Pilot moonlights as father to 47: Budi Soehardi, a 53-year-old Indonesian pilot living in Singapore, founded the West Timor Roslin Orphanage. He and his wife, Peggy, looks after 47 children at the orphanage.
At Roslin Orphanage, children giggle through deep concentration as they try to master the "Chicken Dance." It's a far cry from the Indonesian orphans' earlier months and years.
"They are cheerful-looking and photogenic, but close to all have a very sad story," said Budi Soehardi, founder of the West Timor orphanage.
"Some of the babies come because a mother passes away right after delivery because of lack of nutrition. Others come from extreme poverty. Some come from families [that] just do not want the children and abandon them," he said.
Soehardi, a 53-year-old Indonesian pilot living in Singapore, and his wife, Peggy, look after 47 children at the orphanage. They have a personal relationship with each one, and consider them part of their family. The couple named many of the children since they entered the orphanage as babies -- some of them tiny victims and refugees from the conflict in East Timor.
The others in the top 10 list are:
Efren Peñaflorida - Efren Peñaflorida gives Filipino youth an alternative to gang membership through education. His Dynamic Teen Company's 10,000 members have taught basic reading and writing to 1,500 kids living in the slums.
Brad Blauser - Brad Blauser is providing hope and mobility to disabled children and their families in Iraq. Since 2005, his Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program has distributed nearly 650 free pediatric wheelchairs to children in need.
Derrick Tabb - Derrick Tabb started The Roots of Music to give young people an alternative to New Orleans' streets. His music education program provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students.
Roy Foster - Army veteran Roy Foster started Stand Down House to help veterans struggling with addiction and homelessness in Florida. Since 2000, his program has provided life-changing services to nearly 900 veterans.
Jorge Munoz - School bus driver Jorge Munoz is helping hungry New Yorkers make it through tough times. Since 2004, he has handed out more than 70,000 meals from his mobile soup kitchen in Queens -- for free.
Doc Hendley - Bartender Doc Hendley is providing clean water to communities worldwide. Through creative fundraising, his nonprofit Wine to Water has brought sustainable water systems to 25,000 people in five countries.
Andrea Ivory - Breast cancer survivor Andrea Ivory is bringing early detection to the doorsteps of uninsured women. With mobile mammography vans, her group has provided more than 500 free screenings in Miami, Florida.
Betty Makoni - Zimbabwe native Betty Makoni founded the Girl Child Network to provide a haven for young victims of sexual abuse. The organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls since 2001.
Jordan Thomas - Jordan Thomas, 20, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, lost both of his legs in a boating accident in 2005. Since then, his Jordan Thomas Foundation has raised more than $400,000 to provide prosthetics for children in need.
See the rest of the 2009 CNN Heroes here.
