narrator: today on "earth focus"... spills like the bp disaster in the gulf get the headlines, but they're a fraction of the problem. the new film, "oil in our waters," exposes illegal oil dumping in the shipping industry. director micah fink explains. coming up on "earth focus." [indistinct radio transmissions] richard: to any authorities concncerned: this is to inform u of illegal discharging of oily water frfrom bilge tanank, which happened last december 14

and 17, 2009. the chief engineer instructed as to make a bypass flange to discharge oily watater oveverbo. we are asking help to any authorities concerned about this, because we must protect our environment and our marine lives. sincely yours, the engine department. this is an image that comes from a satellite. it shows a ship and it shows the path of oil behind that ship. aerial surveillance shows an oil slick in the wake of a ship. this is side-looking airborne radar. here's the ship. there's the oil. and lastly, that's oil streaking on the side of the ship, called a comet streak.

this is evidence of a crime. the ship is underway, so only some of it sticks to the side of the ship. the rest of that oil is in the ocean. it's with the fish, it's with the sea birds, it's with the turtles, with the dolphins, the whales. joanna: because water covers so much of the earth, people have always thought of it as endless. but in fact, anything that gets into the ocean remains there. news announcer: the coast guard estimates crude oil, at the ra of 8,000 barrels a day, could be spilling into the open sea. second news annonouncer: now auauthorities are woworried abot an environmental catastrophe. news announcer: bp oil, which

leases the platform and the coast guard have at least 35 containment vessels dispatched to the area... third news announcer: more than 11 million gallons of crude oil poured into the sea when tanker "exxon valdez," bound for... joanna: most peoeople, when they think about the environment, they worry about the big accidents and forget that anywhere from a third to half of the oil that's in the ocean didn't come from these accidents. it came from the intentional release of oil by ships. john: oil is toxic to organisms and it can be toxic in several ways. this is a gross image. you know, when you coat something wit oil like that, it's going to die. that's not what we're cononcerned w with. we are concerned with what happens with those lesser concentrations that you can't

see may have very y big effects on developing organisms. that's ththe concern n that we e faced with. this is a picturure of pink saln embryos, and it was exposed to a high concentraration of oil. and you can see the expansion of this area around the yolk sack. the toxins in oil,l, as you see here, can cause many of the same kinds of defects in ororganisms as are caused by oftentimes considered to be more seserious chemicals like t those in pcbs d like dioxins. joanna: i think that as a society, we first became aware of oil pollution when there was a very large oil spill called torrey canyon. and the torrey canyon was the biggest oil spill that we'd ever had. newsreel narrator: a tragedy such as britain has never experienced before. every tide left a thick covering of oil, to which detergent was applied with all speed. there's 50,000 tons of oil still

on board, defiantly menacing the whole south coast of england, possibly even the coast of france. but now the decision was takeken. the torrey canyon was to be bombed. for the pilots it would be not target practice but bombing for defense, to save part o of the country from a a w memenace. joanna: essentiaially, we woke p to the fact that oilil had a cot as well as a benenefit. we suddenly realized d this is an internatitional problem. it's a problem that we can't deal with by justst dealing with one coununtry. it has to be anan international treaty, and marpol was the response to that. richard: marpol's an international treaty whose purpose was the complete elimination of intentitional pollution n of the marine envivironment byby oil and other harmful susubstances. this is a treaty that is successful in terms of the number of countries

that have signed on, but in terms ofof enforcement and the level of v violation, , much less successful.l. deliberate pollution from ships occurs every day. it's a virtual epidemic. internrnational shippg is what makes modern commerce work in the world. so most of the corporate players, the individuals that are involved in international shipping, fly, frankly, under the radar. the u united states s clearly a world leader in enforcing marpol. james: you would think the no-brainerer is don't dumpml ininto the water. unfortununate, there are people out there that ststill illegally dudump oil overboard. it's my job to stop it. i've been with thehe coast guard

17 1/2 years now. we go out and do inspections every day. captain: hello, welcome aboard. james: good morning, captain. jim kline, united states coast guard. captain: captain. man: good morning, captain. james: what we would like to do from here, captain, is we'll do an examination down in the enginene spaces. captain: ok. james: we'll actually go down and do a visual inspection of the equipment and then w we'll have them do a a operational te. and that tells us whether or not they understand their equipment, they know how to use it, and if it''s opoperating g correctly. the inspectorsrs are kinind of e the work horse. we understand the equipment, we understand the process, we understand the laws. we're making sure that they're in complianance with marpolol. richard: large commercial vessels have waste oil. it's part of how ththey work.k. james: you can't just take that and dump it over the side. that has to be put into a holding tank that will later be sent shoreside to a facility.

richarard: any overboard dischae has to be through a popollution prevention machine called an oily war r separatotor. jajames: once you get it up to speed, if you could just give me a minute t to take a looook arod bebefore we put in... well, , marpol says s if you're gonna dump oil, it has to rurun through filtering equipment which won't allow more than 15 parts per million oil over thehe side of the ship. richard: o oil becomes visible around 100 parts per million. if you can see oil in the water, if you can see an oil slick, you know that it's a violation of marpol. james: they were having a hard time getting that oily water separator going. it wasn't operating the way it should. man: here we go. ok, restart it. it's hitting clear water, it's coming down. james: other than finding that their equipment was having a hard time getting started operating correctly, we want to

check the alarms and sound system so when it does fail or when it does go above 15 parts per million and it shuts down, itit gives the operatiting statn an a alarm. and d the alarm wa't working prproperly. just tooanyy red flags. so from there, we're gonna start getting a little bit more involved with the process and we''re g gonna lead d it to the distririct attorney so thatt this way we can n make sure there's s no criminal actitivity going g on. richard: if a ship is unlawfully dumping, if they're putting their oil in the ocean and that ship comes to the united states, there are rerecords aboard mosot ships that are going to allow criminal investigators to piece the crime together. james: this officer's going to rereview your chart and sosome r brididge items. i'm gonna review the oil record book. the oil record book that they maintain onboard, it's really to show w where oil's going from the time they take it onboard the vessel to the time it's off. it's likeke following the money. so we want to fofollow the oil.e

want t to make sure that e ever- just about e every ounce of thtt oil is accountnted for. richard: obviously, nobody's writing down, "we're dumping overboard today." one of the early cases that i prprosecuted was royal caribbea, one of the largest cruise ships in the worldld, cruise l lines n the world. and the norwegian engineers had a a name for this book. they called it the inventor bok, which in norwegian meanant the fairytalae book. because it was a book of lies. it wasn't a book of the trtruth. and when you come o the united states, this is a condition of port entry. you can't have a ship that doesn't have this book. so if you come here and your oil record book has been falsified, it's missing all the overboard d dumping,g, t doesn't have it in here, the e people who are responsible for that will go to jail, and the company that's responsible for that is going to pay a huge fine. james: it's over almost 12

hours. captptain: oh, that t was the sp time. james: right. you start at 08:35. captptain: yes. james: ok. and that was your position at stop time, right. captain: yes, yes. jajames: essenentially for us, f somebody comes across oily water, we can see if they passed through that area, if it's a possibility that they discharged oilil. every oil has a unique fingerprint. great. if we match it up, i it's s prin time for someone.. richard: it's hard to think of any other industry where there's an environmental crime that's so prevalent, so common. on ships, there's often a culture that not anything that i could possibly do would injure the ocean. but we know that it does. john: oil is widely distributed in the environment. but in the mid-water, in the center of an ocean, you

could expect the chemicals to be as low or perhaps lower than almost any other place on earth. so what's happening in this area? and this we are very interested in determining. if ships, for example, are passing over the center of f the north atatlc and should happen to discharge oil of somome kind, some of it could fall through the mid-water. so one could ask, do you fish in this mid-water region? can n you tell me ifif you've been exposed? and lo anad bebehold, most of them we looked at showed us a change that would suggest they had been exposed to some chemical. so now the question is, can there b be bad effects as a result of the exposure? for many kinds of chemicals, when they are taken into the body, the body has a way of reacting, and that

