Celine Dion

If a picture is worth a thousand words, Toronto's Andrew MacNaughtan has unleashed an important monologue on behalf of World Vision with his brand new coffee table book, Grace: Africa in Photographs.

The result of a three-week sojourn to Kenya and Tanzania taken by MacNaughtan in November 2010, Grace: Africa in Photographs is a dazzling 80-page B&W portrait depiction of the people, wildlife and breathtaking beauty of one of the world’s most majestic continents.

Published through his own ArtGivesHope charity (www.artgiveshope.ca) — which he established in 2006 — MacNaughtan, one of Canada’s foremost rock music photographers and video directors, is earmarking all proceeds of the limited-edition book to World Vision’s Hope Program.  It sells for $55 through his website or comes free by sponsoring a child.

It’s no secret that children born with special needs require extra care and attention. Depending on the type of disorder or disability, they can require anything from a few additional hours a day to round-the-clock supervision. In the most extreme examples, those who are bedridden or wheelchair-bound are completely reliant on one source to fulfill all their necessities: their parents.

So what about the parents? Who is taking care of them?

While researching his 2008 book, Alphabet Kids: From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome -- A Guide to Developmental, Neurobiological and Psychological Disorders for Parents and Professionals, Long Island, New York-based author Robbie Woliver pondered the same question:  were there any support services available for the exhausted and dedicated mothers and fathers tirelessly raising their special needs kids?

He discovered there were none, and had the brainstorm that became Your Day Away (www.yourdayaway.com).