Founder of Make A Difference, Theresa Grant traveled over to Africa in 2005 to help make a difference in the lives of orphaned children and hasn't stopped. She sold everything she had in the Silicon Valley and made a life change to help children long-term.

Grant had dreams of helping save children for over a month each night. The dreams never went away and that is when she knew she had a calling. 

She believes investing in children is one of the best investments one can make. She states, "Children are our leaders of tomorrow. They are also the ones who can put a stop to the sickness and death in Africa caused by AIDS, TB and Malaria." 

Make A Difference (MAD) solely focuses on children and youth to make a difference long-term through:

- Education

- Health

- Job Skill Training 

- Income Generators

Grant believes that when children have education, medical care, job skill training and income generators they learn to become self-sufficient. They are able to care for themselves and care for others. 

"We are seeing this methodology work on a regular basis," states Grant. She continues, "We can't change the past, but we can change the future." 

Building Effective Partnerships

MAD is collaborating with non-governmental organizations, orphanages and community schools to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children. 

We help the following local organizations:

• Hope Humana on HIV/AIDS Education in Zambia
  
• White Orange Youth for HIV/AIDS Education in Tanzania
• The YMCA to educate youth and children in Zambia
  
• Hope Orphanage and Community School in Zambia
  
• Mapalo Community School in Zambia
  
• Rainbow Project in Zambia
• Kilimanjaro Kids Care Orphanage in Tanzania
• The Royal Junior School in Tanzania
• Rotary Moshi, Tanzania
• Bapuji Orphanage in Mysore, India
• Mahila Sadana in Mysore, India

Education, Health, Job Skill Training and Income Generators

MAD works with children and youth through education, health, job skill training and income generating activities. We want to prevent children from becoming orphaned in the future and if we educate children about AIDS at a young age, we can. If the children we educate, they are better able to care for their children. 

Supporting Communities

In Tanzania MAD has been doing home visits with the children from their partner orphanage. The children are taken to their home villages so that they may visit their relatives that are living. At times the children have a grandmother, grandfather or sibling still alive. We do this so that the children can stay connected to their communities. It is important for them to know about their extended families and for their extended families to know that the children are being taken care of.