CAWST is a Canadian humanitarian organization that provides subsidized engineering services - training, education and technical consulting in water and sanitation to organizations working with the poor in developing countries. CAWST's main strategies are to:

• Make knowledge about water common knowledge by developing and freely distributing training programs in water and sanitation;
• Build the capacity of local public sector organizations (NGOs and government);
• Promote household water treatment as the place to start the sustainable delivery of water and sanitation services;
• Lead with the education and training, which is the catalyst for action; and
• Identify barriers to implementation and help our clients overcome them.

As of June 2007, CAWST has provided training and ongoing technical consulting to 2,443 people representing 371 client organizations in 49 countries. This has been the catalyst for 172 organizations to start independent water and sanitation projects with the support of 1,102 community based organizations. This network has impacted 1,125,000 people with improved water and sanitation and a better quality of life.

For more information on CAWST, please visit  www.cawst.org

Light Up The World (LUTW) is the pioneer and world leader in utilizing Solid State Lighting (SSL) technologies to improve the quality of life of the poor and disadvantaged in the developing world. We supply affordable, high-efficiency, durable, and near permanent White Light Emitting Diodes (WLED) lighting solutions powered by renewable energy in ecologically sensitive and remote rural areas. This technology is having a positive impact on the lives of marginalized people throughout the world through wealth creation, opportunities for better education, improving economic productivity, better health and safety in addition to the benefits for the environment. To support the work of LUTW, visit our website at  www.lutw.org and donate to help light a home in the developing world.

CAPD is a volunteer-based charity that promotes health and education activities in people disadvantaged by circumstance in Latin America, initially Colombia. We choose to work closely with a limited number of community-based organizations and individuals to facilitate opportunities for organizational and human development. We provide capacity building workshops, one-on-one coaching, and funding of programs.

www.capdcalgary.org

Hydrogeologists Without Borders (HWB) is a group of hydrogeologists, water well technicians, groundwater specialists and groundwater organizations who share a concern about the very high importance of groundwater in developing countries. HWB places a particular emphasis on potable water supply to the most impoverished areas of the world and seeks build hydro geologic capacity to apply local solutions to the development, use, management and long-term protection of groundwater resources in developing countries.

www.hydrogeologistswithoutborders.org

Education Beyond Borders (EBB) is a non-profit, non-denominational organization incorporated in 2007, devoted to closing the education divide through teacher professional development and community education. EBB is supported entirely by individual donors and corporate/foundation grants. We work primarily, but not exclusively, in developing countries, to build self-reliance, health, and capacity. We seek to empower by developing and implementing seminars and workshops that are consistent with best educational practices and sensitive to the host country's curricula. With the help of technology, EBB will also create a network of teachers and their peers from various countries to collaborate on lessons that would allow their students to work together on topics of global importance and relevance. Not only do we reach out to enhance education in developing areas, but we seek to create sustainable relationships that will enhance our own classrooms by infusing our curriculum with global experiences and cultures through joint student projects.

www.educationbeyondborders.org

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) promotes human development through access to technology. We believe that technology, when appropriately incorporated into each community's social, cultural, economic and political context, can drive extraordinary change. This change is promoted in two ways, first by partnering with developing communities to help build local capacity and second, by raising awareness among Canadians about making decisions that positively impact communities overseas. In Calgary, the EWB Professional Chapter is creating a community of engaged professionals working to end extreme poverty.

www.calgary.ewb.ca

Lifeline Malawi Association is an independent Canadian humanitarian medical relief and development organization headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is dedicated to providing medical aid without discrimination to the peoples of developing countries. LM fulfills its vision of "Bringing life-transforming hope and healing to the nation of Malawi" through a community-based medical clinic delivery model, utilizing partnerships with other like-minded organizations. Our mission is accomplished by providing:

- A replicable Centre of Excellence that delivers rural based:

• Primary health care, such as disease prevention and treatment
• VCT programs which address the reality of HIV/AIDS
• Maternity programs

