Congratulations to the winners of the 2008 Center for Global Engagement Project Challenge!

Through the Challenge, sponsored by GlobalGiving and Northwestern University's Center for Global Engagement, 15 projects with innovative solutions to some of the world's most formidable challenges competed for spots on GlobalGiving, as well as additional grant funding for the top two. These young social entrepreneurs inspired over 700 donations and $36,500, a 50% increase in giving over the 2007 Challenge, and a 170% increase in the number of donations - a testament to the passion, inspiration, and commitment of these changemakers.

GlobalGiving and CGE also have awarded $3,500 each to the top two projects: Educating, Mobilizing, and Empowering Tanzania's Disabled, led by Tish, and Promoting Quality Education for Rural China, led by Diane. Following are all of the projects that have earned spots on the GlobalGiving website.

We are proud to offer these leaders the space, opportunity, and support they need to realize their fullest potential in affecting positive social change. Please join us in recognizing, supporting, and encouraging these innovative leaders by contributing to these projects.

Improving Community Health in Ho, Ghana Ghana, Health We aim to build the capacity of the HOPE Center by creating a diagnosic pathology lab to more accurately diagnose and treat disease, and a community nutrition project to reduce child malnutrition. read updates from the field How You Can Help:  Make a one-time monthly recurring donation $10 - Will buy microscope slides necessary for the diagnosis of disease $25 - Will supply the HOPE Center with 2 months of electricity $50 - Will supply the pathology lab with necessary chemicals show more $120 - Will pay for 6 months of the community farmer's allowance $690 - Will set up the demonstration farm, providing seedlings, fertilizer, and farming tools. $1,000 - Will purchase one light microscope to be used for disease diagnosis $2,500 - Will purchase a small table-top centrifuge to be used for disease diagnosis $3,000 - Will fund the entire nutrition program, reducing malnutrition of the children of Ho $5,382 - Will fully fund this project show less $ Other amount   or give as a gift in honor/in memory of someone

Improve Quality of Teaching in Rural China China, Education Support schools and network rural teachers across China to develop new curriculum and teaching approaches that prepare students to make improvements in their own lives and communities. read updates from the field How You Can Help:  Make a one-time monthly recurring donation $15 - Sponsors a month's internet connection so teachers can access online teaching resources $25 - Buys 4 books to give 25 rural teachers more ideas to improve their teaching $140 - Sponsors a class project or field trip that takes learning beyond the textbook show more $150 - Retains a good rural teacher in a village school by sponsoring one month's salary $24,558 - Will fully fund this project show less $ Other amount   or give as a gift in honor/in memory of someone

Solar energy for families in Santo Domingo, Panama Panama, Environment Northwestern University students are providing two communities with training and materials to install household solar panel systems and build educational capacity by equipping schools with computers. read updates from the field How You Can Help:  Make a one-time monthly recurring donation $15 - Buys wiring and accessories for systems to provide 3 families with reliable electricity $30 - Buys efficient, long-lasting light bulbs that a family of six can enjoy for up to 7 years $60 - Buys a charge regulator to minimize replacement costs for this low-income community show more $225 - Buys a battery to store electrical energy for a family, providing power at night and on cloudy days $350 - Buys a computer & educational programs to provide valuable learning opportunities for schoolchildren $450 - Purchases a solar panel to provide one or more households with a convenient source of power $675 - Brings an independent, solar-generated electricity system to a family in Panama $13,933 - Will fully fund this project show less $ Other amount   or give as a gift in honor/in memory of someone

HPV Vaccine Awareness & Cancer Prevention in India India, Women and Girls This project will provide 25 education programs on cancer prevention in rural Mysore villages, reaching about 1250 women, and will make cancer screening facilities available at no cost in the clinic. read updates from the field How You Can Help:  Make a one-time monthly recurring donation $25 - Screening for sexually transmitted infection and reproductive tract infection for one woman $50 - Cervical cancer screening for 10 women $100 - One rural education program reaching 50 women in Rural Mysore including IEC material. show more $125 - Colposcopy examination for one woman found to have positive finding on VIA screening. $500 - Training 50 young women as peer educators to talk about cervical cancer in the community $950 - Provide 50 peer educators with educational material on cancer and early detection $22,700 - Will fully fund this project show less $ Other amount   or give as a gift in honor/in memory of someone

In the case that a project participating in the GES Change Competition on GlobalGiving is not implemented within 180 days from the end of the competition, all funds/monies raised by the project during the competition will be reallocated to any other participating project that will be or is being implemented at the discretion of the individual leading said project that had raised these monies during the competition.