Class of 1969

CHARLES MILLER brings education to Third World villages.

In the village of Catdang, Vietnam, it costs $15 a year to send a child to school. Many families find the money to send their sons but often cannot pay for their daughters. The coastal village is known'for its unique and beautiful baskets., but neither these nor its traditional agricultural practices sustained the community in the face of the country's shifting political economy—until Miller happened through in 1991. He was teaching in,Vietnam when he visited the village 60 miles south of Hanoi. "I fell in love:'' he says. ''When you get hooked on a community, you can't walk away." He arranged to purchase baskets directly from the community for sale in the States, pledging to return with a share of the profits. A year later the money he earned was used to improve the village's contaminated water supply: two years later money from the baskets brought electricity to the area: and soon after Miller helped the community construct a middle school building.

Miller measures his impact one child at a time: "We built a school for 800 kids that probably wouldn't exist otherwise." he says. In 2005 Miller expanded his reach, establishing the Children's Initiati (www.childrensinitiative.org) to help raise funds for similar efforts for children in Southeast Asia and Africa. The nonprofit recently expanded to Mekelie.. Ethiopia, partnering with a local organization that works with an orphanage and supports HIV prevention and treatment. "We are investing in human capital at the local level with people we absolutely trust and believe in," says Miller,