reaction is by making more of the enzyme that will metabolize those chemicals. it happens lalargely as a way for the organism to protect itself. this enzyme is the principle one that is produced in response to exposure to oil. with an enzyme like this, things move in and out. here the change would take place, and that change can be carcinogenic. the irony is that in the transformation of something like benzoapyrene, bicep 1a is referred to as a double edge sword. it cuts two ways. one is protection and the other is damage that can result from the metabolites produced. [birds squawking] joanna: what's really becoming clear to scientists is that therere's no place in n the word nonow that is pristine b because

we're puttiting in every day toxins and oil and other pollutants into the water. those are sprereading throughout the oceans. so t there's no pristine place left anymore. richard: we hoped to have been out of this busineness by now. the department of justice, we've been prosecuting thehese cases r about 20 years now. anand yet, year after year after year after year, we continue to get criminal cases referred to us by the coast guard. james: from my experience, the most common form of cheating is what we call a magic pipe.. ralplph: a magic pipe coululd be a hose. it couldld be a pipe. it could be a painted pipe. james: that will transport oil

directly from say a a holding tk or a bilge right around the oily water separating equipment, right into the ocean. ralph: that magic item that we find, , it's, uh-h-uh, we gotot. richard: this is what's called a magic pipe. that is a term of art that somehow has arisen in the industry. and i think the reason originally, at least i've been told, is because the oil magically disappears.. in any criminal enterprise, somebody who's breaking the law is doing math. it's a calculation, rigight. chance'm going to get caught, cnce i'm not going to get caught. people are still making the calculation that this crime is sometimes wortrth it. in environmental crimes cases, we don't have to prove motive. don't have to prove why somebody

did it. but it is what every juror r and every judge e wantso know. ralph:h: from my experience,e, the motivation out there to pump oil in the water comes from greed.d. james: it's always about moneye. follow the money. richard: the united states is the only country that has a whistleblower award. on a ship, it's a small space, and people know what's taking place in that space. "fabrication of pipe connected to overboard as per instruction of first engineer." the osg case began with a foreign ferral. canada suspected that the ship was dumping, and they were right. but in our investigation, one ship led to another ship to another ship. and 12 osg ships were found to be involved in illegal conduct. to have a company this

large, a publicly tradeded company, a company headquartered in the uniteted states o of ame, engaged in this type of criminal cocondt was shocking to o us. oe the investigation began, we interviewed crew members on the ship. and one of those crew members came forward and he had tucked underneath his arm a little black notebook.e was the fitter of the ship, and he was asked to build a bypasss system. he w was so angrgry abot having to make the pipe, he recorded every time that they dumped overboard. "before we left the port of boston, around 4:00 to 5:00 pm, i started pumping out the slop from the tank in which the said action is against marpol." and he received over $400,000 in the case. this was a case that resulted in a $37 million penalty.e certainly hope we are sending a message to

mariners and to o the industry that this crime is taken v very seriously in t the united state. james: if you like prison, go ahahead and dudump oil in the w. if you donon't like prison, dont do i it. richard: i think what this shows is that it's a small world out there. if you're dumping on the high seas, if you're dumping in another country's waters, there are ways for us to find out. at the same time, we're prosecuting only the tip of the iceberg, only the tip. the problem is greater than we know, and we know w it's a a grt big problem. joanna: we may think we're e momost important lin b but in fact, we're only one link in a very large interconnected ecosystem. if the ecosystems around us that we care about are gonna survive in this world, we have to start stopping the things that we can

stop. dumping a little bit of oil in the ocean may not seem like much to them, but when all the ships are dumping a little bit of oil, it adds up. and we need to o stop that. miles: micah fink, why did you make a f film called " "oil in r waters"? micah: we're becoming more aware of the impacts o of our polluti, toxic waste, plastic, anand oiln our environment, but there's really verery little information about whwhat actually happens wn oil gets d dumped into the wate. sosoe wanted t to make this film both to raise awareness about the issue of intentional dumping, which it turnrns out is respsponsible for half of alll the oil that goes into the water

from human sources. working from that amazing fact, we ststartedo do some research aroround it and we realized that that inintentional dumpmping is bothh illegal and incredibly damamagig to the ecosystem and to the environment. miles: what is the scope of the problem? people are used to heararing about oioil spills frm the "exxxxon valdez"z" or abouot the recent spill in the gulf of memexico that british pepetrole illing provoked. you're talalking ababout a whole different set tf problems. how do they compare with those big s spills? micah: it's a great question. i think we all get our attention awn to the big dramatic moment. explosion of an oil rig, the sinking of a giant oil tanker. but in fact, over time, if you look at the total cumulative effect of that, it's only about 20% of the oil that goes into the ocean from humuman sources. the much larger component is this relar,

everyday, intentional dumping overboard, getting rid of oil, waste products, sludge. ships--commercrcial shships teno burn very low-grade oil, and ththat produceces this messy sl. and the question is, what do you do with ththat? well, by law, you're supposed to bring it to port, you're supposed to offload it. it takes time, i it takes money, it takes energy to properly dispose of this stuff. or, if you're not trying to obey the e law, youan just dumpmp it overboard, which the shippers believe save them time and money. mariners traditionally have dumped everything into the ocean. there's been the belief that the ocean's this vast, wide place that you can't really damage, that the water will just mitigate the impact of anything that's put in. but we live in a time where we're dumping so much material into the waters, whether it's pollution, whether it's waste oil, whether it's toxic waste, whether it's garbage, that the oceans have almost reached a capacity, they've reached their capacity to absorb

the stuf and now it's just always in the water. and when you look at the wildlife, when you look at the fish, when you look at the mammals, you can almost always find signs that they've been exposed to these toxins. and that should really be concerning to everybody. mimiles: allll right, we're not talking about littering here, we're talking about criminal acvivity, aren''t we? micah: the act of dumping oil overboard is a crimeme, but more particularly, marpol requires that mariners keep track of all the oion their ships. and so another crime is presenting to an american federal agent a falsified document. and it turns out that most of the cases that happen come about as a result of that. they may not be able to identify exactly where the crime took place or when the crime took place, but through often whistleblower reports showing pictures of magic pipes, which is the term that they use for creating a pipe that puts the oil in the water, or through actutually photos of dumping, um, they're able to show that the records are actually falsified, and that

becomes the crime that the justice department is actually able to litigate againsnst and bring large fines to. i ththink the fis fofor illegal dumping can range up to half a million dollars per incident. and we looked at one case called osg, the overseas shipping group, and it turned out that that's an american-based company that had been dumping oil all around the continental u.s. um, when the justice department went after r them, they interviewed crew members and they found that 12 ships had regularly been dudumping as a regularar practi, and they were fined $37 million for that act of pollution. miles: whistleblowers s are reay the key to enforcement here, aren't they? micah: in the osg case, there were a number of whistleblowers, and each of them got about $400,000. so the fines are significant and the rewards paid out to the whistleblowers are significant. you have to remember that ships are very tight, small spaces and that while the chief engineer may not

be a whistleblower, there are half a dozen crew people who are always in the engine rooms, who are seeing what's going on, and those are the ones who are paid 20,000 or $30,000 a year for their services. and d most f them don't want to pollute. there's no interest in harming the envivironment or in breaeakg the law, a and so that's whwhere a lot of thehese cases are comig fromom. miles: suppose s somebody's in a saililboat or a fishing boat d they see somebebody dumping oil, how do they report it? micah: according to the law, y u can't put more than 15 parts per millioion of oil in the water. l becomes visible at 100 parts per million. so if you seen an oily sheen, if you seen an oily patch, that is by definition a crime. so what can you do? well, as part of this project, we also created an app for the smart phones, which you can have on your phone which lets you very easily report an oil

spill. you can take a picture, you can fill out a little app form, and you can submit it and it'll go to us, and we willass it along to the coast guard and to the national response center. i think building consciousness, buildingng awareness, building awareness partly that it's a crime in this country and that ships can pay big penalties and be banned from american ports, that's huge 'cause we're an enormous market. i mean, that's one of the powers that we have as a nation is our economic power. and if we restrict you from coming here, then the shipping company will lose a lot of money, but the other part is by creating g an awarens of this issue, you create ripples of awareness. and those ripples will go fafar beyond our country. you k know, we e now le in a very globalized world. people will see, can hear ababot these impacts. i mean, that's the power of the film is to actually show people how oil impacts marine life, how oil impacts the ocean. and there's a cultural shift taking place where people are becoming more aware of the impacts and are starting to resist it, starting

to say, you know what, we don't have to do ts. this is intentional l dumping, this is intentional pollution, maybe we should stop. qwueeewep@1@xx

announcer: this is a production of china central television america. may: thehe idea of giving back s nothing new, but we're seeing more and more companies embracing that concept, especially since consumers are making more ethical decisions. there's a growing demand for businesses to produce products and services that are rooted in doing good in the world. this week on "full frame," we meet some trailblazers in the fashion industry who are creating wearable items that can change the w world. i'm may lee in los angeles. let's take it "fullll frame."

