Tim Stone, the executive director of the organization PATH Canada (Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health) died in the crash of hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 on the Comoros Islands.

Three weeks later 51-year-old nurse Nancy Malloy of the Canadian Red Cross and working with the International Committee of the Red Cross died in a field hospital in the Chechen city Novye Atagi near Grozny.

The project was financed by a private fundraising effort and an approximately $75,000 investment by the Canadian International Development Agency.

First, it is intended to appreciate Canada's long-standing activities in international development and humanitarian assistance; second, it honors all Canadians who died while serving in these fields abroad; third, it pays a personal tribute to Nancy Malloy[1] and Tim Stone.

Part of the project was to create a permanent list of all Canadian aid workers who have lost their lives in foreign deployments.