The Story of Hope

The pungent, sickly smell of garbage and sewage co-mingling filled the air. Just a few strides back, the city of Hong Kong raced by in a frenzy of cars, commercials and commerce. But here, inside the refugee camp, this was an entirely different world.  Sewage trickled down the center of the dirt road and the few figures that walked about were like hunched ghosts. It was a desperate collection of scavenged refuse and scrap metal, assembled into shanties. The camp was filled with thousand of people desperately searching for freedom. They had risked their lives to escaped war or oppression. The cost was high. They had lost family, possessions and livelihoods for freedom. In concept, a refugee camp should have brought hope to the emptiness in their souls, but in the place little hope survived.

SEEING THE NEED

It was the late ‘80s when Veronica visited the Hong Kong refugee camp. A series of “miraculous coincidences” opened up doors for her to spend a summer studying art throughout mainland China. Their group was the first at the college to complete this anthropological & art study. The refugee camp was the final stop. No one in their group had never seen people living in poverty like this. She returned home, with a burden in her heart for people in the refugee camp. She began earnestly seeking God asking what she could do to help people with great needs in other nations. 

The answer came in a list: Nine nations around the world where she would go.

GATHERING SEEDS

Veronica returned to school and waited for the right timing for all things. She married a man with a common passion for missions, they started a family and a career in advertising design. She stayed connected  friends and overseas missions. Nearly a decade passed, so it seemed her purpose was on “pause”. Then came an opportunity to work with the N.G.O. Partners World. Their work on the Thai/Burmese border focused on people afflicted by war: the Karen people were homeless, displaced, widowed, orphaned, disabled. The need was great. This group built orphanages and schools, brought life-saving supplies for people forced out of their villages by armed soldiers. Partners’ founder explained their work, “We’ve learned that when we give a widow a pig, we’ve given her and her family food for a week. But, if we give her two pigs, then we’ve given her the resources to create an income.”  They knew that people in hardship need emergency assistance to begin their journey, but, eventually, they want to become self-sustaining. Partners did both, supply emergency aid, then help establish new lives for the Karen people of Burma.

One day their team traveled into the jungle to a refugee camp of villagers in Thailand. Veronica braced herself remembering the camp in Hong Kong. At the gate, visitors were welcomed with a raised mound of soil covered in flowering plants. Among the flowers, discarded, glass cola bottles had been planted upside-down in an arrangement that spelled out a cheery “Welcome” in the Kareni language. The leaders of the community were there to greet the team. They were proud of the community gardens that fed hundreds, the schools full of students - learning English! - and the large covered area for the community to gather for worship and celebration. This was not at all what she feared she would see. The leaders had helped their people create a community, vision for their future, plus meaningful work. In short, they had cultivated hope - despite their refugee status. 

Veronica marveled at how different this was from the Hong Kong camp. Hong Kong was full of despair, despondent and hopeless. Thai/Burma border camp was nurturing, expanding and hopeful. What were the key elements that made the difference? Vision. Community. Productivity. Hope.

THE STORM

In 2012, Veronica’s family sailed into their own storm - her husband became very ill. In the storm, her faith grew deeper, trusting that God had a way to see them through. During all this turmoil, a seed of an idea was planted into her heart. Astounded that such a concept would come during their deep time of need, she described the idea to her ailing husband. Perhaps he would be able to confirm if it was a “God idea” or simply a “good idea”. 

She described an online marketplace where artisans could sell their goods, almost like Etsy, but the goods would come from artisans who had survived hardships. “There are many good groups helping people out of hardship or war. The groups assist by giving job skills training, but where can they sell what they make? What if the people where they live cannot buy their goods. Then, their jobs are not sustainable. If we create a marketplace where multiple groups and artisans can sell to buyers who can afford them. Then, the crafters will be able support their families.” He agreed. It was more that just a “good idea”. She started researching learning more about helping others in the most effective ways.

Then, after 25 years of marriage, Veronica was suddenly a widow.
Everything about the business-marketplace idea was put on hold. 

But God… whom she had trusted through the storm, had a plan. 

THE STORM PASSES

Veronica had been planning her next visit to another country: a trip to Mexico to help teach sewing skills in a poor neighborhood, but now she wasn’t sure. Should she go? Knowing that he had wanted her to go - she decided to press on. Money for her trip was donated and after her husband’s memorial, she got to “get away” and help others too. 

One of the students in Mexico was a young entrepreneur named “Yaz”.  Yaz had been a homeless teen with a young child when two retired entrepreneurs met her. Seeing she was smart and creative, they took her under their wing. The couple taught Yaz business skills, how to handle money wisely and operate a business ethically. They arranged for an artisans to train her, like the sewing class. She started her own business making and selling jewelry in the resort town where she lived. 

The couple who helped Yaz did it right! They saw her need, recognized her gifts, helped her acquire skills, and encouraged her toward independence. This was exactly what Veronica’s research and experiences had all been pointing towards. She too wanted to help Yaz grow her business too, but she didn’t have a way… yet.

The next year involved one incredible event after another for Veronica and her family. They averted homelessness, hunger and large amounts of debt (so many stories to tell…) She closed her husband’s tech business and returned to work in advertising and graphic arts. Soon, she remarried a generous and compassionate man (the overseer of a food bank that had helped her family). Her older children found safe places to live and her youngest daughter had a new, loving daddy. Amazing. She stepped into a peaceful time, like the calm after the storm. 

THE NEED IS GREAT

The next subject was even more challenging. Veronica was being drawn deeper into learning more about human trafficking and child exploitation. Her first introduction to the issue was when she was a young girl and a strange man tried to lure her away at an arcade. Years later, on the Thailand trip, a sign behind a hotel counter read “No Child Sex Trade”. She didn’t understand the depth of what it meant at the time. Now, she was digging deeper into the truth. More than forty million people sold into slavery world-wide. Eighty percent are sexually exploited and most of them are women and children. One out of three children in America abused. The weight of the statistics hit her heart like rib-cracking punch but she knew it was true because in her own family many children had grown up carrying lifelong hurt from abuse. 

She recognized that this was another group of survivors who needed real help and hope.

CULTURING HOPE

The marketplace idea began to fill her heart again - It would not be ignored! Four years had passed since the idea’s initial spark. She had a modest amount of seed money too. Was it finally time for the seed to be planted? Yes. In 2017, Veronica registered the business with the name “Culture Hope” because planting, growing, nurturing hope was integral to the business’ vision and purpose of “Sowing seeds of Hope”. 

Culture Hope’s began with home parties, farmer’s markets, events at churches and schools. She and her new husband worked together. She handled the business details, marketing and buying and he handled inventory, boxes, plus event set ups (which she appreciated very much!) The first products were from three sources: 

• Jewelry and t-shirts made by young survivors of sexual exploitation in Cambodia; 
• Handbags crafted by single moms coming out of hardship and homelessness in Asia;
• Children’s jewelry from Yaz in Mexico - of course!

In time, Culture Hope has worked with artisan groups in 12 nations (with more to come). 

ESTABLISHING MORE HOPE

After five adventurous years of  learning and growing Culture Hope transitioned to their new identity. HopeCo.Global will develop non-profit services like business consulting for groups helping artisans, product coaching, and financial programs for outreach groups and small business enterprises around the world. There will be more opportunities for Hope Heroes (like you) to help survivors of exploitation and hardship create full, hope-filled lives.

There are still more nations to visit. More groups to support. More artisans to help.
Come and join HopeCo. and their company of Heroes on a journey to create hope.