born in the u.s., azie tesfai is a multinational citizen of the world who's quickly becoming one of hollywood's top up-and-coming actresses. she's currently best known as captivating homicide detective nadine hansan on the hit tv series "jane the virgin." michael: give e me the bababy. >> ah, yes, you remember nadine, right? nadine: do you at leleast understand now why i went to work for her? this, this is what she does, michael. she makes it so that you can't say no. michael: give me mateo. nadine: where is the pen? do you e even want to know wha's on thehe chip inside? michael: no. nadine: all of the faces in rostro changed, crime bosses,

drug lords. it's a record of what they look like before and what they look like now. still want to trade? michael: yes. nadine: huh. rose was right. see, i wasn't so sure you would do it. may: tough cookie. all right, behind all that talent and beauty is an intelligent woman with a heart for giving. the first american-born member of her east african family, a trip to her homeland at the age of 10 forever solidified her desire to give back. having witnessed firsthand the poverty, hunger, and women's rights issues plaguing developing countries, she's actively engaged in raising awareness and effecting change, which is great. she's also a philanthropic entrepreneur and the founder of fortuned culture, a jewelry line with foundational roots in social responsibility. fortuned culture partners with global organizations to create and sell custom jewelry. the funds

are then used to bring awareness to various initiatives worldwide. well, joining us now to share more about her work and life is azie tesfai. azie, welcome to the show. azie: thanks so much for having me. wow. may: great. it's--it's so wondndful to havave you becacau, fifirst of all, yoyou are gorge. azie: : oh, thank k you. may: it't's like stunning, um, and obviously talented, as we can see. azie: thank you. may: you havave always said you wanted to be an actress, right? azie: yeah. yeah. may: um, and what's amazing is that your mom really encouraged you. azie: yeah, you know, i come from--i am eritrean. my mother grew up in addis ababa, ethiopia, and i think not just being east african, but a child of any immigrant, when your family comes to this country, they want you to be successful and do better than they did. may: absolutely. be a lawyer, be a doctor, be a professor... azie: engineer. may: engineer! ok, i was doctor. azie: see? that--those are the--those are the 4 standards of success when you're an immigrant to this country, um, and so the rest of my family, i think, had a little bit of a hard time understanding that acting was a career, but i have this incredible mother who just wanted me to follow my heart

and my passion, and she still doesn't quite understand what i do, but she supports me, and i think now it's very exciting because she gets to come visit me on set and-- may: yeah. azie: and see. may: but that must have meant a lot, though, for--in the beginning days, because acting is a tough carareer, right? azie: super tough, yeah. may: so if you don't have the support of the people around you, then, you know, i mean, that's got to be even tougher, but for you, different. azie: and, you know, for me, i wanted to quit many, many, many, many, many times. may: oh, boy. azie: um, and my mother wouldn't let me. may: really? azie: and she said, "if--if this is your passion and this is what makes your heart happy, um, then you go back out there and go to that next audition," and--and i did, and then eventually, i--with anything that you do in life, if you continue at it, it will--it will break through. may: that's amazing. azie: yeah. may: what a great mom. azie: i know, she's amazing. may: well, you mentioned, um, your mom is from eritrea. azie: mm-hmm. may: um, but it's an interesting twist of fate i read about that brought her here, and then you were born in the states, right? azie: yeah. may: tell me that story. azie: so my mother--i am eritrean, which is a very tiny

country along the red sea. um, there's not many of us, but we are--we are mighty. um, my mother was raised in addis ababa, ethiopia, which is right next--a bordering country. most of my family is still in ethiopia today. um, she got a nursing scholarship that she applied for that thousands and thousands of women in the country applied to because it was a chance to come to--to the united states, and at the time, there was war conflict, um, and 3 women were chosen, and my mother came in fourth, um, which is--it was so heartbreaking for her, and she--i--like, you know, just even talking about her being so incredible and supporting me. she is brilliant and had so much potential that i think wasn't being fully realized there, and then two weeks before the women werere supposed to come, the one rule was that you couldn't be pregnant. one of the women found out they were pregnant and stayed behind, and my mother got to come to the united states. may: she got the slot. isn't that amazing? azie: it's incredible, and--and, you know, i had forgotten about that story, and my mother told it to me recently, and it just solidified the fact that--the fact that i was born in this country and given an opportunity--i was the only

member of my family born in this country--it just proves to me that i had a bigger purpose, that i had--i had to follow through no matter what. um, so my mom came to nashville, tennessee, which was a whole other experience in itself. may: [laughs] right. azie: because she had learned english, but she had learned english, you know, american english and not southern english, and she was like, "i don't understand anything." may: [laughs] oh, gosh. azie: um, and then--so she figured it out, she came, she moved to vancouver for a little while and--and then came back and--and met my father in the states here, and--and they had me, and--and--but, you know, it all happened very quickly, and just that one woman that had a child in ethiopia and allowed my mom to come, my life would be completely different. may: completely different. it's like sliding doors. azie: yeah. yeah. may: you know, just that one... azie: completely, yeah. may: slight change. azie: yeah. may: so tell me how that impacted your life. i mean, it--it must have, because you were born and raised in the states as an american, but you still had roots back in africa, and i know that you traveled back and forth a lot, right? azie: mm-hmm, yeah. may: even as a child, so how did that shape you? azie: my--people always ask me, because i was actually raised in los angeles...

may: ok. azie: um, how i was not a spoiled child, because it's very difficult to raise, you know, a child in los angeles, and my mother, at a very young age, took me when i was 10--so i was in eighth grade--for the first time back to--to ethiopia and to eritrea, um, and my first time in addis, i remember getting off the airplane and getting in the car, and it was chaos, and--and i--it was such a culture shock for me as a young girl, but, you know, kids are so quick to pick up their environment. may: sure. azie: um, and i remember getting to my aunt's house and being with my family that i--i had pen-palled with my cousins and i loved them so much, and, um, we didn't speak the same language because i didn't speak the language at the time, but my mom would translate, you know, the amharic to me and the english to them, and we would play without speaking the same language, but i remember going to get some water because we'd been playing for a while, and i was 10, and was with my 6-year-old cousin, and the water was brown because that was the standard of water filtration. there was no water filtration, um, and--and my

family, you know, wasn't by any means poor. we--my--my family in the united states supported my family, but clean water was still not a viable source, um, for--for them, and i went to drink the water, and i just remember hearing my aunt scream for me to--to put it down because it would have made me sick, and i couldn't comprehend as a 10-year-old how my just, you know, 5-turned-6-year-old baby cousin could drink that water and be ok, but me, as a soon-to-be teenager, it would make me sick and how that was fair... may: wow. azie: that--that her body had to withstand that and that i was fortunate enough to have clean water. may: so did something trigger inside of you? azie: immediately in my brain, it triggered that, and--and then, also, food. um, you know, i came back never taking--i still do this--more food than i can eat, um, because just witnessing so much hunger outside of my family's home, and it just--kids that were my age and younger--i think, even

