Hope For The Nations

ART IS {HOPE} Is Launched!

On April 20, 2010 ART IS {HOPE} was launched in a creative vibrant way! Approximately 40 people filled the Streaming Café in Kelowna, BC. Canada to enjoy a night of gifted artistry by the founding artists of ART IS {HOPE}.

Sheri McConnell, founder of ART IS {HOPE} says: “HFTN is inviting the artistic community to take its place on the centre stage of our culture, to shed light and to be a voice for the voiceless.”

For more information on how to become an ART IS {HOPE} artist OR to learn more or donate, click here.

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MAY/JUNE Artist Feature:  ANDREW SMITH

We are excited to introduce you to one of our founding ART IS {HOPE} artists, ANDREW SMITH.  Andrew is on tour during MAY and JUNE and is raising awareness and finances for HFTN’s Liberia Water Wells project.

Andrew’s live show combines his award winning talent as a SINGER/SONGWRITER and INSTRUMENTALIST.  He has been playing folk clubs, festivals and house concerts in Canada, the USA and Europe to enthusiastic audiences.  Andrew has shared the stage with Bruce Cockburn, Ruthie Foster, Gordie Sampson, Martyn Joseph and David Wilcox.  In 2007, Andrew Smith played at the INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL in Dresden Germany to rave reviews.  The festival featured a dozen great guitar players from around the world including Peter Finger and Frank Haunschild. He also traveled to Africa with a film crew and was commissioned to write and record a tap style instrumental piece for the documentary film ‘An Orphan’s Dream’.

Kumba Bwah Finds Her Lost Son

Dear Friends,

I woke up this morning so excited for MOTHER’S DAY!! I know that there will be the usual surprises and the “felt” love of my children gathering around!!!  Phone calls and cards will come from all over the world…and I love it!!!  I absolutely love it!!!  I will honor my own dear mother and tell her how much I love her!!!

But then I remembered our mothers in the Buduburam Camp, in Ghana. Mother’s Day is not so lovely for them. They remember the tragic stories of war!  They are haunted by the inner search for their children, and the ache and the pain will never go away…. So it is with Kumba Bwah… please stop to read her full story at REFUGEE MOTHER IN SEARCH OF HER CHILDREN.

It is my prayer this MOTHER’S DAY that Kumba can go home to be with her son!!! Please join me to make this possible. To learn more or to give a special “Mother’s Day” gift, click here on Buduburam Refugee Camp.

Karen Barkman

HFTN Partner (Provision of Hope)

We’re Excited To Invite You To Our “ART IS {HOPE}” Launch

If you want a message of ‘hope’ to fly to the rest of the world, give it to the Artists:
Their sound carries it to the ears of the listener.
Their lyrics carry it to the minds of the prepared.
Their images carry it to the eyes of those who see it.
Their message carries it to the hearts of lives prepared to receive it.

ART IS {HOPE} is a powerful message that seeks to become a movement of Artists who will raise awareness of the situation of orphans and children at risk around the world.

ART IS {HOPE} is a newly developed gateway through which Artists of all descriptions can transport their message of ‘hope’ to those in their audience or gallery.

Hope For The Nations and ART IS {HOPE} are proud to join forces with Artist’s who desire to use their influence to tell the stories of children caught in  ‘Armed Conflict,’ ‘Extreme Poverty’ or ‘Child Trafficking.’ This is a call for Artists who desire to share their passion for children at risk, and to embrace the challenge to help make this world fit for all children, to come partner with HFTN through ART IS {HOPE}.

With gratitude,

Ralph Bromley, President, HFTN

HFTN Raises Earthquake Relief Funds for Haiti

Photo courtesy of gnews.com
One week after the devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, Hope for the Nations has the privilege of joining hands with one of its coalition partners, Love Mercy, to raise funds for earthquake relief for its two children’s homes in Haiti. The homes are located in the countryside 30 minutes outside of Port-au-Prince and are home to 150 children.

Funds raised will go to help the Homes recover from the physical damage they have sustained and to improve security, as well as provide the means for the Homes to offer assistance to the local community and provide safe haven for unassisted children. To learn more or to donate, click here and then select ‘Donate’.

