Danyi's Children seeks to improve the quality of education in Danyi N'Digbe, so these students may work toward improving their village's quality of living. The association does not seek to impart any religion or set of beliefs to the children, only to provide them with a solid infrastructure and motivation for learning. This private charitable foundation runs on volunteer efforts only and guarantees that every dollar donated goes directly to its cause.

While traveling in the small West African country of Togo back in 2001, we stumbled upon the village of Danyi N'Digbe. It was a place that particularly touched our hearts. Mainly, it was the children we immediately fell in love with. They were smart, cheerful and oh-so-curious. Despite having very little (no running water or electricity), they never failed to make us smile.

But it made us very sad to see the condition of their elementary school - three broken-down huts with dirt floors, rickety desks and virtually no supplies.

We continued visiting the children, bringing supplies and small donations, but we knew more needed to be done.

In 2003, we created "Danyi's Children" to raise money for the children of Danyi N'Digbe. As a result of our first fund-raising effort, we built the kids their first real elementary school and provided them with enough supplies to last five years. We have since built a library with computers (and a generator), a kindergarten class, and a nurse's office.

Most unbelievable about these children is how happy they are despite how little they have. They have given us so much inspiration, and we hope you will feel inspired by them too!

Julie Mirlicourtois is a television news producer in New York City. Alain Mirlicourtois owns a small sales and marketing business in Paris. Though this father and daughter have not lived in the same country since Julie was very young, they have remained extremely close, driven by their love for travel, people and foreign cultures.

Julie and Alain have been traveling to Togo for 16 years now and feel incredibly grateful to have been accepted into the lives of many people there, particularly the families of Danyi N'Digbe.

They are also eternally thankful to all the donors in the Unites States, France and Italy, who have allowed them to improve the quality of education for the children who have so touched their hearts.

Danyi N'Digbe is a small hilltop village above the town of Kpalime, in southwestern Togo, a small former French colony in West Africa. There are approximately 1,000 residents in Danyi N'Digbe, all of them living in mud huts or houses without running water or electricity.

The average monthly salary of each family is less than $20 USD and most work in agriculture. Women carry the crops to neighboring villages and sell them at the marketplace.

People also travel by bus or foot to other villages with more amenities for Internet service. While residents of Danyi N'Digbe don't have water or electricity, they do have email addresses!