Top 5 Canadians to Watch

World Vision spotlights five individuals who are using their skills and resources to make a difference in the world. Doing everything from seeking justice to encouraging fair trade, these Canadians are dedicated to improving the lives of others.

Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik , for her commitment to, and compassion for, those living with HIV and AIDS. This Guelph, Ont.-based physician is on a mission to help thousands of people in Lesotho, Africa who’ve been diagnosed with this disease. Her mission started in 2003, when she spearheaded a campaign to open Ontario’s fourteenth regional HIV clinic.

Two years later, the Masai Centre for Local, Regional and Global Health opened its doors, providing holistic and compassionate care and treatment for those living with HIV and AIDS in this area of southwestern Ontario. Since then, she’s challenged Canadians everywhere to raise funds in support of the Tsepong Clinic, an HIV and AIDS clinic in Lesotho, Africa.

Madam Justice Louise Arbour, for her long-standing commitment to human rights. In 1995, this distinguished judge oversaw a commission of inquiry into allegations of prisoner abuse at the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ont.

The following year, she was appointed chief prosecutor of war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, where she indicted several top-ranking officials in the former Yugoslavia. This included then president Slobodan Milosevic, for war crimes. For the past four years, she has served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Steve Nash, for his dedication to child welfare. Professionally, this Canadian athlete plays point guard for the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns. Off the court, Nash is committed to helping children affected by poverty, illness, abuse, or neglect through creating opportunities for education, play, and empowerment.

Through his charitable foundation, Nash supports programs that provide for the physical and emotional well being of disadvantaged children in his home province of British Columbia, his adopted state of Arizona, and in Paraguay.

Elana Rosenfeld and Leo Johnson, for their staunch belief in the value of fair trade. As the founders of Kicking Horse Coffee, based in Invermere, B.C., the duo are pioneers of fair trade coffee in Canada.

They started their company in 1996 with the goal of producing and distributing organic coffee. The company buys its organic beans from small co-operatives, which ensure the coffee farmers are adequately paid for their hard work.

Dr. Jenn Brenner, for her active interest in the health of children in Uganda. This paediatrician and associate clinical professor at the University of Calgary directs a community-based child health education project in rural southwestern Uganda.

Through a partnership between doctors at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, the University of Calgary, and the Canadian Paediatric Society, Brenner has helped establish a low-cost program that is saving children’s lives. The core of the program is a network of 117 community volunteers who have been trained in basic child health promotion and how to recognize when children can be treated at home or when they need to go to a hospital, often many miles away.

Feel Inspired?
Join the ranks of Canadians making a difference. Click here to sponsor a child through World Vision.

Whether by providing financial assistance or lending a helping hand, Canadians are dedicated to serving others.