at 10, seeing smaller children that were younger than me suffering really affected me as a 10-year-old, and--and i didn't know what i wanted to be when i grew up. i didn't know what i wanted to do, but i knew that that was wrong, um, and i knew that they were my people and they were the same as me and looked exactly like i did, and my family, my--my immediate family was in the center of this. may: yeah, seeing that first-hand impact, right? azie: and--and then coming back to los angeles and, um, seeing the exact opposite and being--you know, and thinking as a small child, i could not comprehend, and i would ask my mother every day, "how do we exist in a world where two such extremes exist, where people can be starving on the side of the road in one place and in an airplane right over, people have such an abundance of excess?" and i--it just didn't seem fair, and it felt like such an imbalance. may: well, you're trying to do at least your part... azie: yes. may: in making that change happen with fortuned culture. azie: yeah. may: and it's a jewelry line, right? that's how it started, but it started very organically for you, isn't it? first of

all, let me ask you, what does the--what does the title--the name mean, fortuned culture? azie: so i had, you know, friends that were buying pieces that gave different, um, good fortune, so like love or health and all the things that we all desire. may: yeah. azie: um, and i thought that was very cute and sweet, but i--i--i always thought that you get what you give to other people. personally for me, whenever i feel really sad about something or i'm going through a hard time, i--i'm always of service, and that immediately takes me out of whatever i'm sitting in and--and gives me perspective, not only to help someone, but it also helps you so much if you ever do any work of service, and so i liked the idea of that, and i--you know, me being from los angeles and also being east african, i realized that even though there was this huge disconnect, um, in terms of access to, you know, basic human needs, we are all the same people, and i really love the concept of one world. so we want love. so do people there. we want good health. so do people there. we want wisdom. so do people

there. so i thought, if i could create charms and pieces that are--attach a sense of good fortune, but you're giving that health bracelet, 65 meals of nutrition, to someone who needs it, it not only ties you to this person that i want you to care about and--and do your own research on, but it provides that for yourself, and so "fortuned--" i always liked things past t tense because e ', ke--it's already bebeen done. we're--we're already doing it, um, and d then the "culture" was ththe idea of,f, i wanteted each collectionon to have a dififfert culture, and i wanted-d--i--i love my culture, and i love mamany other cultures, andnd i think that sometetimes in n ur owown--in your own couryry, yo can become very, um, insulated into your world, and if we can all be one world and realize that we all want the same things... may: and sharing in those ideas. azie: and sharing in those... may: yeah. azie: it becomes much more of a brother and sisterhood, so... may: right. azie: the good fortune throughout many cultures that we all share was the idea, kind of. may: so let's talk about the jewelry itself. azie: yeah.

may: it's--they're really cool pieces. azie: oh, thank you. may: very unique. um, you design all of them, or how does that--how does that work? azie: yeah, i--so i had becomeme really burnt out from acting. may: ok. azie: as amazing as it is being an actor, and it is tough-- may: girl, you're still too young to be burnt out. azie: i was burnt out years ago. um, it's--it's hard. you know, it's like a--it's really grindiding to be told "no" a lo. may: yeah, that's true. azie: you know, now it's people, i think, think that i have it easy because i'm working a lot, but--but i still get told "no," and--and i have had many years where i didn't work, and, um, i just had this--was given this pilot that was everything i could have dreamed of, and i was shooting i in vancouver, and i wanted to live in vancouver, and it was all these beautiful things, and i wasn't happy, and it was this incredible feeling of "how did i just get everything i wanted, and i still don't feel fulfilled?" may: mmm. wow. azie: and it was that nagging feeling as a small child that came back that i knew that i had to do something more. um, so i took a break for about two years, which, for acting, is a

very long time. may: right. azie: um, and i went back to ethiopia, and i was volunteering, and i came across this nonprofit school of young children that was a couple of blocks away from my own family's home, and their meal program got pulled. may: oh. azie: and these were children that were not eating at home. so their only meals that they were getting were in this incredible program. may: oh, jeez. azie: and i remember the founder saying to me, "this isn't going to work because i can't feed--i can't educate a hungry child," and that same day, i had met a 5-year-old girl--this makes me very emotional every time--but a 5-year-old girl who they wanted me to meet because she looked a lot like me to the point where i was, like, this could be my daughter. may: aw. azie: um, and she was eating, and--and i remembered that she had--you know, they--they don't have very much. they do breakfast and lunch, but she had, um, a fourth of her meal on her plate, and the rest of it in a napkin, and i remember asking, "is the food that bad? do we need to do something?" and, um, at 5 years old, she

took food for her mother and her father to eat at the end of the day. may: oh, my gosh. azie: and she did that every single day because her parents wouldn't have eaten if she didn't bring food home from school. may: ugh. azie: so when their meal program got pulled, i knew that this was something that wasn't just going to affect the kids and their education and breaking the cycle of poverty, which is giving someone an education and teaching them how to fend for themselves, but it was going affect families. may: right. right. azie: so i came back to united states thinking, "i can really help you raise money." i know the people. this is where i'm going to come in purpose, and i couldn't raise the money, um, and through a series of events, a friend of mine, i'd made her this necklace that i just loved doing, and another friend wanted it for her birthday, and she didn't want to give it up. she said, "will you make it for her?" and i said, "i'm going to give you this necklace, but if it's ok with you, i'm going to charge you $30, and it's going to give 65 meals for this little girl that i love so much and these kids that need food in school." may: that's incredible. azie: and she said, "absolutely." um, and then her friend who i'd never met

emailed me about how much that touched her because i wrote a little note, saying, "happy birthday. you're providing this girl with 65 meals with this one necklace." may: wow. azie: um, and so i thought, i have something here, and so i made a very simple unisex one-size-fits-all leather bracacelet that sasaid "health"n amhariric, in ethiopian, andnd within 3 months, i sold enough to feed all 200 kids, breakfast anand lunch, and it was the easiest thing i had ever done. may: could you believe it? azie: no. it was just, friends were buying... may: that's amazing. azie: 5, 6 at a time because it was so cheap. i had had such a hard time getting $20 donations, because i told people, "you have no idea, currency exchange and also food-wise, how far that goes..." may: right. azie: "in--in east africa or anywhere, most places in the world," but no one wants to give $20 because it feels weird. may: that's the thing. it's--exactly. it's still money, right? but when they have... azie: yeah, anand it doe''t feel likeke enough. they feel like have to give a big amount or nothing. may: right. right. azie: and so this became a tangible way for people to--it was $30 to make an impact. it didn't feel, you know, silly, and they also had a message on their wrist that then became word of mouth, and i didn't have a website set up. it was all personal email, so my email

was being spread... may: that's incredible. azie: spread about to everyone. yeah, which is funny-- may: so you knew you were on to something right then and there? azie: i knew it. it was the easiest thing i had--i had ever done in my entire life, so, yeah. may: you know, a lot of people are afraid to start... azie: yeah. may: something, because they think it's not going to make a difference. azie: yeah. may: i--i want to get into that, but i--i'm very curious. what's happened to the school? i mean, you're able to feed the school now, this entire school. azie: yeah, so--so what--funny enough, what happened after that was i--i gave, you know, the donation, and then they said they needed books, and so i thought, "ok, i'll make a wisdom bracelet." like, i really didn't know what i was doing, and i try to tell this to as many people as possible, um, that want to start something or want to be of service in any way, that it feels at a certain point intangible, but i saw need and found a way to fill that one need. i didn't think of starting anything bigger. they needed books. i made a wisdom bracelet. i got them school supplies, books, and uniforms, and then i had another organ--i had been volunteering a lot, so i had a lot of relationships with causes i really cared about, and then i had this

orphanage in--so i just kind of was--was open to what people needed and spending time with these children and--and these women and--and, um... may: meeting their needs. meeting their practical needs. azie: meeting their needs, and--and not--like, again, i--it was not about--it was what--i just--it's like being open, you know, and--and--and being open in even your daily life of--which i tried to work on, of--of walking down the street, and sometimes you walk past a homeless person, and you're just so focused in your phone or focused in whatever you're doing, and if you just put everything down, and you're open, and you come from a source of love, it's really incredible the things that are drawn to you. may: exactly. yeah. azie: and what you--what you see... may: and i think some people talk about, you know, doing something big, right? but oftentimes, it just means starting small. azie: yeah. may: right? you don't have to take on the world, and you don't have to feel like you have to change everything in the world at the same time. azie: yeah, and i think most of my, you know, friends, i guess now, that have started really great companies, big companies, i know that none of them went into it thinking, "i'm going to

