Eric Rajah and Brian Leavitt of Lacombe have been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) by the Governor General of Canada for creating A Better World, a Lacombe-based agency that invests in sustainable solutions to poverty in developing countries.

The awards “recognize remarkable contributions” in numerous fields, according to the Governor General’s website. Past recipients have reduced hunger and poverty or improved education, both of which are core goals of A Better World.

Rajah and Leavitt created A Better World in 1990 as a church program specifically to pay for reconstructive surgery for children who were victimized by polio in Kenya. Over the past three decades, the agency has evolved into an independent, registered charity that focuses on the health, education and well-being of children in impoverished communities, primarily in Africa and Afghanistan. Each year, more than 50,000 children attend schools built by A Better World, with clean water and toilets.

Thirty-one years later, Rajah is still the executive director, while Leavitt is the agency’s project director. Both have volunteered countless hours and invested financially not only in the costs associated with their work but in project development as well.

Rajah, who was also inducted to the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2011, calls it a “special honour” to be included with other Meritorious Service Medal recipients.

“I share this with hundreds who have supported the initiatives of A Better World,” he says. “It is humbling to serve those in need.”

Leavitt is also grateful for the acknowledgement of the agency and its volunteers.

“It has been my privilege to provide humanitarian service to people in need over the last 30 years. To see the difference that a little organization like A Better World can make in a big world is overwhelming.”

A Better World has worked in 15 different countries on three foreign continents, investing $35.7 million into communities in need. It employs a unique model of community development, establishing long-term partnerships with communities to ensure stable development through community investment and ownership.

More than 2600 volunteers have travelled overseas with A Better World to supervise and monitor project development and maintain community ties. Forty permanent volunteers manage ongoing programs and projects.

**with information provided by A Better World