We Are Together is a film about children living in the Agape orphanage in Africa. It chronicles their lives, individual personalities, and incredible journeys through life. They are also all part of a choir and have recorded an album that coincides with the film (absolutely beautiful music!), with profits from the both the film and CD going to benefit children in South Africa.

There are lots of ways to support the cause, including joining their email list (which includes getting a free music track download), donating money, or simply by purchasing the CD and watching the film (coming soon to HBO).

The Drink 1 Give 10 campaign is simple: for every liter of Volvic bottled water you drink 10 liters of clean drinking water will be provided to children in Africa. The campaign is a result of a collaboration between Volvic and UNICEF, and the money donated to UNICEF through Volvic will be used to build wells, educate the people, and help maintain clean water supplies -- because every child has the right to clean water.

If you don't have Volvic water available in your area you can also donate money to the cause directly.

The Grand Mauritian, a Luxury Collection resort and spa from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, "invites you to experience the magic of Mauritian hospitality in a truly luxurious setting." (I accept!) Located on the northwest coast of the island of Mauritius on Turtle Bay, on the Indian Ocean, the resort is set to open on July 1 and is the the Luxury Collection's first foray into the Indian Ocean and Africa.

The resort will offer 193 guest rooms and suites, all of which offer ocean views (some have private terraces and tropical outdoor showers); a kids' club; a 1,500 sqm Mandara spa with 11 treatment rooms; and a selection of upscale restaurants and bars. Spread over 10 hectares, the resort is bordered by the reef and ocean nature park on the coast with sugar cane fields behind. You'll find water sports and diving in the two swimming pools and on the natural sandy beach.

For business travelers, the resort has plug-and-play high-speed Internet access in the guest rooms; wireless high-speed Internet access in public areas; a business center; and venues for conferences, meetings and social events.

Check rates and availability here.

Epic Change has a unique philosophy toward doing good in the world. They believe that people's stories are assets that can be used as resources to improve their lives. They help people share their stories in innovative, creative and profitable ways to help them acquire the financial resources to create change in their communities. Their first project involves rebuilding and expanding Shepherds Junior, a small pre- and primary school located in Arusha, Tanzania. The school is taught in English but includes courses in the country's primary language, Swahili, and celebrates the culture and history of Tanzania. The school's goal is to give the children in the area a high quality education at an affordable price and charges less than 30% of the cost of private schools of similar quality within the area. They charge nominal tuition to most students and uses income to subsidize the costs of orphans and lower income children who attend the school. The land on which the school is based was sold to a hotel developer. Epic Change is working to help rebuild and expand Shepherds Junior in a new location adding a computer lab, library, cafeteria, playground, classrooms and solar panels for power. An acre of land has been purchased and students are currently attending school in four new classrooms. The Epic Change group and some volunteers are headed back to Tanzania this summer and future story-related projects include a greeting card line that includes pictures of the children and a post card line that includes photos by the children. Epic Change is actively looking for donations as well as volunteers to join them in helping work epic change in the lives of these children.

Today's Charity of the Day is co-owned by none other than Madonna herself. When Michael Berg and Madonna founded Raising Malawi (RM), their goal was to help over one million orphaned children in Malawi that suffer from deadly diseases, extreme poverty and the effects of severe drought. Raising Malawi volunteers are hard at work, fund-raising, conducting research, and raising awareness. Check out this organization's website, there is a heartwarming and educational letter that Madonna wrote about Malawi and the children that reside there.

Goods for Good has a simple goal, to redistribute excess goods that sit unused in the US, to needy children in Africa. They provide much needed school supplies, clothing, and health and hygiene products to children in crisis, while at the same time reducing waste and overstock at home. Donations are received from a wide range of companies and the sorting and shipping is done by volunteers. If your company has outdated or unused inventory (office supplies, fabric, teaching or marketing tools...) that you wish to discard in an environmentally friendly way, contact this worthwhile organization today!

Though it will always have strong overtones of colonialism, going on safari in Africa these days isn't about imposing country club comforts on the untamed wilderness or making a dent in the local wildlife population. That's only fitting in an era when more people come to photograph the animals than shoot them. That's not to say there aren't plenty of elegant luxury lodges in Southern Africa where you can be waited on hand and foot; it's just that the emphasis now is on "organic glamour," a more ecologically-minded, indigenous approach that doesn't sacrifice anything in the way of comfort or style.

In The New Safari: Design, Décor, Detail, just out from Quivertree Publications, we get a tour of 17 of the best and most unique of these lodges, from the diaphanous Singita Lembombo in the Kruger National Park to Namibia's Little Kulala with its blend of earthy and contemporary elements. Be sure to check it out before you book your own excursion.

