Housing & Education for AIDS orphaned girls: Providing education to orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda, including the basic skills to become self-sufficient and escape child labor, prostitution, and death by poverty and AIDS.

Create Economic Opportunities for Pakistani Women: Providing collateral-free loans and savings services catering to poor women, including general and emergency loans. This project also provides business and literacy training.

Supporting Afghans' Grassroots Education Efforts: Providing funding and training for employees of an Afghan education NGO so they can improve and continue their important work.

Women's Education Fund in Sierra Leone: Supplementing costs for secondary and post-secondary education for women in Sierra Leone to prepare them for gainful employment and constructive participation in the nation's development.

Sewing Cooperative for Isolated Muslim Women: Forming a sewing cooperative for Muslim women between 16 and 22 living in the Indian city of Hyderabad; helping them use their tailoring and embroidery skills to earn money.

Congratulations and good luck to all of the social entrepreneurs leading these critical grassroots projects!

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WaterHealth International implemented a Community Water System in the village of Bommininam Padu (Andhra Pradesh, India). Now in its infant stages, this innovative technology - which uses ultraviolet light to treat contaminated water - promises to improve the lives of thousands of village households. Yet as Nadia Madden of WaterHealth International observes, there is still much work to be done...

Just across the road from our Community Water System in Bommininam Padu, there is an elementary school. Almost every day the students walk by on their way to and from school.

Their teacher, Samrajyamma, showed up on our first day to find out how to get containers of water for her students. When we offered to give it to them for free, she proudly exclaimed, "We don't need handouts...we can afford this water ourselves! I will work with the government and children's parents so my students can drink safe water at school."

She spoke candidly with us about the conditions of the community. "The water in this village is not good.....recently two boys fell into fits and the doctors said it was the water. Since coming to work here, we [local teachers] suffer from headaches and body pains."

The children took me out back to see the well provided by the local government for their drinking water. The water was slightly green and mixed with debris.

Samrajyamma continued, "Conditions here are not easy. Many of the students also do not get enough food to eat, and their parents are not educated. I tell as many people as I can to take the water. It is only one rupee. You spend so much on decorations...this water is good for you and your children."

A 2005 Marketplace award recipient, WaterHealth is seeking to build on the success of its pilot program. Bommininam Padu is the first of ten villages where the Community Water Systems will be installed. When the project is complete, it will provide safe drinking water to roughly 20,000 villagers in Andhra Pradesh, India.

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In the remote South Pacific Ocean, midway between Panama and New Zealand, lies tiny Pitcairn Island, home to 50 people descended from the sailors of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame. Since that time, Bounty descendants have eked out a living by selling curios to infrequent passing ships. Today, residents of Pitcairn Island live far below the U.S. poverty level.

The sea is the lifeblood of the Pitcairners-it brings opportunities to sell or barter with ships, and it provides fish, the staple of the Pitcairn diet. Most fishing is done from boats, tiny canoes each islander must build and maintain.

Given the tumultuous nature of the Pitcairn seas and the harsh storms that lash the island, maintaining the fishing canoes continues to be a struggle. The boat shed storing the canoes is badly deteriorated and must be replaced.

As part of its "Explore. Give. Change." program with GlobalGiving, The North Face turns its attention to Pitcairn Island, where this fall four North Face athletes will attempt the first ascent of the Island's cliffs, which rise from the ocean floor to heights of 300 meters above sea level. For the philanthropic segment of their trip, The North Face has committed at least $6,000 to build a new boat shed to help the people of Pitcairn Island maintain their livelihood. These funds will supplement the contributions of company employees, customers, and the general public.

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