A Better World (ABW) is an organization that is based in

Lacombe, Alberta Lacombe ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately north of Red Deer, the nearest major city, and south of Edmonton, the nearest metropolitan area. The city is set in the rolling parkland of central Alberta, between t ...

, Canada. It is a

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, formed in 1990. Eric Rajah is one of the co-founders of ABW. More than 1800 people had volunteered on ABW projects by 2010.

Projects

ABW has several projects in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, including the support of a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestr ...

. ABW has also provided

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

to Burmese refugees in India. In 2009, Cross Roads Church in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

considered partnering with ABW on a project to give two

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

s camps in

Kosti, Sudan Kosti (also Kusti, ar, كوستي) is one of the major cities (population was 173,599) in Sudan that lies south of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and stands on the western bank of the White Nile river opposite Rabak(the capital of the Whi ...

, access to a water source. In 2011, Azalea Lehndorff started the 100 Classroom Project, an ABW initiative that educates girls in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The goal of the project is to build 100 classrooms in

Jowzjan Province Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jozjan (Dari: ), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of v ...

in the space of three years. ABW has also helped with building development of St Luke's Leprosarium, Peikulum in Tamil Nadu.

Partnership with Raise Their Voice

ABW partnered with Raise Their Voice throughout the 2012 tour of

Andrew Kooman Andrew Kooman is an author and playwright from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Personal life Andrew Kooman is from Red Deer, Alberta, and graduated from the Bachelor of Arts collaborative degree program between Red Deer College and the University of C ...

's ''

She Has a Name ''She Has a Name'' is a play about human trafficking written by Andrew Kooman in 2009 as a single act and expanded to full length in 2010. It is about the trafficking of children into sexual slavery and was inspired by the deaths of 54 people i ...

''; while the play toured across Canada to raise awareness about

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

, ABW raised money to help women and children who had been trafficked in Thailand as part of the country's prostitution industry. Specifically, the money raised went to Home of New Beginnings, a

safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

established in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

in 2006, where former human trafficking victims can receive

life skills-based education {{Citation needed span, {{nofootnotes, date=January 2018 Life skills-based education (LSBE) is a form of education that focuses on cultivating personal life skills such as self-reflection, critical thinking, problem solving and interpersonal skills. ...

and spiritual healing, thereby allowing them to attain a healthy and financially stable lifestyle. At the time of the 2012 tour of the play, Home of New Beginnings had 17 residents, the oldest being 33 and the youngest being 11. From their fundraising initiative with Raise Their Voice, ABW hoped to raise $12000 to pay an outstanding property bill, $18000 to buy two

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...

s, $9000 to finance a training building, $9000 to buy

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

equipment, and $5000 to finance a gift shop in which the residents sell products they have made, such as baked goods. All five members of Raise Their Voice had previous connections with ABW, and the plan to have the two organizations working in conjunction had been developing since 2011. The

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Progra ...

passed out at each performance recommended ABW to audiences as a good organization to support, as well as listing the websites of several other

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

References

Adventist organizations established in the 20th century Children's charities based in Canada Christian educational organizations Development charities based in Canada Independent ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church International volunteer organizations Lacombe, Alberta Organizations based in Alberta Foreign charities operating in Kenya Foreign charities operating in Thailand Social welfare parachurch organizations Human trafficking in Thailand {{Nonprofit-org-stub