The Hope Collage

I had been racking my brain for months, trying to figure out a way for donors to feel connected to the children in Yasothon…

The predicament was maddening – such small donations from the US could have such a massive impact in that community *if only* people felt connected to the orphanage. And yet the more I thought about it, the more I realized how difficult this task was. How do you connect caring people to children who desperately need that care? What sort of platform would be able to translate across 8,000 miles of cultural and linguistic barriers? Scribbling ideas and crossing them off on a notepad, it seemed, at times, a challenge that I was not cut out for…

And then it came to me – a realization that despite cultural differences we all yearn for the same things after all – to feel secure, to feel a part of a community, to feel loved – and when we face our greatest difficulties we need one thing more than anything: hope.

And let’s not underestimate the impact of hope. For these children, having contracted HIV through birth or through sexual assault at a young age, and having no family structure to care for them – the world must indeed feel at times like a hopeless place.

Imagine how *you* would feel in the same situation; I struggle to even get a sense for it.

But now imagine the power of holding in your hand a picture of someone half way across the world with a message written specifically for you, reminding you that you are important, that you are loved, that you are the future, that there is hope because the world you were born into, with all it’s cruelty and unfairness is *also* a world where someone on the other side of the globe will reach out to care for you.

Consider that for a moment. How powerful would that be? What could that mean to you if you received that message when you were at your lowest?

And so, with the belief that giving the gift of hope is as equally valuable as giving a donation – I launched The Hope Collage: an opportunity to send your unique message of hope to the children of the Suthasinee Noi-in Orphanage.

I encourage you to explore this site and, if you are so moved, contribute to this worthy cause.