Hope Sparked began with a chance meeting between our co-founders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014. Chris was staying in Kinshasa for several weeks and happened to be living in the same facility where Georgette's office was located. She worked for a local NGO and they quickly found a shared interest in development and education. She offered to show Chris around a shanty town called Mabulu in her native district of Kingabwa, where people live in makeshift homes and desperately try to earn a dollar or two a day to feed their families. Children roam the neighborhood looking for work since they can't afford to go to school. Neither of us had extensive resources, but we both had a strong desire to give these children better opportunities and a faith that we could find a way to do so. Georgette had a personal connection to the area, a knowledge of their needs, a love for the people, and many ideas to improve the community. Chris shared her passion and believed he could help make the connections and find the funding to bring these ideas to life. We both are profoundly grateful for the opportunities in our lives and had been searching for a way to improve the lives of those around us, and felt like this chance meeting was the opportunity we had been waiting for.
We started with a boy named Henry who collected trash to try to make a few cents, but desperately wanted to go back to school. For what it would cost to go out to dinner, we were able to pay for his school fees for the remaining few months of the year and get him some supplies and uniforms. Chris returned to the U.S. with the goal of keeping Henry enrolled and getting some of his friends and neighbors into class with him. After some research, it was apparent that there were no other organizations or programs that could help Henry and other children like him in the area. If we didn't find a way to pay for their education, they had no where else to turn for help. We could pay for a few students on our own, but needed to get more people involved to have a real impact on this community. We knew that the few hundred dollars a year necessary to fund a child's education would barely be missed by people in more fortunate circumstances, and believed that we could find generous families and individuals willing to make that difference when they saw the opportunity. We created Hope Sparked to help connect those with the means and desire to help to those who need it most.
Over the summer, we raised money from friends and family on social media and were grateful for those who validated our hopes as they chose to become part of our story and make a difference for one child at a time. We selected ten students to enroll in the upcoming year, bought a blackboard and some chairs to put in Georgette's yard and hired a tutor to help get them caught up after years without consistent schooling. Asking their families to contribute what they could, we then paid their fees in local schools that fit their needs and provided uniforms and supplies. We built a website, selected a board of directors, and filed the paperwork to make Hope Sparked an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as we helped our first class of students through the 2014-2015 school year with consistent tutoring and support. Every summer, we run a fundraising campaign to ensure we have sufficient funding for returning students for the upcoming year, and add students as resources allow. We have 25 students in our current class and look forward to future growth as more people choose to become part of our story. Will you?