start the next whatever." it was, "i want to help these 20 people." i wanted to help these couple hundred children, and i think that if--if you go into anything thinking big, and i've always said this, because i feel like there's this misconstrued idea that if, you know, you--you--you--people dream big, and that's beautiful, but that dream gets very overwhelming, and for me, like, i just want to take a nap and lay down. it's just... may: [laughs] yeah, totally. azie: it's too much. i have just, like, this--i have dreams in my brain. if i think about it too much, i just want to cry and stop. may: exactly. yeah. azie: um, so it's--it's--find--start very small and be very specific about what you care about and what--what makes your heart, um, feel closest to your purpose, and you can feel it. when you tap into that, you really do feel it. may: yeah, it feels genuine. azie: it feels--it feels right. may: mm-hmm. yeah. exactly. azie: and--and i'm someone that gets a lot of, to be very honest, anxiety when i'm not in my purpose, and then the--mainly with--with the traveling and the charity work, i feel, like, a sense of calm, and i--i think when you feel a sense of calm in whatever you're doing, you know that

you're on the right path. may: yeah, yeah, and obviously you are. azie: i hope so. i'm still figuring it out. may: well, azie, it was such a pleasure having you on the show. thank you so much. azie: thanks for having me. may: you're doing amazing stuff. azie: thank you so much. may: and good luck to you in every way. azie: ha ha ha! thank you so much. may: but i don't think you're going to need it, but good luck, anyway. azie: ha ha ha! thank you so much for having me. may: all right, well, coming up, one company's goal to change the world for the better just $7.00 at a time. can one company move a generation towards generosity and support social causes at the same time? serial entrepreneur dale partridge says, "without a doubt." in 2011, he created sevenly. what is it? well, it's a lifestyle product line that uses art and fashion to raise money and awareness for a new charity

every week. >> if yoyou're w watching ththi, chanceces are you'u're somomewhn the worlrld. there's s also a gd chancece that you u have acceseo the resoceces you needed to survive and be happy.. but sosomewhere elelse in thee world, t there is sosomeone just likeke you withohout these basic things. sevenly was s created to give someone lilike you thehe opportrtunity to h help someonon neneed. we begegan in 201111 by partnering with a charity, an artistst, and you. we designed a shirt hoping it would do somethining good foror the worl. our first t 7-day campmpaign rad enough funding to provide care and shelter for 2929 girls who were rescucued from sex trafficking. this simple act of bubuying a shihirt changed livis forerever. sincece launchingng'e partnered with a a different charity every week. what stararted as a d different s sht every weweek has grorown into aa collectition of prododucts thatt

give back.k. we'veve brought cln wateter to nations, hehelped orphans findnd families,s, and sheltetered women n from theirir ababusers. togogether, we'e've n away m millions of dollars and helped over a mimillion people n the process.s. each product yo buy at sevenly changes the world, one lifatat a time. may: so great.evenly identified the world's 7 biggest problems, and it runs passionate 7-day fundraising promotions and donates $7.00 or 7% of each item sold. the causes include anti-slavery, hunger relief, clean water, and anti-poverty. now, since it began, sevenly has donated nearly 26% of its revenue or about $4 million t to causes around the world. the company really tries to lilive up to its mantra, "people matter." here to tell us more about sevenly and how the company is changing the world is owner and ceo josh aven. welcome to "full frame," josh. josh: thank you so much. may: your--the company sounds incredible, and i love this concept of 7, 7, 7, everything 7, but can you believe that

in such a relatively short period of time, $4 million... josh: yeah. may: you guys have donated. josh: yeah, it's been an incredible experience, you know, and, you know, coming from, you know, a for-profit, you know, background and trying to raise money specifically for nonprofits, you know, the cross section between having a philanthropic cause and commerce is just a beautiful thing, you know, because you're able to activate a community that's much larger than yourself, larger than your friend group, larger than your network, and give much more than you ever could before. may: but not easy to do to... josh: very challenging. may: to--to bridge those two worlds. josh: absolutely. may: right? well, i want to get this straight because e i know with the company, you say you promote the idea of activating intentional love and generosity for others. what do you guys mean by that? josh: you know, what i would say, it's the difference between, um, being good and appearing good. may: mmm. josh: you know, appearing good, people want to be perceived as good, do the right thing, you know, they want their friends and their family to see them in a certain way. may: yeah. josh: what we want is we want to be good. we want our employee to start from our level. we want our employees and our--and our family, what

we call, like, sort of a close team, to be good, to make the right decisions, to bring on the right charities, treat the charities in the right way, really have conversations with our customers, with our vendors, with our, you know, our charities--those are our 3 main relationships--and actually be good in our decision-making. let the appearances come later, good or bad, and that's what we--i mean by activating the intentionality of it, is that we're doing things very specifically for a very specific reason to make sure that we might live the world a better place than we--than we found it. may: and it sounds like you want to promote the idea of really being genuine about helping these causes, rather than just checking in, checking out, which, i hate to say, people do, right? they just kind of show up for a day, they do their thing, and then they just go about the rest of their lives. josh: absolutely, and that's one of, i think, the beautiful things about it being a fashion apparel product. you know, a lot of what we sell is graphic t-shirts, and when you're wearing that t-shirt after you've supported a campaign, sure, you know, part of the proceeds went to, you know, the financial donation. may: right. josh: but i think the real beauty comes from the conversations that happen.

may: yeah. josh: people share that they bought it, people share that they liked it, and more importantly, think about you coming to that coffee shop, and you're standing in line, somebody sees that graphic, and they ask you about it. now you're in a conversation, and you're able to engage someone on a very personal, real level and maybe activate them, get them engaged about a cause that they had never heard about before. may: mm-hmm. josh: igm was the first charity that sevenly ever worked with, and it was one that started a conversation with--with me, and, um, i remember the first time i wore that t-shirt into, you know, a coffee shop, a local coffee shop, and someone asked me about it, and it was--it's that moment where you feel like you're now getting to share that cause in a brand-new and experiential way... may: right. josh: where you're now engaging that person, drawing them into that conversation. may: and it's such a natural way to be able to spread the word, right? instead of trying to push somebody into, you know, talking about a charity or a cause, it's just organic in the way it--the conversation develops. josh: yeah, i think we need to tell better stories. you know, we need to tell better stories about what the charities are doing, what they're doing on the ground, what really is happening in those singugular lives thatat they're able to

impact each and every day, because while we aren't impacting that life directly, we're not, you know, that chararity that's doing that action, the charities are. the chities are e the ones who are on the ground, who are saving kids, feeding the poor... may: unsung heroes. josh: rescuing women from... may: right? josh: sex slavery. may: y yeah. josh: these are the--the real people that we want to support, anand so our motto internally to the team is s that we want to be a servant to the nonprofits we get to support every week. may: well, i know the other intention that you guys have is to try and reach out to the first-time donor... josh: yeah. may: somebody who's never really had the experience in donating. how do you go about doing that, and why is that so important to you to try to find those people? josh: sure. so, you know, everyone talks about the millennial generation, which i'm also part of, and, you know, i think that there's a lot of well-intended people, but they don't necessarily know where to donate. may: mm-hmm. josh: um, they're looking for that--that great cause, but they don't know. i mean, some charities, all the money goes to the front lines, some of it gets used for operations. you know, they're looking for a how-to to give their money or

give their time or give their impact, because i think that the millennial generation, not to say that others weren't like it, but i can tell you that we're very specific about wanting to change the world. sevenly has the unique ability to be able to hahand-deliver an arty, yoyou know, due diligence-e-qualified charity.y. you know, , we've donone it. wee looked a at them. we know them inside and out, and give that to a consumer and say, "this is a great t charity, and h here'sy yoyou need to support it," and f they b buy a shirt or not, it's--it's--it's not the most important partrt. what's morere important is that t they got the message of what that c charity did, that theyey were exposed to it. now they have a choice--52 differenent charities a year tht they're exposed to--and they can pick a few that they're passionate about, anand whether they b buy a product or r give didirectly to the charitity, that's great. may: it doesn't matter. josh: that's perfect. may: wherever it goes, right? josh: yeah, of course, because at the end of the day, that's what'll raisese awareness, and o many times, you know, we get--we get these amazing, amazing stories that get emailed to us and--and blog-posted to us about people who are exposed to a charity, typically they bought a shirt, but then they volunteered at that charity. they

