BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2006--AmericanTours International's (ATI) Founder/Chairman/CEO Noel Irwin Hentschel was honored last Saturday (29) with fellow honorees the First Lady (Chief) of Edo State, Nigeria, Eki Igbinedion and singer Stevie Wonder who were all named African Goodwill Ambassadors for their humanitarian efforts at the 2006 African Goodwill Awards held in the Veterans' Memorial Auditorium in Culver City. Pictured (l to r) are: Noel, Noel's son Patrick Hentschel, the First Lady, Noel's daughter Tina Hentschel and (1st row) members of the First Lady's entourage. Noel also had previously met privately with the First Lady and Rita (Mrs. Bob) Marley to discuss trafficking of women and children in Nigeria. Edo State is at the very center of Nigeria's sex trafficking problem.

The Noel Foundation, in addition to its work with the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute providing annual Freedom Rides on ATI buses for disadvantaged inner-city kids through the historic South, has continued its mission to help women become self-sufficient by establishing income-generating funded projects in Gambia supplying diesel-powered milling machines to eliminate the intensive labor work of turning millet into flour. Extending the assistance into Lesotho and Ethiopia, the Foundation created programs to teach women there how to prevent soil erosion, build catch-basins for rain water, preserve food and develop the art of sewing; and in South Africa, trained women in micro-credit programs on how to start or expand their businesses.

The African Goodwill Awards' program, under the direction of CalState University Dominguez Hills' president Dr. James Lyons Sr., also honored the late attorney Johnny Cochran, Dr. V. Lazarus, Dr. S. Yoon, Phyllis Stickney, D. Smith, A. Wash, Dr. N.A. Anakwenze, J. Ogbornon, Rev. Bellamy and Dr. N. Udoh.

As ATI chairman, Noel presides over the largest in-bound travel company in North America, which is the second-largest woman-owned business in Los Angeles. The agency brings nearly one-million international visitors to America each year. In 2001, ATI was named the preferred supplier to AAA & CAA providing a customized Internet booking site for over 70 AAA/CAA clubs. AAA is America's largest retail travel network with $4 billion in annual travel revenues.

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