- Appropriate medicines, without cost, through pharmaceutical partnerships

- Trained healthcare professionals to provide quality assessment and care

- Leadership for community ownership and self sustainment by implementing community-based health education programs

- Partnerships with other organizations for hygiene, safe water and sanitation programs

- Means to generate revenue within the community (i.e. Maize mill)

www.lifelinemalawi.com

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) also known as Doctors without Borders was established in 1971 by a small group of French doctors who had worked in Biafra. Upon their return, they were determined to find a way to respond rapidly and effectively to public health emergencies, with complete independence from political, economic and religious influences.

Today, we are the world's leading independent international medical relief organization, with 5 operational centers in Europe and 14 national sections worldwide. In 1999, MSF was awarded the international Nobel Peace Prize "in recognition of the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents." Our mandate concerns emergency relief, and the principles we honour while carrying out our work are contained in our Charter. We launch our operations in areas where there is no medical infrastructure or where the existing one cannot withstand the pressure to which it is subjected.

www.msf.ca

Opportunity International Canada is a non-profit, international organization addressing the root cause of poverty through Microenterprise Development (MED). Microenterprise Development is the provision of small business loans, training and support to microentrepreneurs in the developing world. With a loan and training, a struggling entrepreneur can start or grow a business. With a business, no matter how small, they can make an income. With an income, they can feed their family, provide education for their children and improve their housing. In the process, the local economy is stimulated, dignity regained and hope restored.

Opportunity International Canada is the independent, maple-leafed arm of the Opportunity International worldwide Network. The Canadian wing is a relative newcomer, receiving legal status in July 1997.

www.opportunityinternational.ca

Africa Book Project is a volunteer-based charitable organization that aims to support education in Africa through the collection and distribution of books and educational materials. We work primarily with rural and community-based schools that receive little or no government funding and have very limited educational resources. Canadian school boards, libraries and individuals donate text and early reading books, which are sent to the schools and distributed. We have sent over 100,000 books to schools in Kenya and Tanzania.

www.africabookproject.org

True Vision Ghana (TVG) is a Ghanaian grassroots initiative founded in 2006. TVG helps reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS through community capacity building including treatment, prevention, education and empowerment of youth in rural villages in Northern Ghana. We hope to reduce the stigma of AIDS and to provide services through the following 3 programs:

1. Care and Aid: subsidize children affected by AIDS to get equal access to food, education, medicine and other basic needs.

2. Education and Training: train Ghanaian healthcare workers to promote openness about risk reduction strategies and prevention of HIV/AIDS through the facilitation of community health workshops, sex education clubs for youth and a youth-run radio program on HIV/AIDS issues.

3. Economic Empowerment: provide micro-loans to women in communities affected by AIDS to help end the cycle of poverty and to make the project sustainable in the long-term.

True Vision Ghana is proud to be 100% volunteer run and we have dedicated fund raising teams in Canada, the US, and Germany.

www.truevisionghana.org

Fontaine Children's Charity Foundation (FCCF) is a registered charity raising funds to help street children in Nampula, Mozambique. We organize various fundraisers throughout the year to provide basic needs for almost 80 street children. In 2007 we began construction on a dorm building that will be completed summer 2008. This building will give 24 children safety from the streets, as well as around the clock care, food, education, medical attention, and counseling. For the children that still have living family, they will be re-integrated into those families with our continued support. Our hope is that we can give the children in the area what they need to be happy and heathly; as well as become the future for a nation still climbing out of the shambles of a civil war.

www.nampulastreetkids.com

The Hayati Children's Foundation is a non-profit organization that was established in 2007 with the goal of providing funds to specific orphanages in third world countries to enable those living in the orphanage to have a better quality of life, proper nutrition and an education and training to enable them to support themselves once they reach the age of majority.
Our vision is encompassed by the following points:

