The moment Natalie Vincent saw 600 little faces laughing and smiling as they played games and learned about nutrition, she knew all her hard work had been worth it.

When Penny White goes to work in the morning, she doesn’t have to dress up or battle rush hour traffic. She dresses warmly, breathes in the fresh ocean air and sets off down the trail to work.

In North America, we say thank you with a card or a bouquet of flowers. In Africa, you say thank you with a cow. Or at least that’s what third-year law student Jessica Lott did when living in Tanzania.