This Year Has Been a Smashing Success!
The rains have passed, the nights are cooler and all the kids have new knit caps to keep them warm. As another year comes to an end, we want to look back and remember all the little and big things that happened this year. The joys, the woes, the reality and wonder of life in all its glory and grit.
It is not always in the big gesture, whopping win or enormous accomplishment where success shines and joy can be found. Sometimes, it is in the little day-to-day happenings where the seeds of hope are planted, in those miraculous moments when a child asks a question in a far-away corner and starts a conversation lasting an hour where hope resides. Walking away you realize how profound the question is and how powerful encouragement can be in the slog of everyday life where small decisions can bring unintended consequences and outcomes.
Life for our kids can be complicated, overwhelming and downright unfair at times. There is no way to “prepare” our kids for the cruelty of ignorance or the heart piercing hate that comes our way in the most insidious ways. A teacher, a pastor, a stranger, all united in their misunderstanding of what HIV is and how it manifests itself in the modern world.
Adversity is part of life. We do our best to build endurance in the face of hate, confidence in the midst of doubt, hope in a world where equity is hard won and often not found. But we cannot live in a state of why or wonder if. We are building a world where our kids are equal, where diligence and hard work pay off and everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their potential if they are willing to do their part.
In this, the year has been a smashing success! The first of our kids graduated from trade school and got married. We have 15 kids in college or a trade school. Many of our kids rank at the top of their class in elementary school. We are approaching 100% of kids above the recommended CD4 count of 500 that confirms they cannot pass on the virus for as long as they are on their medications – which is a certainty we monitor.
When you walk our halls, sit down in the cafeteria or hang out in our library while the kids are working on their English lessons, you can feel the breathing, living sense of family in the most beautiful ways. The laughter, the impromptu singing and occasional dance off. In the hugs freely given at the end of the day when someone has been harassed at school. Even in the inevitable unkind word when someone’s feelings have been hurt and a “sit down” to discuss why we need to be kind to one another ensues.
Hope Now is – in its very essence about Hope lived – the idea that anything is possible, kindness can win, dreams do come true and how we talk, behave and engage with the world matters. Our kids are building a life with every school year they complete, with every doctor visit done, with every goal written down and discussed. With every song they write and dance they choreograph to mimic a Bollywood movie they saw – life is well lived.
This is the essence of who we are and the hope we construct. Join us. Partner with us as we build the future with every child we serve, care for, nurture and push to become who they are meant to be. There is nothing more powerful than the hope that life can endure – no matter the circumstances.
Give now and make your year-end donation count.