• To provide proper facilities to house both the children and staff.
• To provide training of skills to the children so when the children leave the orphanages at age of majority they will be self supporting through an ethical line of work.
• To ensure the children receive proper food to ensure basic nutritional requirements are met.
• To provide the children with clothes, toys, art supplies etc. to ensure that they feel a sense of joy in their life.
• Enhance the education of both children and their caregivers.

www.hayatifoundation.com

Canadian Humanitarian contributes to community development projects in rural and urban Ethiopia. We partner with indigenous organizations to assist them in breaking the cycle of poverty by providing orphaned and vulnerable children and their families with access to healthcare, education, vocational training and the basic necessities of life such as nutrition and shelter. We place a priority on community level participation and indigenous knowledge.

www.canadianhumanitarian.com

Medical Mercy Canada Society (MMC) is a Calgary based non political, non denominational charity which was initiated by Elaine and Dr. Myron Semkuley in 1992, and registered in 1999. Its mission is to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life in over-looked and impoverished areas of the world. Volunteers personally deliver medicines, medical supplies, equipment and training, clothing, and renovations to medical, children's, seniors' and educational facilities.
Burmese Refugees - MMC volunteers travel to the Burmese borders of India and Thailand to provide support to Burmese refugees in these areas. Canadian medical professionals treat patients, teach basic medical techniques to local Burmese refugees, provide material, financial and moral support.
Ukraine - MMC volunteers package, ship and personally distribute all medical supplies, fund and monitor renovations, and provide training as required to hospitals, medical clinics, seniors' chronic care centres, schools and Child Care Centres in Western Ukraine

www.medicalmercycanada.org

Humanican began as a question. How can we bring our students into real and significant contact with globalization? Not just our globalization, that of trade and investment, but the globalization that scars and enriches men and women across the world. We talk a good deal about an authentic understanding of what is going on in our world being the result of experience.

The justice of trade and civility in economics are today's issues. Humanican's mandate is to develop social and capital infrastructure in host countries as a result of travel. More simply, Humanican asks every traveler to consider "what have you left behind?" and "what will you take home with you?" We believe in the abilities of our participants. We hope that their steps taken this summer will echo across the world.

Humanican evolved out of the international studies program that has been offered through West Island College for the last 20 years. This year, students from both Canada and the United States undertook the journeys we offer. The organization offers one month trips focusing on a humanitarian development project. The trips offer a level of access to local problems and challenges that might be unfamiliar to most North Americans. Part of the cost that each participant pays goes to fund the project in which they are involved. Without the traveler then, there is no support for the project. In most cases the synergy to build the school, or house or safe house is the result of the decision a small group takes to have a different sort of holiday. As our focus widens, so too does the scope of change we can effect. Thus our motto,

Let those you help choose their own dignity.

www.humanican.org

Medicos en Accion is a non-profit, charitable organization composed of individuals whose mandate is to provide medical and surgical care to people in developing countries. Our work is focused in Guatemala; at the Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro in the city of Antigua, and in the nearby communities of Panahachel, and Patzun. Our vision in Guatemala is to assist in the provision of medical and surgical treatment to patients who lack adequate medical care. We will continue to offer surgical care, audiological care, and to expand primary care.

www.medicos-en-accion.com

The Bolivian-Canadian Clean Water Network (BCC) is a small not-for-profit society that seeks to improve the health of impoverished Bolivians through access to safe drinking water and hygiene education. It achieves this goal by supporting Bolivian-run partner organizations that implement water and sanitation projects using low-cost, sustainable technologies like the BioSand Filter, latrines, and rainwater harvesting systems. In addition to providing funding and support to its Bolivian partners, BCC Water Network aims to act as a liaison between different organizations that work on water and sanitation issues in Bolivia with the goal of facilitating the sharing of best practices and improving efficiency.