became--became involved in that charity. they now work for that charity... may: that's cool. josh: because they had got exposed because of sevenly. may: wow. josh: yep. josh: well, let--let me--let me ask you about how you go about finding the groups and charities and ngos that you work with. there's so many out there, so how--what's the decision-making process like for you? josh: sure. you know, there's--there's two kind of ways that people become a part of our program, and, you know, a lot of times, we get a lot of applications. a lot of nonprofits apply to us, want to be part of the program, they want a week, um, and then there's also ones that we--we go after, that we've kind of profiled as being a synergistic target, and--and usually what we're looking for is that they have some sort of social reach, you know, because it helps us expand on ours, um, that they already have an engaged user-base, so there's people who are already passionate about what they're doing, and it needs to kind of fit the demographic that we're in. you know, we're very much--18 to 35 is our very core... may: ok. josh: and female demographic. may: ok. josh: and if that demographic matches, you know, that nonprofit, we know that it's

going to perform better, both for them and for us, and so it's a--it's a good mix, but what we're looking for is we want nonprofits where a lot of the money is going to the frontlines. so most of the money that we raise doesn't go into the general fund of a nonprofit. it goes to rescue 29 women from slavery. it goes directly to feed hundreds of children for 7 days, 21 days, 30 days. it goes directly to support an orphanage in mexico and deliver needed goods to that. so it goes to very specific, um, actions and programs, rather than going to the general operations' fund. may: right. um, in terms of the size of charities and organization, before we start--started this interview, we were chatting, and you said it's both large and small, right? josh: mm-hmm. may: and there's pros and cons to both, but you deliberately do different size organizations for different reasons. tell me a little bit about that and why you do that. josh: that's right. so when the company was founded, it came from a conversation, and the conversation really had to do with that there's a lot of these smaller nonprofits that have no way of reaching the

market. they don't know how to--to market themselves. they don't know how to get exposure. you know, they go to their friend and family network, try to raise about a specific cause, but they don't have any--anything else. there's no marketing arm for them. there's no creative agency that would work with them for a--a reasonable price. may: right. josh: the small ones are what, in some ways, we're as--at least as equally passionate about, because we get to be the creative agency for them. we get to be the marketing arm for them and deliver them to millions of people in days that they never would've reached before, and that's why as we bring on both large and small, the small ones are the ones, in many ways, who need us the most, but the large ones, we get a really beautiful benefit from, because now we have a collaborative approach. you know, we get to work with them, and they may already have a lot of followers, or they may not, but we get to reach an audience that they may never have gotten to before, that has no idea what the--the ailment is or what the cause that they are trying to communicate is about, that we get to those millions of people, but then we're getting our brand also to millions of their people, and we're getting to kind of bring in new

cultures and societies into our tribe, if you will. may: right. josh: so by building that sevenly tribe, we're then able to take that tribe and just expand and expand and get to more people and tell the story even better. may: in terms of the areas in which you focus, the--with the charities--i'm going to just name them so that everybody knows. it's anti-slavery, hunger relief, clean water, medical help, disaster relief, anti-poverty, and miscellaneous aid. why those causes? josh: so those causes, i mean, it really captures--it captures most of the issues that affects people all around the world, and it's also things that our consumers have told us that they're passionate about. you know, we're passionate about each one of these, um, and really equally, because, i mean, they're all things that matter and--but these are all huge, massive issues. people don't realize the tens of millions of people, you know, captured in slavery every single year. they don't realize the hundreds of thousands and millions of people who go without clean water and food all around the world. there's these large percentages of people impacted by these global issues, and while we're never

going to be able to fix it just on our own, we want to be one big small part of that. may: right. one big small part. i like that, i like that, and, really, the concept of an individual, that you can make a difference by just buying a t-shirt, um, o or buying some of these other products that you have, that you actually can do something... josh: that's right. may: and it can go towards something really good. josh: yeah, and even--you know, because, yes, the product, you know, creates good, but we--even our whole supply chain is trying to create good. all of our products are wrap- certified. they're all socially conscicious brands. all of o our things a are ethicalally source. you know, , all ofurur vendors are treating their emploloyees n ethical ways. we're predomominantly now doing g a lt of vendor fulfillment and everything i in america.a. it's very easy for us to--to monitor that procecess and make sure tht eveveryone is being treateted corrrrectly, and that's importat to us. if it does--if it's not inin our soil, and we're not going up through the roots, then our grorowth is going to be wrong. may: good way to put it.t. josh: so we have to do it from the very--the very basics. may: definitely a good way to put t it, and, come on, josh, wo doesn't like shopping and then having that do some good in the

world? josh: absolutely. may: i mean, it's a perfect combination. well, josh, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your sevenly story. incredible work you guys are doing. keep it up for sure. josh: thank you. thank you so much. may: you're welcome. josh: it's an honor. may: well, coming up next, could knitting and creating jewelry be just the keys needed to end poverty in africa? we'll talk with two women who are taking up that challenge in the most creative and beautiful ways. we'll be right back. the next segment is all about doing what you love while making a real difference in the lives of others. ava darnell and alli talley are doing just that. when ava darnell was just a toddler, she traveled to africa with her family and fell in love. in 2008, she became involved in providing scholarships to students living

in one of the world's largest slums in nairobi called kibera, but something unexpected happened. ava met a talented kiberian woman who had a knack for knitting. her skill gave ava the idea for slumlove sweater company, which she started in 2012. now, the charitable tug came a little later in life for alli talley. in college, she visited uganda, where she saw that women carry the financial burden of supporting their families. so alli, along with 4 college friends, decided to create 31 bits jewelry. the business helps women get on their feet by employiying women whoho makee jewewelry to sell, but that's just the start. 31 bits funds ongoing programs in education, health, and sustainable business for its employees. the results really, really make you want to cheer. so here to tell us more about their work is slumlove sweater company's ceo, ava darnell, and the director of marketing for 31 bits, alli talley. thank you for being here. for both of you, thank

you so much. >> thank you. may: what you both are doing is so incredible. so i need to first start with you, ava. slumlove sweater company. ava: yes, ma'am. may: you decided to start that in kibera... ava: i did. may: but let's go back to when it all happened. like i said in the intro, you started going to africa when you were a kid, right? very young. ava: yes, ma'am. yes. may: what was the moment where it struck you that you said, "you know, i need to do something, i need to do something to give back"? ava: yeah, absolutely. so i was raised in a family. my parents put a lot of importance on raising my brother and i kind of with an understanding of, um, the world and not everyone, you know, lives with the same kind of privileges that we do here, and so it was important for them to--to take us with them on these trips and kind of for us to get our feet wet in this--involved in these kinds of things at an early age, and so it was--i was so young when i went, and it was really rare for, i think, just, you know, a child my age to travel around the world and get to see all these things, and so i really

identified with it. it's something that kind of was near to my heart because i felt like it was something that was kind of unique about me, um, and so that's kind of how it started, and then as--as i got older, you know, became more and more involved with different organizations and things that were involved there, and it was around high school when i really just fell in love and knew this was someplace that i wanted to spend the rest of my life working. may: so you really felt it? ava: oh, yes, i did. may: you really knew that you had to do something different, right? ava: oh, yes. i knew that, in one way or another, being involved, especially in kenya, because that's where we had been raised going, that it was going to be a really important part of my life in some way. may: how cool of your parents, though, to expose you to that. ava: i know. i--i feel so... may: that early on. ava: yeah, so blessed for them having done that, and d my brother's super involved in humanitarian work, also, so, i mean, it really made an impact on us at a young age, yeah. may: that's awesome. well, alli, you--it happened for you a little bit later in life, right? alli: right. may: as i said, it was in college... alli: uh-huh. may: and, you know, you're living a carefree life as a college student, i'm sure, so how did it happen for you? alli: yeah, so, um, i was going to a private college down n in southern california, and one of my close friends, cali, she

