USA news on Youtube Nov 22 2017

[Ruthie Bolton]

Hi, my name is Ruthie Bolton, but they call me Mighty Ruthie.

I just finished a week of amazing basketball and also empowering women for the US Department

of State.

I was here as a

Sports Envoy and I had an amazing, amazing time.

I mean the experience I will carry with me for a lifetime.

I got a

chancve to go to alot of schools but Vaimauga really, really, really touched my heart, being

able to see the kids out

there just giving it a hundred percent, I really was empowered by their effort and by

their humility and the principal

led the way.

Every place I went really was a blessing, being serenaded by their traditional songs

and just such a

blessing and the kids are just so talented and I tell you, what an amazing, amazing empowering

moment to be able to

share with the women here of Samoa, the women about domestic violence and my experience

of it.

Thankfully I was able

to be transparent, watching the Mighty Ruthie film, being able to relay the message of turning

pain to power, working

with the National Boys and girls teams was just really awesome, I see great things in

the future for them.

There's a saying, sometimes less is more, a lot of the kids didn't have some of the

things that Americans have, but

I'm telling you, they gave 100% and just being able to see that really, really showed how

humble they are andshowed

true character so it was really a blessing to see they gave efforts in spite of what

they didn't have.

Kids having a lot of fun, being able to really empower kids about nutrition was just awesome,

I'm really convinced

that to the world you might be one person, but to one person you could be the world and

I really hope that what I was

this week here at this, in Samoa and I had an amazing time and really being able to fellowship

you know with the

people here and the kids and the women, it's just been a blessing and as I said you travel

in this world, there's a

lot of things that just touches the eyes but there's a few things that really touches the

heart and they've really

captured my heart and I really look forward to coming back and just fellowshipping with

them more and teaching them

about basketball and just really being in their confidence because it really was an

awesome, awesome experience that I

shall never forget

[Hele Matatia]

There's been a real good positive week this week with Ruthie, first it was about developing

basketball and a lot of

kids have had a great experience with Ruthie and I know that we've had a lot, we will have

a lot of rising stars

coming from Samoa.

Second is her message on domestic violence, and I know that this is, she's come at a critical

time

here in Samoa for domestic violence and I know she's given a message of hope to a lot

of young women out there to rise

up, to rise up, so it's been real positive week and we had, we really enjoyed having

her here.

I love you Ruthie!

[Ruthie Bolton]

Unfortunately this is coming to an end for now but Thank you US Embassy, thank you for

allowing me to come and just be

a blessing and be blessed, I've just been fully empowered this whole week and I look

forward to coming back and really

continue to create this movement of impact and change because I feel like I'm part of

the family now and I really look

forward to continuing the efforts in the future

For more infomation >> Ruthie Bolton - U.S. Sports Envoy visit to Samoa, October 23 - 27, 2017 - Duration: 3:32.

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Introduction: The Food Less Traveled - Duration: 3:25.

It's our most essential, basic need in this world. Over top of cars, bills,

cell phones, computers, clothes and everything else

that we have in our world.

It was James Beard, perhaps one of America's best-known chefs

that called food the common denominator that brings people

together. In the summer of 2017, I set out on a road trip from Mexico to Canada to

tell a story of a common denominator and to share the voices of our collective food community.

My name is Caroline Kamm and I am a graduate student, researcher,

and food advocate. Years ago, while I was doing my research in Belgium, I met a

farmer with a powerful point of view. He had founded a farmers cooperative to

tackle many of the challenges that farmers in the region faced. Farmers were

struggling with falling food prices, competition from abroad, and apathy from

politicians. After telling me about all of these challenges he looked me right

in the eye and told me: "It's a scary time to be a farmer, but it's also a little

exciting, don't you think? Since then I have set out to find other farmers

and food advocates like him, that see the exciting

opportunities in the food system. It is their stories that have the potential to

inspire others to make a difference of their own. This series will focus on

eight food and farming initiatives across North America. Each of them is

tackling a major challenge in the food system through their own unique work.

They all recognize that we have an uphill battle ahead of us, and even so

they have committed to making their mark. When I began this project my initial

focus was on local food. I thought about the experiences that first engaged me

with food issues, usually something as simple as going to the farmers market.

But when it comes to food system change I recognized that we needed diversity of

approaches, some big and some small. A local food system is more than how far

your food has traveled, it is about building stronger and healthier food communities

We are so excited to share stories from

these eight organizations with the world. More than that we are striving to put

these organizations into communication with one another, to reveal how their

work is in fact a component of a larger process of food system change.

These are the voices of North American food heroes and we want to celebrate the diversity

and ingenuity of their work. Join us as we journey through North American local food.

And beyond the single journey we hope you will join us in our mission of

building community around our common denominator. Food is essential,

it is liberating and as you will see in this series, a better food system

is worth fighting for.