The mission of Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) is to provide farming families in Central America with the training and tools to overcome poverty while restoring our planet's tropical forests. The 40 members of SHI's Central American staff have worked with more than 1,350 families in 101 communities to implement sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty while restoring the environment. Since the organization's start in 1997, SHI has planted more than 2 million trees and converted thousands of acres to sustainable uses; thereby saving tens of thousands of acres of tropical forest from slash-and-burn destruction.

www.sustainableharvest.ca

The Artumas Africa Foundation (AAF) was founded in 2007 and grew from the commitment of Artumas Group Inc (AGI), an oil and gas exploration company with significant interests in Tanzania & Mozambique. AAF's mission is dedicated to funding and facilitating projects that help grow vibrant and empowered communities in underdeveloped regions of Africa. Our vision follows that mission ~ we believe that all people should have access to education; an honest and satisfying ways to make a living; the basic requirements of a healthy community including ample food, clean water, power and access to essential services; and a healthy environment to raise a family.

www.artumasfoundation.org

CAUSE Canada has been active in grassroots community development with local partner organizations in the developing world since 1984. CAUSE (Christian Aid for Under-assisted Societies Everywhere) is a non-profit international development organization that is committed to alleviate poverty and injustice through long-term partnerships that empower communities to respond to their own needs. CAUSE focuses on development programs that build the capacity of marginalized, indigenous people, especially women. Our sectoral priorities are diverse, including primary health care, water and sanitation, reforestation, partner organizational capacity building, micro-enterprise, peacebuilding/war-rehabilitation, gender-specific development initiatives and education.

www.cause.ca or www.causekids.ca

Atzin is a small non-profit, non-governmental and volunteer-based Mexican organization with partner organizations located in Canada and the United States. Atzin assists rural people, particularly indigenous women, to attain better life opportunities, stronger cultural identity and well-being, and greater self-sufficiency with more peaceful governance. Evolving gradually since 1997, Atzin programs focus on four integrated sectors: Health and Healing; Income Generation for Women; Community Education and Literacy; and Environment, Water and Sanitation. Each program is based on principles of people awakening to their potential; investigation with action; and environmental and economic sustainability. Atzin has no religious or political affiliations and works closely with villagers, particularly young women, who as "Atzin Health Promoters," take ever-increasing responsibility for program activities and decisions. Each program advance has been hard won under difficult circumstances.

Atzin uses an integrated approach to community development and human wellness. This approach takes compassion, time and strategic effort. After a long initial period of gaining trust and becoming familiar with the village context and power dynamics, the Atzin team decided to concentrate in this one setting because of the complexity of the poverty, the violence and the environmental conditions. Tlamacazapa, meaning "people who are fearful" in Nahuatl, is a microcosm of our global situation. Atzin now continuously provides needed information and services; prepares local people to take program responsibilities and to obtain paid work; and investigates and takes action on the poverty and environmental toxicity that drastically diminishes the health of this vulnerable and malnourished population.

www.atzin.org

Hands at Work in Africa (Canada) Society was incorporated in February 2008 as an independent society, registered in the Province of Alberta, Canada. The objectives of the society are

• to relieve poverty, sickness and distress amongst orphans, vulnerable children, widows and the sick in Africa, especially those who have been affected or left vulnerable by the HIV/AIDS pandemic;
• to preserve and protect human health by educating persons with respect to the causes and treatment of HIV/AIDS disease and by providing funds to assist medical and non-medical personnel and educators who are working to defeat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa;
• to advance the Christian Church's mission to care effectively for orphans, vulnerable children, widows and the sick in Africa.

Through relationship with Hands at Work in Africa and the Church inside of Africa , our mission is to challenge, encourage, develop and support the ministry of servant hood among those in need in their community through the replication of the Masoyi Community Intervention Model.

www.ca.handsatwork.org

CFYRE's mission is to enhance the quality of and access to education for students around the world through the establishment of sustainable funding sources and beneficial partnerships between schools. We partner with organizations focused on providing education in developing countries and work to establish money in trust to support the operating capital of those schools.

www.freewebs.com/canadianfyre

Impact First is the Canadian pioneer at combining microfinance and health. Founded in 1982, Impact First has worked in remote and marginalized communities in 15 different developing countries. Impact has no religious or political affiliations.

