As the old axiom goes: "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." But teach a woman to fish, and everyone eats for a lifetime. In this firsthand account, Ritu Sharma shares how women can, and are, overcoming the forces that keep them in poverty. She chronicles her travels through four countries—Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Honduras, and Nicaragua—and the intimate interactions she had with the women living there. Sharma's story not only details her experiences, but also looks at the broader systems that prevent women from leaving poverty behind. From lack of property rights and government corruption to the scarcity of basic infrastructure like roads, these women are restricted by the external limitations placed upon them. Sharma draws from her experiences to frame a larger exploration of how Americans can be instrumental in helping women break free of restrictive systems and begin to facilitate women's upward mobility. Written in her engaging personal voice, Teach a Woman to Fish provides an insider's look at women in poverty, how Washington works, and how change really happens—from the United States to the rest of the world.

In this book the authors explore some dynamic trends in society and church that are pushing believers into simpler ways of doing church. -- from back cover.

The incredible story of one of rock's most controversial stars, featuring excerpts from her letters and journals, interviews with friends speaking openly for the first time, and dozens of revealing, candid photos.

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life–namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers’ lessons home. The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, “What would a dolphin trainer do?” The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don’t. Rather than appease her mate’s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. “I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,” she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever. What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself. Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland’s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.

Easy to understand and simple to apply, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women is one of the most powerful books ever written about money and essential reading for any woman today. When Richard Paul Evans was twelve years old, his father fell and broke both of his legs. With no income and no insurance, the Evans family was destitute. At this time a multimillionaire taught young Evans the five secrets to wealth. Evans used those five secrets not only to change his life but that of thousands of others when he wrote The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth. An international bestseller, this essential book interweaves those influential lessons with personal stories from everyday people. Evans explains that money should not be the preoccupation of our lives, but instead our focus should be on the principles that free us to concentrate on God, family, and relationships—life's true riches. Now Evans has taken years of personal research and coaching to create the perfect money book for women who want a better life. With his classic, motivational voice, Evans offers lessons that are easy to understand and simple to follow. Powerful, proven, and life changing, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women may be one of the most important books you will ever read.

Fifty years before the phrase "simple living" became fashionable, Helen and Scott Nearing were living their celebrated "Good Life" on homesteads first in Vermont, then in Maine. All the way to their ninth decades, the Nearings grew their own food, built their own buildings, and fought an eloquent combat against the silliness of America's infatuation with consumer goods and refined foods. They also wrote or co-wrote more than thirty books, many of which are now being brought back into print by the Good Life Center and Chelsea Green. Simple Food for the Good Life is a jovial collection of "quips, quotes, and one-of-a-kind recipes meant to amuse and intrigue all of those who find themselves in the kitchen, willingly or otherwise." Recipes such as Horse Chow, Scott's Emulsion, Crusty Carrot Croakers, Raw Beet Borscht, Creamy Blueberry Soup, and Super Salad for a Crowd should improve the mood as well as whet the appetite of any guest. Here is an antidote for the whole foods enthusiast who is "fed up" with the anxieties and drudgeries of preparing fancy meals with stylish, expensive, hard-to-find ingredients. This celebration of salads, leftovers, raw foods, and homegrown fruits and vegetables takes the straightest imaginable route from their stem or vine to your table. "The funniest, crankiest, most ambivalent cookbook you'll ever read," said Food & Wine magazine. "This is more than a mere cookbook," said Health Science magazine: "It belongs to the category of classics, destined to be remembered through the ages." Among Helen Nearing's numerous books is Chelsea Green's Loving and Leaving the Good Life, a memoir of her fifty-year marriage to Scott Nearing and the story of Scott's deliberate death at the age of one hundred. Helen and Scott Nearing's final homestead in Harborside, Maine, has been established in perpetuity as an educational progam under the name of The Good Life Center.

This full-color illustrated book tells a story of caution yielding to caring, of a friendship growing to full bloom. It is a story that shows us how love, revealed one precious petal at a time, will finally uncover the rare & tender richness of the heart. Illustrator Paul Micich has won numerous awards for his art work. They include Gold & Silver Awards from the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, inclusion in Society of Illustrators Shows in New York & inclusion in the "Communication Arts" Illustration Annual. In 1991, he created illustrations for the timeless children's classic, The Littlest Angel. Mary Kay Shanley began her writing career with the Des Moines Register in 1965. Today, she is a freelance writer whose clients include several magazine publishers. SHE TAUGHT ME TO EAT ARTICHOKES is her first book. To order contact; Sta-Kris Inc., P.O. Box 1131, Marshalltown, IA 50158. Telephone 800-369-5676; FAX 515-753-0985.