went out to uganda for the summer. she was going to work in an orphanage and just kind of help out wherever she was needed, but through a turn of events, she met these women that were making jewelry out of recycled paper, and she just fell in love, not only with the jewelry, because it really is remarkable, that this is-- may: you're wearing it right now. alli: yeah, that this is paper, but these women's stories were so amazing, too, and cali really connected with them, and they really were close to our age as well, and so cali went back, brought a box of jewelry to school. we--we all instantly bought it, loved it, kind of started thinking, "what can we do for these women? like, this is so cool." so that summer, we all went out with her, and the 4 of us just kind of figured out what it would look like to run a sustainable operation in uganda. we really didn't know what we were doing, but we hired on 6 women, and 31 bits kind of started from that. may: wow. well, you know, ava, i was reading--you know, obviously, doing some research on--on what you both are doing, and something that i read that really struck me, you work in

the slums of kibera, right? ava: mm-hmm. yes, ma'am. may: this is where this all comes from. ava: mm-hmm. may: and you said that, you know, people need to understand what the slums mean to the people who live there, because for us on the outside, we think slums, "oh, my gosh. what a horrible place." i mean, all these negative images. ava: absolutely, yeah. may: for people living there, tell me what it's like for them. ava: absolutely, and it's so funny, um, that our name, slumlove, you know, i get kind of a wide range of reactions from people, and--and a lot of times when i'm doing interviews or writing for different publications, i always get asked to kind of give a little disclaimer with our name, because i think sometimes people can feel it's a little off-putting, but that's not my intention at all, especially having worked there for so long, it's a place that's so dear to my heart, and i don't see it as this negative place. it's a place with people who i've worked with for a long time and--and deeply, deeply love and want to see, you know, restored in a community that i love, and so that's kind of where the name--you know, it's an affectionate name, slumlove, and-- may: right. ava: and for the people that live there, you know, this is their everyday life. they--this is where their families live, it's where they go to school, it's where they go to work, you

know. may: right, it's their home. ava: it is, absolutely, and so i'm--i'm trying to, you know, say it's--it's not a dirty word, it's not a bad word. it's--it's a community of people with individual stories and individual--individual faces, and it's time that we, instead of just focusing on what it is as a whole, look at the people who are living inside of it. may: yeah, yeah. well, let me--let's talk about the jewelry, of course. i mean, it is gorgeous, all hand-made. alli: yeah. may: from paper and beading and all these--these other types of things. so--but you definitetely wanted to create this business that wasn't just about making jewelry. you want the women to then move on, right? alli: right. may: to become self-sustaining in other ways. alli: right. i think when we first started in college, we didn't really know how to do that, but we knew we didn't want them rolling beads for the rest of their lives. may: yeah. alli: so, um, we--it's been this interesting journey of figuring out what that looks like and having a lot of conversations with them about, "what are your hopes and dreams?" some of them don't even know how to dream. you know, it's teaching them and empowering them to be able to be successful business women. may: isn't that interesting? they don't know how to dream

because they feel that they're limited. alli: they've never been taught. yeah, so, um--so when a woman enters our program--it's about a 5-year program with us--and she opens a bank account. they--half of them have never stepped into a bank before. so we're teaching them how to save their finances, how to be smart with that. we're teaching them english lessons. most of our women have never been in school before, so they're learning basic education in our--in our compound, but, also, they're learning--they're going through counseling, and they're learning how to start a small siness. ththey have bubusiness mentors that come around them and say, "ok, what do you want to do? how can we get you there?" so by the time graduation happens, they already have a small business up and running, and they're able to be completely self-sustainable on their own. may: i mean, on your website, you have some great stories of some of these women who... alli: yeah. may: went to--go to school for the first time in their lives. alli: right. may: a woman who started a sewing shop. a woman who bought a bicycle... alli: yeah. may: so she could get around. i mean, even the simplest things make a bigig difference in these women's lives.

alli: totally, and, you know, we say that we're a family. like, it's very much a family situation, and so it's cool, because as they leave our compound, they have a built-in, like, customer base, really. all these women will go and buy charcoal from mary because they know mary is selling charcoal now, or, you know, mama helen has the piggery, so they all get their pigs from mama helen. may: that's awesome. alli: it's, like, this really cool community that's all in i t together. may: very tight-knit. that's great. that's great. w well, av, with slumlove, it's all about making these beautiful hand-knit sweaters, right? ava: yes, ma'am. may: but it's not just about making the sweaters, right? again, with these women, it's about empowerment. it's about independence. ava: oh, absolutely, absolutely. yeah, and kind of how it started, i--i met this woman who made sweaters in the slum of kibera, and it's--it's funny because it's actually kind of an already--an already built industry there. um, all the children have to wear school uniforms, and sweaters are a part of it, so, i mean, there's already an industry for this there. so it wasn't--i didn't necessarily come in and teach them how do it. it was something they already how to do, and so when i met claire,

it was really easy to see how i could come alongside her and--and help give her more business, and actually from there, she was able to open her own sweater shop. may: wow. ava: and so now she's making her own sweaters, and she's doing her own thing, and we're in a new facility. yeah, she was able to start her own business, which is the goal, like you were saying. i mean, the goal isn't for them to become reliable on us for income... may: right. ava: and for support, but for them to be able to--to take what they have and what they've learned and to be able to go and do more. may: i should mention, by the way, you are wearing a slumlove dress... ava: i am. yes, ma'am. may: which looks so cozy and warm, because right now i'm freezing to death in this studio, um, but it's lovely. ava: thank you so much. may: so this is an example of... ava: yes, ma'am. may: the many products that you guys make. ava: yes. may: let's talk about the idea of ethical shopping and ethical businesses, because both of yours obviously are perfect examples of that. it's the idea that fashion and accessories, people are starting to care more about where all their stuff is coming from, right? i know i do. i'm starting to pay more attention to where it's

made, how it's made, you know, are some proceeds going to a charity? and so tell me about the evolution of that and how you're seeing the industry change. ava: oh, absolutely. it's--even in my own life, i--when i started slumlove, i didn't--although i knew ethical fashion was important, i didn't know exactly how important, even starting my own ethical fashion company, and so about a year into it, i kind of realized, oh, my gosh, i'm--i'm telling people why they should shop ethically, but it's maybe not something that i'm--i'm--i'm not practicing what i'm preaching. i'm not, you know, showing it in my own life, and i--i felt really convicted and so really started to research the fashion industry, learn more about ethical fashion, and it's one of my biggest passionsns now. i write a lolot of articles about it and do a lot of interviews about ethical fashion, and i'm really trying to help educate people about why it's important. may: and are you seeing... ava: oh, my goodness. may: the--the change? ava: yes. may: you're seeing that wave of--of change, yes? ava: mm-hmm. and it's not about shaming or guilting people, and that's somethining i really tryy to be careful of. i don't want to make people feel bad for the clothes that they have bought, because i don't think that brings about lasting change.

