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At a water pump factory in Mexico, Noel Irwin-Hentschel noted aremarkable difference between two women who were the same age andhad grown up in the same village. One, who worked at the factory,"stood tall and had tremendous confidence,"Irwin-Hentschel says. "The other hadn't been given thesame opportunity, and her shoulders were bent over. She looked asthough she'd given up."
Though Irwin-Hentschel brings in about $150 million through hertravel business, Los Angeles-based AmericanTours International, hernonprofit organization provides an even greater commodity:hope.
"I've noticed the entrepreneurial spirit in the poorestwomen," says the founder of The Noel Foundation. "Whenthey have the opportunity to earn an income and have someself-respect, you see a major change in them."
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