www.impactfirst.net

UEnd is a web-based non-profit that helps the everyday person get involved in changing the world and ending extreme poverty. Our website offers tools to assist in the education and empowerment of people in their activities. The first step is to make the choice to get involved. The second is to apply this principle to your daily life. One easy way is to refocusing a portion of your gift spending budget. Instead of buying a gifts that is not really needed and perahps not wanted by gifts that change the world through UEnd Gift cards. Using innovative technology, we allow people to give online gift cards to people they care about. The recipient browses a database of international development projects displayed on the UEnd website then uses their gift card to support a project of their choice. People can watch the world change over time because projects are updated with blog posts, YouTube videos, photos. 100% of the gift card goes towards ending poverty--UEnd does our operational fundraising separately.

All projects on the website are committed to Integrated Community Development -- empowering communities suffering in extreme poverty to define and solve their own problems, to create sustainable change is the consequence of developing every area of a community and leaving the skills with the people when the project funds are done.

www.uend.org

Founded in 1945 by Dr. Lotta Histchmanova, USC Canada helps farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America grow food for their communities in ways that preserve and enhance the environment. We promote vibrant family farms, strong rural communities, and healthy ecosystems around the world. We support programs, training, and policies that strengthen biodiversity, food sovereignty, and the rights of those at the heart of resilient food systems - women, indigenous peoples, and small-scale farmers.

www.usc-canada.org

A diverse group who are committed to "making a difference" founded Bicycles For Humanity Calgary Chapter. Goals of the Calgary Chapter of Bicycles for Humanity: Worldwide, to foster development and small business opportunities in communities of developing countries by supplying bicycles and supplies to their communities complete with the vision and organization to assist with small business growth. Local, to foster an environment where the younger generation can be a part of a meaningful project, that makes a difference and has impact at a grass roots level.

www.bicycles-for-humanity.org/Calgary

INSPIRE!africa is a Canadian foundation dedicated to inspiring Africans and Canadians to make a difference in their lives. Our goals are to:

• To raise funds in support of community-based initiatives in Rwanda that will advance education, promote gender equality and assist communities to become self sufficient.
• To create awareness in Canada of the issues of the genocide and poverty in Rwanda.
• To offer the opportunity for Canadians to make a difference in Rwanda through donations of time, skills and money.

Currently our projects focus on improving conditions for widows and orphans of the Rwanda genocide and include:

• Purchasing livestock (goats and cows) so widows and their families have access to food and a modest income
• Supporting The Learning Centre in Kigali where orphans learn business and computer skills, English and valuable life skills
• Supporting the Ntarama Community Centre and Health Clinic so a poor rural community has access to learning opportunities and basic medical care
• Sponsoring orphans of the genocide to complete their secondary school education and attend university

We are a small volunteer run registered charitable organization based in Calgary, Alberta. 100% of the donations we receive go directly to the projects we support.

www.InspireAfrica.org

MusiKiva Canada Inc. is a not-for profit organization dedicated to providing music exchange programs, using the foundations of music therapy, between at-risk children and youth in Canada and those in Africa. MusiKiva believes that music is a catalyst for empowering self-expression and enriching human connection and cultural harmony, and therefore, aims to foster individual development and cultural connections through musical exploration, creation, and exchange. Through a professionally designed program, incorporating therapeutic music interventions, the desired outcomes and primary aims are increased:

• self-expression
• self-esteem
• social/peer awareness
• social interaction and communication between own culture and cross-culturally

The purpose of music therapy in exchange is to:

• bring youth together of like-experiences from different regions through the sharing of creative media
• gain a deeper understanding of another culture perceived as different
• increase the understanding that persons are more similar than different and therefore promote positive relationships globally
• use music as a bridge between culture, language, and lifestyle

www.musikivacanada.ca

Healthy Child Uganda (HCU) (est. 2003) is a community-based partnership that works with local citizens to identify and solve the problems that most impact their children's health. Supported by partners in Uganda (Mbarara University of Science and Technology) and Canada (University of Calgary, Canadian Paediatric Society), HCU develops training programs and provides support services for children. HCU helps communities help themselves and teaches healthy practices such as immunization, good nutrition and preventing disease. We train village health volunteers to recognize and treat sick children within their communities. Communities who choose to participate in HCU are actively involved in planning, training, and developing community initiatives.