it's more about educating and, like what 31 bits is doing, what slumlove is doing about providing opportunities for them to be able to purchase ethical products that are stylish and are making a difference in the world. may: right, right, and you're right about the guilt, because i think some people, when they feel p pushed, they'll, like, go the other way. ava: it's the opposite, yeah. may: right, right? alli, are you finding that to be the case, too, that people are starting to... alli: totally. may: become more interested in that? alli: definitely. you know, i think even just in our community, i'm noticing that, you know, friends that were all about the mass-produced fast fashion, the forever 21s and the type of stores where you go in, instantly you can buy, you know, a ton of clothes... may: buy--wear it once, and then it's like... alli: yes, but it doesn't last. it's not--it's never good quality. may: yeah. alli: and people are learning, spend a little bit more on something that's made well, where you know it's made out of good materials, the people that are making it are being cared for, and it'll last you a lot longer. i don't--i think our generation is finally kind of, like, slimming it down where-- "less is more" mentality, where they can have less things that are well-made that they spend a

little bit more money on... may: right. alli: but that'll last them longer. may: and that has a story. alli: anand it has a story, yea. may: and it's a really good story, right? well, listen, before we go, please tell us how we can find out more about each of your businesses. ava. ava: yeah, so we're all online. slumlove.com is our website. you know, we got all social media, facebook, instagram. you know, any--any way you can find us, we're probably out there, so... may: good. ava: and we love to connect with our customers and talk about ethical fashion and kind of open conversations about things that are going on in the world, so, yeah, feel free to... may: and alli? alli: yeah, we're--31 bits is in around 400, like, small chains and boutiques across the world, really. so if you go on 31bits.com, you can find a store locator that shows all the places that we're sold, but we have a great online store, and we're really active on our instagram. instagram is a big part of our company, so... ava: it is. may: got to do it. the social media, yeah, you got to do it. alli: yeah, so follow us. we've always got lots of contests and fun things happening on that. may: that's great. welell, thank you both for coming in. ava: thank you so much. alli: yeah, thank you. may: it was a pleasure meeting you, and good luck to both of you. ava: thank you.

alli: thanks. may: you're doing great stuff. ava: thank you. alli: thank you so much. may: all right, well, we'll be right back with this week's "full frame" close-up. mehera blum was riding on the wave of success as a professional actress, but in 2005, she was struck with a life-threatening disease. now, while recovering, , mehera started a hobby creating handbags. this hobby quickly turned into a very successful business, and some of her first clients were celebrity trendsetters like eva mendes and jessica alba. at the age of 7, blum's mother, world-renowned painter laurie blum, took mehera on her first trip to india. since then, she has traveled to india more than 30 times, and now an avid world traveler, mehera is inspired by the colors, textures, and material she encounters on those trips. in 2015, blum's

mother passed away from a long battle with cancer, but before she passed, mother and daughter began a collaboration to incorporate laurie blum's paintings into mehera blum's handbags. in this week's close-up, "full frame" takes a glimpse into the world of blumera. mehera: i really seek to create something beauautiful and from y heart and really authenticic and with value and substance.

i'm especially interested in what the innate skills of a land are, what the people have been doing for generations, o of what's been p passed down to them, anand then working with that and giving it my own twist and someththing more. it doesn't have to be modern, but modern in the sense that, you know, we would use it today. ok. should we put it over there? man: yeah... mehera: ok. if we have this blue one, that would match... man: oh, ok. man 2: yeah... mehera: it's often really difficult, and i feel bad for the artisans that i work with because i'm always asking them to make impossible things. actually, do we have another gold? man: yeah, for--for this size. meherara: that'd be pretty. man: you think it? mehera: : yeah.

i can make it look beautiful, but let's make it functional and strong and dururable, and then we'll work backwards. i really put my heart into the pieces, and that's where beauty comes from, that's where love comes from, that's where inspiration comes from. it's this inner, unknown world. i was an actress to begin, and i got mercury poisoning. i was on a trip to bali, and i was looking for something to do in the interim while i was healing from the mercury poisoning and could act again, and i kind of

fell into doing bags. i would be walking down the street, and somebody would say, "wow, where did you get yoyour bag?" and i'd say, "oh, i--i sell them," and i would just sell them kind of like a gypsy, like, right then and there. and i got a celeb following really fast. i got press really fast, but i was so set on being an actress that i didn't really embrace it in the beginning. i always wanted to go to india since i was a little girl. i would beg my mom, "when can we go? when can we go?" and so finally, 3 days after i turned 7, we went for the first time,

and it was absolutely magical for me. i met mehera, who i was named after...and it was there that i i actually reallyly stard designing, in a sense. mehera gave my mom and i a gift and said, "why don't you go to the bazaar, to the marketplace and pick out some fabrics as a gift from me and make some dresses?" it was so fun. we e went, we found these fabrics and went to the little tailor, and i said, "this is what i want," andnd i--you know, as a 7-year old, i said, "i want it like this and this and this," and i had my little design and that was really my first, i guess, foray into designing. my mom was a, you know, painter, drew. you know, she was an artist her whole life. she went to iran, and she's actually the

only artist in history to have ever painted at hafez's tomb. every day, she would go there and start painting, and the guards would say, "i'm sorry. you can't paint here. you have to go," and such a littltle rebel, she just every day would come back and set up shop and just paint, and soon the guards fell in love with her because she was quite charming, even though she was a bit of a little firecracker, and they fell in love with her work, and they started guarding her, and crowds would start to collect around her. this is the actual--exactly. woman: ok. mehera: and then before we get to those, these e are my mom's paintings. woman: oh, but this is the actual... mehera: so--but this is the actual... woman: painting. mehera: exactly. so this is her rose and the nightingale painting. woman: yeah. mehera: yeah, i love this one, actually. and it's all silk threads and...

wowoman: thihis is beautiful, really. mehera: they do, like, the couture gowns. i have several different collections. the latest one is actually named after my mom. so she's--that's the laurie collection, which is right now rose and the nightingale in all different shapes and sizes and, again, with the hand carvings with meher baba's words on them. then there's limited edition-- i've only done one or two-- all different paintings inspired by my mother's poppies painting and her peacocks paintnting. yep, that's how it is with all of them. she loved the idea that her art was going to be used in my bags. but she's a perfectionist, just l like me. we're both peperfectionists, and so i it w- it was stressful to get it right. laurie: ♪ don't hang around and let your problems

surround you there are movie shows downtown ♪ mehera: my mom passed away on december 17th of 2015. i was taking care of her for the past 3 years of her life. her cancer spread and went into the bones, and i closed the store right before that, and i am really grateful that i did that. it was very hard to do that, but not having the store allowed me to be fully present with her. that was a really incredible experience, um, incredibly painful at times and scary, but then, also, really rewarding and beautiful and filled me with so muchch love, and, um---d i'm eternally grateful for

that. she was my best friend. she was my--like, my soul mate, like, my other half. we were, you know, really similar in a lot of ways, and we had a lot of fun together. we were like little partners in crime, and we saw the world, you know, especially creatively. we really had a very similar sight, in terms of colors. we--we actually would sometimes even get in fights. we created my store together. i did the walls and the outside of the store this bright magenta, and the floor is this sea green color, and once we put our paintings on the walls, it was, like, we were just amazed that it was the exact colors in the paintings. there are so many things that i feel that i can do creatively to take her art and do, you know, clothing with it or,

you know, all different manifestations in the bags in different ways. blumera is kind of going in--it is a luxury, but it's also something exotic and the unknown and magical. i hope to capture and to give to people, not only through my work, in my bags. that's really important to me that people feel good when they wear my bags, that they feel love, that it's more than just a handbag, it's more than just fashion, it's more than a trend, it's more than what a celebrity is wearing. it's because they feel good, and i put these words of love on the bags because i believe they carry a higherr vibrbration, and so peoplele may forget that they have those words there, but they unconsciously have it, and not only does it uplift them, but it uplifts everybody that they come into contact with, and that's really what i enjoy about living is--is trying to

be uplifting. may: what a great tribute to her mom. well, that's it for this week. join the conversation with us on social media. we are cctv america on twitter, facebook, and youtube, and now you can watch "full frame" on our new mobile app, available worldwide on any smartphone for free. get the latest news headlines and connect to us on facebook, twitter, youtube, and weibo. search "cctv america" on your app store to download today. and, of course, all of our interviews can still also be found online at cctv-america.com, and let us know what you would like us to take "full frame" next. simply email us at fullfrfre@cctv-amemerica.com. until then, i'm may lee in los angeles. we'll see you next time. @ @ @ x x x @ r @ócócócócc

>> hello, i'm john cleese and i've got a question for you. what do you believe about ecstasy? not the drug, of course, but ecstasy as in the ecstatic state, that phenomenon found in so many religious and spiritual traditions. well, in this program, we will explore the ecstatic state through the inner world of the sufis and the whirling dervishes of turkey and of the orisha priestesses of africa and brazil. so, settle back, take a deep breath, as we join our host t phil cousisinean this memorablee, highly charged episode of "global spirit," the first ininternal travel l serie.