"Our job is to take an illiterate woman and make her into an engineer in six months," says social activist Bunker Roy, founder of the Barefoot College. Students come from villages across India and a dozen other countries.

We have a report today from one of the neediest countries on earth -- Haiti in the Caribbean. Fred de Sam Lazaro visited the city of Gonaives, with its desperate people and everywhere -- mud.

On the campaign trail, both John McCain and Barack Obama have referred to America as a force for good in the world. Do Americans agree?

Read more of Kim Lawton's interview with University of Oklahoma professor Allen Hertzke on religion and America's role in the world.

In an interview, Timothy Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, describes the role he sees religious groups playing on the world stage, especially on humanitarian issues and climate change.

Despite a divided view of America’s impact on the world, the vast majority of Americans believe the United States has a moral obligation to be engaged on the international stage, according to a new survey.

Now, a report about an unusual ministry from one of the West Coast's most blighted corners. It's in East Oakland, California. It's a ministry for the homeless -- and that describes the minister too.

Between tragedies such as the one in Myanmar and the disastrous worldwide rise in food prices, a question long debated by relief experts has become urgent: What's the best way for the U.S. to help the hungry?

The global food crisis is escalating, as high food prices are forcing humanitarian organizations to scale back operations. At the United Nations, leaders are appealing for more than $750 million in new aid.

Read more of Kim Lawton's interview about Muslims and charity with Anwar Khan, national development director of Islamic Relief.