WorldCamps is a US based organization started by Philip Lilienthal, who owned and operated Camp Winnebago in Maine for almost 30 years. After retiring, Phil decided to start a new camp in South Africa for children affected by HIV and AIDS. However, this camp isn’t your typical tennis-playing, craft-making, camp song-singing experience. Don’t get us wrong, they have all those activities and many others to boot, but this is a camp that includes an education on what they call “Life Skills”. Classes include proper nutrition and hygiene, HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, gender stereotypes, and a healthy view of sexuality.

These might seem like pretty heavy topics for a youth camp, but in a country where children are too often forced to deal with adult issues, it’s important to properly educate people. A large part of the AIDS epidemic in Africa is due to prevailing attitudes and behaviors toward sexuality and AIDS. Trying to change a country-wide attitude is difficult, but WorldCamps has found a unique environment in which to do so. The camp provides a place for children to play and relax while meeting others who either have family that are HIV+ or are HIV+ themselves.

Presently WorldCamps is located outside of Johannesburg in South Africa, but they will soon open a second camp in Pietermaritzburg. The camps bring together 30 trained counselors and over 100 children aged 10 to 15 years. However, due to demand it is impossible for all the children to return. Other programs, such as Saturday Kids Clubs, allow the campers to reconnect with each other during the year and meet new children. They intend to branch out in the future to other countries with a unique, fun, and crucial learning experience for kids. The motto of WorldCamps is “Nation Building, Community, Good Health, and Fun.” Something every child deserves.

www.worldcamps.org

More than ever, a successful career is based on a strong educational foundation – intellectual, spiritual, moral, and social. In a community that regularly deals with issues such as illiteracy, drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, and violence, the West Dallas Community School creates a foundation on which to build a better future.

Poverty is one of the most significant factors affecting a child’s education. The average household income surrounding WDCS is $10,784 with 78% living below the poverty line. Luckily, WDCS recognizes how important a good school environment can be to a child. The focus is on small classes so each student receives individual attention and opportunities to lead – critical steps in helping students realize their highest potential. Only 8% of the school’s annual budget comes from tuition with the other 92% comprised of donations. Nationally, WDCS students score in the 90th percentile in mathematics and the 75th percentile in language arts. Better than many schools found in affluent communities.

The mission of WDCS is to “provide its students with a challenging educational experience designed to help them know, love and practice that which is true, good and excellent .”. Through offering community programs, as well as a competitive classical education, WDCS makes a difference in their community. Maybe through the school’s example we can see their vision realized all over the country.

http://www.wditx.org/

Heroes for Children is an organization that works to provide financial and social assistance within the state of Texas to families with children (0-22 years of age) battling cancer. Founded in memory of Taylor Anne Brewton and Allison Leigh Scott, Heroes for Children was formed when the parents of Taylor and Allie met in December 2004. Larissa Brewton founded Taylor’s Angels in 2001 to assist families at Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas, Texas. In October 2004, Larissa Linton met Jenny Scott, who recently lost her daughter Allie to the same disease that had overcome Taylor, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The two mothers formed Heroes for Children, a nonprofit larger and better able to help families in need.

After diagnosis of cancer, families must find a way to cope financially with high medical costs. Cancer treatments typically include chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, and frequent clinical visits, all of which can last anywhere from six months to three years. Additionally, a parent must take on increased care responsibilities for the child, at times giving up a full-time job to do so. Care costing $600,000 and up usually exceeds the lifetime maximum benefits. With the already intense emotional burden, having to worry about financial matters is more than any family should have to bear.

The financial relief Heroes for Children can provide to a family is an immeasurable benefit. What makes this organization so unique is the versatility it allows in how the funds are used. Donations can be used for anything from medical bills to gas payments for frequent trips to the hospital. Currently in the US there are an estimated 12,400 children diagnosed with cancer. It is difficult to measure the relief and hope the Heroes for Children gives the families they help, but it’s impossible not to see it.

www.heroesforchildren.org

Historically, up to 90% of Tibetan women deliver in the home, even when government facilities are available, and Tibetan society is one of the few in the world in which there is no tradition of birth attendants or midwives. Many newborns are delivered with the help of a female family member, however, a significant proportion of Tibetan women deliver their babies completely alone. Poor roads, long travel distances, limited access to emergency health care, and poor nutrition create a potentially deadly environment for pregnant women and their infants. The majority of Tibetans are either farmers or nomads, many of whom reside in extreme poverty in rugged mountainous terrain.

This is where One H.E.A.R.T. (Health Education and Research Tibet) comes in. Founded in 1998, this amazing nonprofit integrates Western medicine within the context of Tibetan beliefs and medical practices. They have initiated programs to train skilled birth attendants, physicians, and even pregnant women and their families through PAVOT (Pregnancy and Village Outreach Tibet), a program that sends trained locals to the furthest reaches of Tibet to educate and care for the most isolated women and newborns.

With one of the highest newborn and infant mortality rates in the world, One H.E.A.R.T. has their work cut out for them in this beautifully severe region. But we know you’ll agree that protecting the amazing Tibetan people and their lush culture is worth it.

Purchase a delivery kit for $65 online that provides essential nutritional supplements, medication, and life-saving tools necessary for a clean and safe delivery.

www.onehearttibet.org

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them ­ a desire, a dream, a vision.”

Muhammad Ali may have said this, but no one understands his message better than RETRAK. RETRAK is an organization formed in 2005 that works with a team of social work organizations that aim to get homeless children back on course in their lives. Their primary project has empowered street youths since 1994 through the internationally worshipped sport of soccer. This project focuses on the 2000 to 5000 homeless in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Through RETRAK, though, they are conducting a feasibility study in Ethiopia and hope to reach out to the 10,000 to 15,000 street children there in Addis Ababa, the capital.

Well, you might ask, what exactly is it that makes RETRAK and it’s programs so unique? Well, for one, they work only with boys ages 5 to 20. This may seem exclusive, but according to RETRAK there is a scarcity of programs aimed at male youths. They wish to complement the work of their sister foundations, not overshadow it. Secondly, too often we forget that not everyone can be helped immediately. In a country where civil war and diseases such as HIV and AIDS have ripped families apart, often times the soul needs as much healing as the body. Soccer provides an activity that the boys can take pride in and excel at. Its challenges and successes produce the Champions that Muhammad Ali saw latent in everyone.

To date, up to 400 homeless boys have found a permanent alternative to life on the streets, whether it be receiving job training, reuniting with their families, or moving on to higher education. Yeah, it sounds like a knockout to us too.

www.retrak.org