Communities really want to keep their children healthy and are motivated for change. HCU's more than 350 village health volunteers work with 16,000 young children and their families. In HCU villages, the volunteers register and visit children under five years. Volunteers encourage families to participate in immunization clinics, advocate for orphaned and disabled children and support "at risk" cheldren. Twice a year, HCU volunteers support Child Health Days where children are weighed and receive immunizations and Vitamin A. Village health volunteers use skits, puppetry and songs for health teaching and provide advice and refer sick children to health services. Ugandan health workers trained by HCU, care for sick children at local health centres. HCU also encourages community projects such as planting gardens, building latrines, and developing income generating initiatives. Canadians volunteer as technical experts, supporting training, field activities and evaluating success.

www.healthychilduganda.org

Who we are
We are a central Alberta based international development organization founded in 1990, supported and managed entirely by a diverse group of volunteers dedicated to improving lives.

Our Vision
'A Better World'. Our vision is to help create a better world by inspiring people and organizations to become involved in the pursuit of improving lives.

Our Mission
'Innovative Action to Improve Lives'. Our mission is to deliver sustainable foundations needed to improve lives, in partnerships with local community leaders, development organizations and government ministries.

Our Values
Encouraging Self Dependence
Endorsing Lasting Solutions
Ensuring Accountability

Our History
A Better World was established in 1990 as part of the College Heights Adventist church in Lacombe, Alberta and focused on a few small international projects. It has since grown to include people from all walks of life dedicated to improving lives without regard to ethnic, political or religious association. It works in places such as Tibet, Bolivia, and India, while maintaining a focus on projects in Eastern Africa. The church has adopted A Better World as one of many humanitarian activities it governs. This partnership allows A Better World to operate with minimal costs as the church provides for all accounting, auditing and management functions. It also provides additional funding for projects through its affiliation with other aid agencies. Everyone is welcome to participate in A Better World activities to help improve lives at home and abroad.

www.a-better-world.ca

Bridges Social Development is a volunteer based "virtual" organization and registered Canadian charity. Members of the Board of Directors reside in Calgary Alberta, and many volunteers live in Alberta though experts and volunteers are now fanning out across Canada.

At the invitation of local partners in places like Yemen, Egypt, Oman and India, Bridges' expert volunteers organize and teach capacity building workshops for professional women and men in have-not communities in these countries. Through Bridges, professionals in Canada from fields such as healthcare, journalism, law, politics and education volunteer to carry out best-practices workshops for their counterparts in these have-not communities in foreign countries. These workshops always include the "what" and the "how". For example, Bridges has been carrying out training for pediatric emergency physicians and nurses in Yemen and Oman for several years, and always combines this clinical training with leadership, change management and project management training.

Bridges has recently developed open-source training materials in some management topics - project management, integrity and soon, negotiation - that are shared on a Bridges' training website. As well, Bridges is in the process of launching a youth entrepreneurship initiative that involves the support of mentors from Canada; details will be found on Bridges' youth website later this summer and again, this program and its materials are available for use by anyone on an open-source basis.

