2010-2011 Public Annual Report
TDH Ontario's annual report contains information on the management of the agency, organizational structure, Board members, financial stability, adoption programs, complaint procedures and more. We encourage all our clients, and potential clients, to read the report. To download the report please click here (PDF file, 308 KB).

What's in a name?
TDH is the acronym for the French phrase "terre des hommes" which is the title of a reflective book by the French aviator/author/philosopher Antoine de St-Exupery, who also wrote The Little Prince. St-Exupery coined the phrase after noticing, as he looked down on Europe from his open-cockpit airplane, that he could see no national borders. The somewhat untranslatable French phrase implies that we are all members of one human family.

The TDH Family
Internationally, TDH is a member of the International Federation of Terre des hommes, whose head office is in Geneva, Switzerland. However, each national member is autonomous. TDH Canada Inc. is the Canadian national organization. It is a federally registered Canadian charity which primarily supports international projects that benefit very poor children, such as schools and nutritional/educational aid projects. If you wish to donate to any of our projects, please visit the TDH Canada web site and learn how easy it is to make a meaningful contribution.

TDH Canada Inc. works with our two associated provincial member organizations, TDH Ontario and TDH pour les enfants. TDH pour les enfants is a Quebec registered charity that facilitates international adoption for Quebec residents. TDH Ontario is an Ontario registered non-profit organization that facilitates international adoption for Ontario residents and for those of any other province (except Quebec) that will work with an Ontario-licensed organization.

For more information on the history of TDH in Canada view our brochure as a PDF (2.8Mb) or click on the image to view it online.

The TDH Ontario Mission
We believe international adoption responds to a pair of correlative needs: the need of some children for a family, and the need of some families for a child. TDH Ontario's mission is to try to satisfy those correlative needs with careful and compassionate concern for the individual child and for the individual adoptive parents. TDH Ontario does not facilitate domestic adoptions, only international adoptions with specific countries.

TDH Dragonfly Campaign

Your donation will go a long way to provide children living in complete poverty with the kind of hope they need of having a life that's worth living. Go to Dragonfly site

The TDH Philosophy
We have deliberately remained a relatively small organization. It is our experience that when organizations grow larger they tend to become more bureaucratic and less personal. For us, adoption remains a matter of an individual family and an individual child. And we want to keep it that way because we feel that we can do a better job by retaining the personal quality. We are happy to provide references of families who have adopted through us.

The TDH Ontario Office
We are located in the village of Vankleek Hill, approximately one hour east of Ottawa, midway between Hawkesbury and Alexandria and easily reachable from Route 40 and Hwy 417. Our address is 36 Home Avenue, P.O. B ox 963, Vankleek Hill, ON, K0B 1R0. You can reach us at (613) 482-6306 or through one of the e-mail addresses below. Our office hours are 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The TDH Ontario People
Manon Parent, our Adoption Program Coordinator, and Executive Administrative Assistant Hélène Parisien can answer most questions about getting started and about various steps in the adoption process. Manon brings to her management tasks five years expertise as the Director of an Ontario non-profit youth center and extensive experience as an adoptive and foster parent. Hélène worked for 17 years as the General and Financial Manager for a cluster of family businesses and offers further expertise from being active for more than 25 years with Boards of Directors of hospitals and other non-profit organizations.

Nadia Lutskaya is the Eastern European Program Director, and can provide guidance on Ukrainian adoptions. Nadia, who is originally from Kharkov, Ukraine and now lives in Montreal, came to TDH in 2002 with six years experience in Ukrainian and Russian international adoptions.

If your query requires further discussion, they will refer you to our Director, Dorinda Cavanaugh, whose 30+ years experience in the field of international adoption enables her to answer just about any question you have about international adoption. Dorinda is a child psychologist by training, and has been acknowledged for her humanitarian service to children. All of the above staff are bilingual, and our accountant, Jose Garcia, is trilingual (English/French/Spanish). Our English-speaking volunteer, Robin, is also happy to assist you.

Elsie Corcoran is our 'Girl Friday'. She is a native of London, England, with two grown children in England and two in Montreal. After becoming a widow Elsie met and married Bill and moved to Vankleek Hill in 1992. She knows almost everyone here and has been with TDH Ontario since 2007. Elsie works just in the mornings, helping out with whatever tasks need to be done.

Supporting our Vietnam activities is My Tram Duong, who was born in Hanoi and now resides in Montreal. My Tram has been an official Liaison Officer and Vietnam Program legal consultant with TDH since 1995. She provides administrative support for TDH staff in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and is a practicing lawyer with knowledge of Vietnamese, Canadian and Quebec law.

In Vietnam
In Vietnam we have two dynamic individuals representing our TDH family. Tran Bich Thuy is Chief of the TDH Vietnam office and has worked as our country representative since 1997. Thuy was born in Hanoi and lives there with her husband Binh and two children. She is currently studying for a law degree in the evenings, in addition to her work for TDH. As representative of TDH in Vietnam, Thuy is responsible for our contacts with the government, the provinces, the projects, and the orphanages and provides in-country services to adopting families. She brings to her work a ready smile, a generous heart, a knowledgeable administrative style, and an incredible level of resourcefulness.

Reporting to Thuy from her base in Ho Chi Minh City is Nguyen Cam Loan. Loan has been with TDH since 2006. Along with her staff, Loan provides TDH services for adoptive families in the south of Vietnam and liaison services for TDH projects there. Loan is recognized for her personal and generous care of adoptive parents during their stay in Vietnam.

In the Ukraine
Kseniya Myslivets has been the Coordinator for TDH programs in Ukrainian since 2006. Born in Moscow, Russia, she and her son live in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is a former NGO administrator with more than sixteen years experience in international projects and international adoption. Kseniya works in tandem with Nadia Lutskaya back in Canada. Kseniya is a great-hearted woman who has spent her life personally caring for individual disadvantaged children.

TDH Ontario Board of Directors

TDH Ontario Board of Directors and staff: Front (left to right): Sonia LeBris; Bruce Chick (Board Chair), Brendan Cavanaugh (TDH Canada Secretary General); Back: Katherine Rouleau, Marlene Alt, José Garcia (TDH Comptroller), Dorinda Cavanaugh (TDH Ontario Director). Missing Board members: Matthew Braganca and Wendy deVries.