It seems ironic to find 30-year-old Sylvia Charczuk worrying about her biological clock when already she has 3,000 children. But her energy is so prodigious, her determination so single-minded, that it would take a very special kind of partner to fit into the scheme of things. She knows this, of course, but still "the kids come first."
In the summer of 2003, this "untrained, unarmed, unstoppable" Canadian philanthropist adopted the village of Ban Kiukacham in northern Laos. The projects she started there now enable 14 hill tribe communities to send children to kindergarten and use the new library.
"But that's only the first stage," she says, golden-haired, golden-skinned and radiating energy. "Stage two involves building two dormitories so that teachers and children who travel a long way can stay over during the week, establishing teacher training courses that include a special needs program, and increasing the number of college and university scholarships from five to 10."