Programs undertaken by Bridges not only encourage social development but create a space to foster East-West engagement and understanding. Bridges has been training Yemeni professionals since 2003. Fund-raising is done primarily in Canada with corporations and individuals (no government funding), and funds raised are used to reimburse disbursements only, on a transparent basis.

www.canadabridges.com

Right To Play is an international humanitarian and development organization using the transformative power of sport and play to build essential skills in children and thereby drive social change in communities affected by war, poverty and disease. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guides our work. Right To Play programs target the most marginalized individuals including girls, persons with disabilities, children affected by HIV and AIDS, street children, child combatants and refugees. Right To Play has been a pioneer in innovation for social change and has a track record for creating programs that are both sustainable and replicable. Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play trains local community leaders as Coaches to deliver our programs in 23 countries affected by war, poverty and disease in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

www.righttoplay.ca

CORE International (Creating Opportunities and Resources for the Excluded) is a registered charitable organization based in Canmore, Alberta. CORE works with local organizations in Nepal and focuses on people who usually do not benefit from conventional aid projects. CORE promotes Opportunities for learning skills and education and Resources for micro-credit to start small enterprises from which people can improve their livelihoods. CORE's beneficiaries include some of the most disadvantaged people in Nepal - widows, who are severely discriminated against, the rural poor, and people in isolated communities. CORE International develops partnerships and programs to address the self-identified needs of excluded people. We work to build 'bridges' between groups of people, organizations, and individuals who are able to provide services and support. Current projects include non-formal education for children, scholarships and training support for widows and children, literacy programs for women, reproductive health education and clinics, and micro-credit programs for urban poor and widows.

www.core-international.org

STAR EcoWorks is a social enterprise based in Calgary, Canada providing high quality solar powered LED lanterns to professionals working in rural and remote communities throughout the developing world. The "STAR" in STAR EcoWorks is an acronym for Sustainable, Teachable, Adaptable & Repeatable, which are the criteria used to measure the success of products and activities.

Professionals working in rural and remote communities throughout the developing world are leading lights in their communities. In addition to the services that they provide, health care, educational, conservation and development professionals represent hope for a brighter future.

The Eco Village of Hope Society is an Alberta registered non profit registered charitable organization.

Founded in 2007, the Society has a focus on children and has been established to provide nurturing, health care and education for children and to enhance their living facilities through the use of environmentally sustainable technologies and environmentally responsible practices. The difficult economic and social situation in rural villages in China has created a number of "Left Behind" children; those children whose parents have moved to cities to work and are unable to care for their children. Children are often left with elders in the village who work in the fields and are unable to attend to their most basic needs. The Eco Village of Hope's Nanny Nurture program focuses on the care of these children; it is the ultimate goal of the project to develop sustainable businesses in the village that will employ parents of these children.

www.ecovillageofhope.org

HYTES supports youth in developing countries with educational opportunities to empower themselves, their families and their communities. Our main activity involves paying secondary school fees for community minded and financially challenged youth in Guatemala, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.

www.hytes.org

REACH Haiti is a Canadian registered charity established in 2010 with a mandate to provide sustainable support to improve education in Haiti. The January 2010 earthquake crisis attracted worldwide attention and massive responses to assist and address immediate problems. Efforts continue today with a primary focus on the damaged areas and the people affected. The destruction and impact on the country has been devastating and problems continue to arise and are exacerbated by the pre-existing economic, political and environmental conditions.

We conducted interviews in Haiti (Mirebalais area) in June, 2010 and responded immediately with a summer program for 50 children at one of the schools. Our strategy involves collaboration with local families, educators and civic officials to improve education conditions and outcomes.

In 2011, we are conducting our activities to align with "Pour un Pacte National pour l'Education en Haiti", a report providing the vision for education in Haiti. In 2011, we will assist in the development of 2 model schools in addition to helping schools in financial distress.

www.reachhaiti.ca

Strong Hearts Children's Foundation is a volunteer run non-profit organization working in partnership with local organizations in developing countries. Our goal is to help build leadership amongst youth in various communities, empowering them to lead their generation out of poverty. We focus on three core competencies - education, recreation, and health care and create programs with our partners that fit their local context. Our first initiative, a Kid's Learning Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is focused on increasing access to and quality of education for youth, and includes leadership programs, after school classes, community outreach, and a recently established kindergarten school, among other programs. Strong Hearts is currently exploring various social enterprises to contribute to the sustainability of our projects and communities.

www.strongheartscanada.ca

All For Humanity is a registered Canadian charity with projects in both Colombia and Ghana. We are an officially recognized NGO (non-governmental organization) as granted by the Department of Social Welfare in Ghana. Our approach is entirely grass roots and hands on, allowing us the benefit of seeing firsthand the amazing results of our actions, as well as ensuring that the money we raise goes directly to the children and families we are helping.

