because I'm a girl too

If you live in Canada (or the UK), this is a good place to start:

www.plancanada.ca or www.plan-uk.org

I wanted to go to a fundraiser for Haiti relief last night, but was too exhausted. I asked my co-worker, who was organizing the event, if I could contribute anyway and she sent me to Plan Canada's website. Whatever donations you make will be matched by the government to sweeten the deal. While digging around on their website, I found some great opportunities to help.

Maybe you have seen the "Because I am a Girl" campaign ads on the subway? This is a great program that helps young girls in developing countries that are condemned to lives of inequality and poverty. Some stats from the website:

-Girls aged 15-19 account for 50% of victims of sexual assault worldwide
-Birth complications and unsafe abortions are the leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19

-Seventy per cent of the 1.5billion people living on less than a dollar a day are female
-Stunted growth in estimated 450million women as a result of childhood malnutrition
-Approximately 7.3million young women are living with HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 4.3million men
-Two thirds of 15-19-year-olds newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female

There is an option to sponsor a child, and buy gifts of hope including home birthing kits and literacy training for 2 women ($100!). Who's with me on this? Lets get involved. If women's issues aren't your thing, you can buy a clean water for a family, polio vaccines, mosquito nets, mango trees, a pig, cow or goat and then write it off on your taxes. Everybody wins!