunger: Small Business: Enterprise-Record: Tony Hall now works with an organization called Opportunity International, which works to end poverty by making very small loans to people in poor nations so that they can start their own businesses
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2007.04.22: April 22, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Thailand: Diplomacy: Hunger: Small Business: Enterprise-Record: Tony Hall now works with an organization called Opportunity International, which works to end poverty by making very small loans to people in poor nations so that they can start their own businesses
Tony Hall now works with an organization called Opportunity International, which works to end poverty by making very small loans to people in poor nations so that they can start their own businesses
Through Opportunity International, Hall said he is co-chairman of an effort to raise $1 billion by 2015, which will be used to help 100 million women get out of poverty. Hall said his Christian faith is very important in his life. His faith is based on action, he said. "I believe that faith is sharing something. I'd rather see a sermon than hear one." Asked what he thinks Americans should do about hunger, poverty and other problems plaguing the world, Hall said, "I think people should figure that out for themselves. Some people can feed the hungry. Others can pray, others can organize, others can be kind to their next door neighbors." Hall traces the origin of his own interest in world hunger to the two years he spent in the Peace Corps in Thailand. He said he had a life-changing experience in 1984 during a trip to Ethiopia: He saw 25 children die from hunger. Former Congressman Tony Hall of Ohio was ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand in the 1960's.
Tony Hall now works with an organization called Opportunity International, which works to end poverty by making very small loans to people in poor nations so that they can start their own businesses
Former ambassador targets world hunger
By LARRY MITCHELL - Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/22/2007 03:23:33 AM PDT
Tony Hall, who has been an ambassador and a congressman, urges people to realize they can make a difference in the world.
Hall, 65, was to speak in Chico Thursday at a benefit for the Jesus Center, which feeds the hungry locally.
Between 600 and 700 people were expected to attend Hall's talk in the Bell Memorial Union at Chico State University, said Bill Such, executive director of the Jesus Center.
Seeing the problems of the world, "a lot of people throw up their hands," Hall said in a phone interview.
Given the magnitude of the problems, such an attitude is understandable but not justifiable, Hall believes.
He said he agrees with the response of Mother Teresa when a reporter suggested that all her work for India's poor was just "a drop in the bucket."
Mother Teresa replied, "No, it's a drop in the ocean. But if I didn't do it, it'd be one less drop."
"We can all do something," Hall said. "We can all make a difference whether it's in Calcutta or in Chico."
For years, Hall has worked to eradicate world hunger. It's an immense problem, which kills an estimated 25,000 people a day.
After serving in Congress for 24 years, Hall was appointed by President Bush as ambassador to the United Nations' humanitarian agencies.
He's traveled all over the world and witnessed poverty on an immense scale.
Now, he works with an organization called Opportunity International, which works to end poverty by making very small loans to people in poor nations so that they can start their own businesses.
These loans give them a boost and in many cases enable them to begin climbing out of poverty, he said.
For example, one woman helped by the agency was able to start a business meeting buses and selling coffee and rolls to the passengers.
Through Opportunity International, Hall said he is co-chairman of an effort to raise $1 billion by 2015, which will be used to help 100 million women get out of poverty.
Hall said his Christian faith is very important in his life. His faith is based on action, he said. "I believe that faith is sharing something. I'd rather see a sermon than hear one."
Asked what he thinks Americans should do about hunger, poverty and other problems plaguing the world, Hall said, "I think people should figure that out for themselves. Some people can feed the hungry. Others can pray, others can organize, others can be kind to their next door neighbors."
Hall traces the origin of his own interest in world hunger to the two years he spent in the Peace Corps in Thailand.
He said he had a life-changing experience in 1984 during a trip to Ethiopia: He saw 25 children die from hunger.
It was during a civil war and famine, when there was no food nor water.
That "changed my whole outlook," he said.
Staff writer Larry Mitchell can be reached at 896-7759 or lmitchell@chicoer.com.
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Headlines: April, 2007; RPCV Tony Hall (Thailand); Figures; Peace Corps Thailand; Directory of Thailand RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Thailand RPCVs; Diplomacy; Hunger; Small Business; Ohio
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Story Source: Enterprise-Record
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Thailand; Diplomacy; Hunger; Small Business
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