Our time spent in Ghana over the past few years visiting orphanages, schools and hospitals has made it evident that devoting our efforts and fundraising dollars to assist orphanages would in no way be effective. Ensuring the safety and well being of the children was our paramount concern and supporting orphanages would not only prevent this, it would ultimately undermine the importance of maintaining a strong family unit. Deinstitutionalization of the children who live in the orphanages is not only preferable but possible and we are seeking alternatives to institutionalized living. To learn that our assessment of the situation was in line with The Department of Social Welfare in Ghana, who are currently working to deinstitutionalize all orphanages through their Care Reform Initiative, helped us clearly define where our focus needs to be.

In Colombia our projects commit to delivering computers, software and educational supplies to the special needs children attending the Maria Auxiliadora School in Puerto Asis, Colombia, a region of the country that is grossly lacking medical, nutritional and educational support.

www.allforhumanity.ca

CARO - Canadians Reaching Out to the World's Children Foundation with a home base of Medicine Hat Alberta is dedicated to "...partnering with international communities in need for the improvement of the lives of impoverished, disabled and abandoned children, their families and communities" has been operating since 2001. CARO operates entirely with volunteers and with contributions from individuals, community groups and businesses.

CARO partners with local community based organizations in Burkina Faso, Romania, India, Arizona and Medicine Hat. In Burkina Faso CARO funds a Women's association which cares for approximately 30 abandoned children in an orphanage and another 90 children placed in village foster care. We also support the women's association with equipment for a weaving and soap-making operation. The income from this enterprise is shared by the women to help them provide the basics of life for their own children. Many of the women are unable to read or write and are single parents. In Romania CARO contributes to an orphanage for 15 children in Cluj, and a food and school program for about 20 street children and the salary for a speech therapist for about 15 special needs children in Medias Romania. In India CARO partnered with a local anonymous donor family for the construction of a new family group home near Kochi. In Arizona CARO facilitates and contributes along with a Medicine Hat couple to a local NGO in Yuma Arizona for the support of children of migrant Mexican workers. In Medicine Hat CARO supports a hot lunch program for a local school in the inner city.

www.carocanada.ca

Add Your Light's (AYL) mission is to resolve poverty through education, health promotion, and the development of local economies. Our main geographic focus is the Dominican Republic (DR) and the N.E. border of Haiti, although we offer technical support to NGOs initiating similar projects in other countries. We build rural classrooms for kindergarten & primary school children. AYL introduced the Biosand (Manz) water filter to the DR in 2000, a program which has resulted in access to clean water for tens of thousands of families. We designed & tested our own brand of LED lamps, resulting in lighting systems that will last for years, and providing safe, clean lighting to families who otherwise depend on candles or kerosene lamps. To promote sustainability, both the water filter & LED lighting programs have been developed into small businesses for Dominican and Haitian entrepreneurs. All of this is undergirded with a program of small loans, which allows women to obtain credit to start a small business of their own, to purchase a water filter or lighting system, or to do essential home improvements.

www.addyourlight.org

Open to Grow is a Canadian “microcredit charity” founded by Calgary entrepreneur Bob Brown. Open to Grow helps low-income Guatemalan businesswomen grow their cash flow and change their lives. We do this through the combination of microloans, provided by us, and a unique one-on-one business advisory and training program delivered by San Francisco-based NamasteDirect. Bob Graham, founder of NamasteDirect, has been involved in microcredit for over 27 years. He co-founded the largest microcredit network in Central America.

www.opentogrow.org