www.WithinOurWorld.org
WOW was founded in 2012 as a means to connect local artisans and students around the world, with the global marketplace. Everywhere Within Our World, there are people that would benefit immensely from greater access to resources. Places where every penny counts. People whose lives can change with just a bit of help. From a global perspective, they are living peacefully and
sustainably in their own beautiful corner of the world. It is worth supporting and preserving their way of life, so these corners of the Earth stay beautiful and unique for generations to come. There are people with health problems for whom medicine is unaffordable. Their are children going to school without books, pens, or paper. Their are people who have done all that they can to fulfill a dream, or raise a family, but the final step to overcome poverty means trading today's food for a chance at a better tomorrow. A risk most can not take. With your help this leap from poverty is possible. Tomorrow can be today, help is on the way! WOW allows the entire world to live as one community, helping each other and working together. WOW is a doorway between global resources and local needs. A portal for people around the world to make big changes with small contributions. WOW travels around the world and seeks out the less fortunate. The people who could use a friendly gesture of support. You are presented with the issues effecting these people, and how a small economic boost will change their life. WOW will also show follow ups for each project, where you can see the impact each dollar makes in the lives of the people that received them. WOW distinguishes two genres of people needing support. The first are those individuals who are seeking a micro-investment. They will use the money to create or advance a sustainable business. A chance for them to raise out of poverty by increasing their income. These people have presented WOW with a sound business plan. They have planned exactly how the money will generate a sustainable income. WOW endorses those who are aiming for long lasting change. You are investing in a life without poverty. In these cases where your contribution is specifically intended to yield a financial return, the money is given as a loan, not a donation. Part of the business plan they must provide, is a timetable for how the increase in income generated by your contribution will allow for savings, and the eventual return of the loan to WOW. The returned loan is reinvested by WOW into other loans. In this way, each global contribution has the potential to change infinitely more lives. The second type of contribution is purely a contribution. There is no direct financial return. This contribution is simply intended to level the playing field. These contributions afford everyone the opportunity to the basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the truest sense. WOW gives the right of life through donations that allow for access to clean water, food, and healthcare. WOW gives the right of liberty by ensuring every child has the tools to use education as a way out of the cycle of poverty. WOW gives the right to pursue happiness by giving each person the chance to live out their dream. A camera for some one that dreams to be a photographer can lead to a career in journalism, just as an instrument can lead to professional mastery. But these passions should not come hand in hand with such pressures. No one should be forced to provide proof that their dream will directly result in financial gain, just for it to be possible for them to follow it. If they are drawn to photography, let them look at life through a lens. If music is what they wish to play, let them have an instrument and enjoy. Whether it is their source of funds or simply their passion and contribution to the betterment of society, should ultimately be up to fate, and not a requisite for the pursuit of happiness. With this in mind, WOW collects contributions to provide hobbies, passions, and dreams for those that think they are out of reach.
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CONTRIBUTIONS:
WOW keeps no portion of your contribution. Every penny goes straight to the person you intended it for. If you give $30 to change someone’s life, then they will receive $30. WOW imposes no minimums to show your support. If the total goal of the funds to be raised for one person’s benefit is $30, it can be donated through 30 individual one dollar donations, or 6 individual five dollar donations, or one $30 donation, etc.
*TRIP TIP - Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, said he had an epiphany when, as a teacher, he paid off 27 dollars to local loan sharks in his village. This was the total collective debt of 42 villagers he lived with, less than a dollar per person! Immediately, being able to start from zero, their small incomes were enough to move forward, rather than stay stuck just below zero. Grameen Bank has made millions of small, life changing investments and has grown from $27 to over $7 billion. All loans under $300, and most to women.
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WORLDWIDE LOCAL MARKET
Welcome to the worldwide local market; where local products meet the global market. Each place WOW goes, there are unique products only made in this town or region. These products are for sale on WOW. How your purchase changes lives:
Through WOW, shopper’s meet each vendor as he/she explains the origins of the item, where it came from, who made it, and what it’s made from. Shopper’s also learn how this purchase impacts the vendor, his/her family, and the society around them. The economic impact is enormous when you allow someone who is a “dollar-a-day” earner to earn even just a little more. With each purchase, vendor’s are selling you a one-of-a-kind item, in return for the opportunity to change their lives. Where do you want to spend your money? Whose life do you want to change?
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Pricing:
Prices are based on a socialized average of cost + labor. WOW acknowledges that materials cost different amounts in different places, but labor should be universally fair. No place should provide cheap labor for another, where the final relationship is exploitative. WOW believes transactions can be equally beneficial to both parties. A quality product begets a quality life for the vendor, and a cherished piece of humanity for the buyer. In time, the global exchange of fair prices for unique goods will lead a revolution from poverty. WOW allows customers to shop in places where money is scarce, and small amounts are exponentially more meaningful. EVERY PENNY COUNTS!
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Photos+
See the world from within. Within Our World brings the culture, nature, and beauty of the local, to the attention of the global. Cultures around the world that make a quilt of vibrant colors keeping the world warm. Nature is the force which molded these cultures, and provided everything necessary for a sustainable and peaceful life. Beauty is everywhere. It is in the first glimmer of sunrise over the mountain peaks. It glows with energy as the sun sets into the sea. It is unmistakable in a child’s smile, or a grandfather’s laugh. In a lion’s roar, or a babbling river. In the enchanting sounds of traditional rhythms played on modern instruments, and modern rhythms coaxed out of traditional instruments. The scents of a thousand homes cooking dinner, and the infinite tastes that lay at the end of these smells. Through pictures, video, writing, and music, WOW hopes to convey the beauty that makes this world worth preserving. Worth believing in. Worth investing in. No one is more knowledgeable of sustainable ways of living in a given environment, than those that have been living their for thousands of years. WOW shares and promotes these sustainable practices in ways that show the novel approaches to life in different places. Each place is its own perfect version of the world we live in. The people that live their deserve commendation and support. WOW will also document the growth of an organization whose singular endeavor is to unite the needs of the local, with the resources of the global. The purpose of WOW is not to promote a cause, but simply to share the beauty of the world. While WOW shows the daily struggle of poverty, it also shows the waterfalls thundering down the mountain; the monkeys in the trees, who swing freely, and come down to beg and bully people walking by. WOW shows the view from the open doors between the cars of the train, as jungle, beach, desert, mountain, village, city, world goes by. The brief glimpses of people whose entire lives are spent on the water, as WOW floats by on the boat. See the often gut wrenching, but always breathtaking vistas from the bus, as WOW cruises along the top of the world, or dodges vines from the rooftop as WOW rolls through the jungle. From the plane, to the walk WOW shows you the world, and what it takes to get to these places. Feel the “Welcome” WOW receives, and the “Good bye” WOW parts with. WOW shows why these small corners of the globe don’t need to change. They don’t need a new way of life. All they need is a chance to exist on a level global playing field. To have their voice be heard, and their knowledge be shared with the entire world. Use WOW as a guide how to lead your own adventures through the world. WOW provides the service of exposing everything wonderful Within Our World, and how to get, stay, and truly live in places where being alive means more than merely existing. Their is a reason people pay thousands of dollars to get to places where that amount of money doesn’t even exist. The reason is that these places are great. WOW guides people though these places in a way they can fully experience all that each place has to offer. THE REVOLUTION IS PUBLIC
