Acumen argues that these businesses, because they earn profits and treat the poor as customers, are more sustainable than giveaways. This reflects a growing trend of using business mechanisms to fight poverty. 
 
  Afghan Institute of Learning, www.creatinghope.org , is an aid group run by Afghan women. It is led by Sakena Yacoobi, a force of nature who was educated in the United States , and it now serves 350,000 Afghan women and children annually. 
 
 Yacoobi runs education programs, training centers and clinics, emphasizing local buy-in and self-reliance. Western aid programs in Afghanistan have not always been successful, and my hunch is that if more aid had been routed through Afghan-managed programs like this, more would have been accomplished. 
 
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  BRAC, www.brac.net , is a Bangladeshi antipoverty organization that has had huge success serving tens of millions of people there and is now branching out to Afghanistan and Africa . It emphasizes organizing village women and promoting education, health and microfinance . 
 
 One of BRAC’s strengths is its ability to turn impoverished women into agents of change for the entire community. 
 
  Developments in Literacy, www.dil.org , builds terrific modern schools in Pakistan , particularly for girls. It frustrates me that rural Pakistan abounds with hard-line madrassas financed by fundamentalist Muslims who channel the students toward extremism. Extremists recognize the transformative power of education, and so should we. This is a security issue, for D.I.L. schools can help protect us from terrorism. 
 
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  Deworm the World, www.dewormtheworld.org , tackles a problem most Americans don’t even think about: intestinal worms. Most kids in poor countries have worms, and the result is anemia , malnutrition and sicknesses that cause absences from school. One of the most cost-effective ways of getting more children into school appears to be deworming them with one pill a year, for about 50 cents per person reached. 
 
  SOIL, www.oursoil.org , is bringing dry, composting toilets to Haiti. Run by two remarkable American women, SOIL operates on a shoestring budget in impoverished communities. 
 
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 One aim is to improve sanitation and public health. Another is to compost waste so that it can be safely used as fertilizer to boost agricultural production. 
 
  Sustainable Health Enterprises, www.sheinnovates.com , is a new effort to help women and girls in poor countries to manage menstruation, so that they miss less school and work. S.H.E. is trying to help African women start their own businesses based on making and distributing low-cost sanitary pads. 
 
 Although one Nepal study found contrary evidence, education experts increasingly believe that a cost-effective way to keep high school girls from dropping out in poor countries is to help provide them with sanitary products and perhaps ibuprofen for cramps. 
 
  The Worldwide Fistula Fund, www.wfmic.org , and the Fistula Foundation, www.fistulafoundation.org , are dedicated to correcting a childbirth injury that is one of the worst things that can happen to a person: an obstetric fistula. This is an internal injury that leaves a girl or young woman incontinent, leaking wastes, scorned and ostracized. 
 
 A $450 surgical repair can usually solve the problem and give these young women their lives back. For fistula sufferers, it’s truly the gift of a lifetime. ||||| Investing 
 
 This Pakistani entrepreneur took a gamble to bring power to 55 million people without energy. His bet is paying off. ||||| 18% of women and girls in Rwanda missed out on work or school last year because they could not afford to buy menstrual pads. Apart from the personal injustice stemming from menstrual taboos and the larger issues of health and dignity, that’s a potential GDP loss of $215 per woman every year in Rwanda – all because of a lack of access to menstrual pads. It’s bad business. Bottom line. ||||| Who we are 
 
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 In many parts of the world, we may be conditioned to think of educating children, regardless of gender, as a basic right. Yet globally, one ... more
– “Tired of celebrating spiritual holidays with crass commercialism?” writes Nicholas D. Kristof, in full pitchman mode. Have no fear: “Nothing says ‘happy holidays’ like donating in Aunt Tilda’s name to build a composting toilet in Haiti.” A sampling of the New York Times columnist’s list of worthy charities follows: Acumen Fund: A fund that invests money in for-profit aid initiatives, reflecting "a growing trend of using business mechanisms to fight poverty." BRAC: A Bangladeshi aid group expanding into Afghanistan and Africa that promotes "education, health, and microfinance" by turning "impoverished women into agents of change." Developments in Literacy: A group that builds modern schools, not madrassas, in Pakistan. "This is a security issue, for DIL schools can help protect us from terrorism." Deworm the World: "One of the most cost-effective ways of getting more children into school appears to be deworming them with one pill a year, for about 50 cents per person reached." Sustainable Health Ventures: "A new effort to help women and girls in poor countries to manage menstruation, so that they miss less school and work." For Kristof's full list, click here.