The beautiful Margherita Missoni who is part of the famed fashion family, has worked with jewelry designer Ileana Makri to create a special bracelet for a worthy cause. The new rose gold and diamond bracelet will benefit OrphanAid Africa, an organization that helps vulnerable children in Ghana. The organization tries to help children at risk and works with community outreach programs and is creating a model children's home.

The bracelet will be available at Jeffrey New York, Colette, YOOX.COM, Matches, and 10 Corso Como next month. It will retail from $640 for the a limited edition, all-diamond bracelet while a single diamond version will retail for $240. Damon Dash and Rachel Roy are also working on a capsule collection of products to benefit the charity including ProKeds sneakers available in six different styles of African-inspired prints. The charity also accepts direct donations.

[via Fashion Week Daily]

Books For Africa distributes new and used books to students in Africa who otherwise would not have access to any reading and study material. Their mission is to put and end to the book famine in Africa. The books are donated by publishers, schools, libraries, individuals and organizations and are sorted and packed by volunteers who carefully choose books that are age and subject appropriate. Today, Books For Africa has shipped more than 18 million books! The cost of shipping isn't cheap, with each one sent there is nearly 40 cents postage required. Books For Africa depends on the generosity of donors to keep the program getting these books into the hands of deserving children.

AIDS is officially 25 years old and sadly in many ways it's as strong and as deadly as ever. In certain parts of South Africa as much as 41% of the population is afflicted with AIDS, and worldwide 90% of the people who have it don't know it. Ignorance is one of the biggest hurdles in treating and controlling the spread of AIDS, and Keep a Child Alive is an organization focused on helping with both education, treatment, and prevention of this devastating disease -- not to mention support of the children left in its wake.

To date over 15 million children have lost one or both parents to the AIDS pandemic, and for just $1 a day you can buy the drugs needed to keep a child alive.

One of the pre-Oscar events this week was the Celestial event held by the Diamond Information Center at Soho House LA. The invitation-only event was a week-long celebration for 2007 Oscar nominees and presenters. The event featured an African-inspired diamond spa with an African rough diamond ritual and massage and a warm kimberlite stone hand and foot massage. Dr. Elliot Ndlovu, a spiritual (sangoma) and medicinal healer (inyanga) from South Africa's Fordoun Spa was also on hand to preside over meditation and relaxation rituals. The star of the show however are the gorgeous diamonds on display, over $50 million diamonds from renowned jeweler Fred Leighton displayed $50 million of diamonds including many gorgeous museum-quality pieces. Guests received an Isibindi medallion from Mia & Kompany as a gift. After the jump, more unique diamond pieces.

You could take your children to Disneyworld but if you are looking for something a bit more unusual, the Heritage hotels are making it easier to take your children on safari in Africa. They have created new family tents at the Mara Intrepids camp in Kenya's famous Maasai Mara game reserve. The new tents let an entire family stay in one tent and have two separate sleeping areas with ensuite facilities and a lounge with three verandas. The camp also offers two programs aimed at younger travelers. The Adventurers Club program is for kids aged four to 12 and includes nature walks, butterfly catching, craftwork and Maasai skills teaching such as spear throwing and fire building. The Young Rangers program is for teens and includes astronomy lessons, survival lessons and camel rides. Now all you have to do is convince the kids that a vacation with no television and text messaging can be fun.

charity: water is a fundraising effort that was set up by former NYC clue promoter, Scott Harrison. Through the proceeds from the sale of bottled spring water priced at $20 each, each labeled with a custom logo to mark their purpose, the charity will bring clean, sustainable water sources to people in Africa. For every 100 bottles of water sold, one well will be built. And they will keep building wells as long as the water is being sold and there is money to do so.

It is part of a greater charity: movement, which organizes campaigns to bring attention to issues from sanitation to hunger to AIDS and to raise funds to do something about them by "restoring faith in low-level donations" from compassionate citizens. They prove that "even small gifts can have great impact" by using 100% of the proceeds from each of their projects for their causes.

It seems that the fabric company Vlisco is planning to launch the first luxury label based in Africa. The traditional fabrics and designs that the company specializes in are facing competition from inexpensive, imported fabrics and they want to do something to set themselves apart. Creative director Dion Chang said, "The world is ready for a luxury African brand -- an Afro-Gucci." The label has been named Aziza, which means "gorgeous" in Swahili, and will launch in during fashion week in Johannesburg. It will first be sold in South Africa, where the demand for luxury goods is perceived to be the highest. Patterns and styles will be African inspired, but not over-the-top or clichéd.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are planning to launch their own line of traditional African housewares and other home products later this year. They are reported to be working with local craftsmen in Namibia, where they currently reside, to create the products for their line, which will include textiles and pottery. The collection will be launched at an art fair in Paris in September.

Given that the Brangelina collection will debut in Paris, it seems like it will be sold at a premium price, but since Angelina was among Forbes magazine's picks of the most generous celebrities, the odds are good that the couple will be putting a lot of that money back into the community.