Participating School and Youth Organizations from Colombia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Poland, and the USA.

'Fundamadeus' - Medellin, Colombia
'Fundamadeus' is a series of music schools and a symphony orchestra in which children from the poorest neighborhoods of Medellín, acquire discipline and new aspirations and role models. Without intervention, many of them would follow a path, well-worn in their communities, into violence and drug trafficking. Their musical experience challenges them, offers them another source of status and exhilaration and a new perspective on the violence they have known. As Fundamadeus' founder Juan Guillermo says over and over, "Once you put a violin in the hands of a child and teach him to play he will never pick up a gun."

'W.B.L. College' (Working for a Better Life) - Dhaka, Bangladesh
'W.B.L. College' (a high school) is run by an organization that sponsors debating clubs in schools supplementing the educational system in the country. They encourage creative, analytical, and persuasive thought among students who are used to rote learning and passive acceptance of teacher viewpoints. WBL facilitates lively debate of important political and social issues as a vehicle to create social consciousness and give students opportunities to act on it. Their goal is to divert students' attention away from uninformed political activity and antisocial behavior and towards active participation in the social sector.

'Ithuteng' - Johannesburg, South Africa
'Ithuteng' - is stopping crime before it starts by identifying children who are at risk of becoming criminals, showing them where their current path leads, and giving them the choices and support they need to reform themselves. The organization lets them see that they have an alternative to a life of crime and can become citizen leaders instead of gang leaders. Many of the participating students are "graduates" of the program and serve as tutors and mentors for the newcomers.

SPLOT - (The Independent School of Nowy Sacz) - Nowy Sacz, Poland
SPLOT- was founded to create a hands-on, civic educational model to teach Polish children about participatory Democracy. The school, as well as those founded on the same model, encourage student involvement at all levels, from curricular design to student discipline, and lay a strong foundation for responsible citizenship. SPLOT's vision is to build an international network of these "civic" schools - in East Central Europe, the Baltics, the former Soviet Union, and the Balkans - through extensive teacher training and multi-national exchange programs. Such a network, SPLOT feels, is the best means of encouraging inclusive, democratic sensibilities throughout the region

The SEED School - Washington, DC, USA
The SEED School, is the first of its kind in the nation -- an urban public boarding school where children from difficult circumstances engage in powerful education and cultural enrichment program while they maintain healthy contact with their families and communities. The school applies the benefits of a private college preparatory education - close attention from dedicated teachers, round-the-clock supervision, - to inner city children whose futures are at risk. At the end of a six-year program SEED children will not only be qualified for admission to the most competitive colleges in the country, but they also will possess a deep understanding of their community and the skills needed to succeed in the world at-large.