Kelowna Sr. Secondary in the Congo Week Raises $10,000

From SD23 ENews for December 2009:

“As a school, let’s build a school” is the motto for Kelowna Secondary School’s Congo Week—a week of raising awareness and funds for children and families in High Plateau, Congo. Many children in this part of Africa either do not have access to an education or must walk miles to reach a small, mud hut school.

This October, grad co-president Connor Clerke met with the President of Hope for the Nations and was moved to get involved and help improve conditions for generations to come. After meeting with other student leaders and Principal Susannah Brown KSS set a goal of raising $6,000. This is the amount needed to build one of five planned ‘blocks’ in the new school.

To give students and staff an understanding of the issues, the week started off with a day-long information expo featuring close to 20 school and community-based organizations involved in African humanitarian efforts. On Tuesday, December 8, the President of Hope for the Nations spoke at an assembly about his personal experiences from three trips to the region and introduced two young refugees from the Congo, Nathanael Mugenza (18) and his sister Ange (21). Nathanael, his four sisters and their parents were victims of war and escaped to Burundi then made their way to Canada in the summer of 2008.

To meet their fundraising goal, Connor enlisted the help of the Interact club members to serve a drive-thru breakfast on December 9. On a cold -10 degree Celsius morning, dozens of students got up early to provide breakfast to customers for a minimum donation of $5. Almost every cent of the more than $2,000 raised at the breakfast will go to Hope for the Nations, thanks to substantial donations from local businesses. Connor wrote letters and hand delivered them to businesses including several Tim Hortons stores. “I asked each one for a little bit for our fundraiser breakfast and that seemed to work. I also wrote an article and sent it to the newspapers.” KSS also raised money with collection jars in the school lobby and by selling Pachos, which are fries with dipping sauce from Kelly O’Briens.
High Plateau Congo

The students’ efforts will make a dramatic difference in lives of African children. As President of Hope for the Nations, Ralph Bromley has made three trips to High Plateau once opportunities for education and development became possible. “The Congo government set aside 300 acres for development of homes and agriculture three years ago. Since then Hope for the Nations, working with partners, has built five homes, a mill for maize and a temporary mud-structure school. The goal is to build a more durable, permanent school. KSS has offered to help build one block of the school worth $6,000. There are five blocks planned for the school at a total cost of $30,000.”

Ralph is hopeful that the school will be complete as soon as September 2010 noting that the local people are very motivated to help out and get this school built. Unfortunately, rebels have moved back into the area and the conflict has stalled construction. When the construction is complete, Ralph expects that the school will educate approximately 700 students each year with two sessions each day likely. Currently, the mud school educates 200 students annually when the fighting allows. In addition to the $30,000 for construction, Hope for the Nations is requesting assistance to pay for equipment and teaching staff.

This autumn, SD23 schools including KSS, Mount Boucherie Secondary and Rutland Middle, have been involved in several fundraising projects for Hope for the Nations. To support Connor’s efforts and to learn more, click here.

Salute to the Champions of 2009

As President of Hope For The Nations, I look back over the year 2009 and I am amazed at how much impact we have had on the lives of Children at Risk in the gloomy context of a “global economic downturn.”

The donors, staff and volunteers of HFTN have not reacted in fear to curtail their charitable giving, nor have they been distracted from offering their time and talent in a year of falling share prices and rising unemployment. These are the heroes of 2009: In spite of difficult times, they gave; In spite of gloomy economic forecasts, they followed their convictions to help those in desperate need.

Together, we have clothed and fed our children, we have built children’s homes, we have sent thousands to school and we have offered children ‘hope’ in a dark world. Because of the work of the global “HOPE” family, children are laughing and daring to dream.

This coming year the world will salute its champions at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup South Africa.  I invite you to become a CHAMPION of another type…a CHAMPION of Children at Risk.

‘No Shave November’ Contest a Success at Rutland Middle School

By Castanet Staff
Dec 7, 2009

An ugly beard has helped build a safe drinking water source for an orphanage in Kenya. Staff members at Rutland Middle School recently took part in a fund raiser which required them not to shave.

The ‘No Shave November’ contest was suggested by teacher Carson Tonn as a way for students to fund raise for water projects in Africa, specifically, building a clean water source for an orphanage in Kenya.

The winner, vice-principal Rod Baruta, was determined by the number of votes his beard received from the student body.

Students could vote for the teacher with the ugliest beard by donating a dollar to the fundraiser.

The fundraiser collected just over $650 for the Hope for the Nations charity.