Joanna Schaus

Providing a Meal and a Presence.

Nagaveni and Ravikumar were a married couple who were diligently raising two sons. The eldest is Bharath who studies in eighth grade and his younger brother Revanth studies a grade below him. Both of their parents were hard-working people, often doing manual labor jobs to get by. Up until a few years ago, the family was able to get by even with minimal income. They were putting food on the table, and the boys were fortunately able to get an education. However, Ravikumar, their father, developed another relationship and eventually left his family to go and live with the other woman.

As a result, Nagaveni not only lost her husband and was dealing with the pain of a broken relationship, but she became the sole care-giver and provider for her two growing boys. She had to come up with a solution to paying all the bills on her own, putting food on the table, and making sure her children could continue to pursue their education. This left the family devastated and the boys grappled with the fact that their father no longer wanted to be part of their family. They not only lost their main provider of income and stability, but they also lost the emotional connection and love they once felt from their dad.

Nagaveni had to start a new job working as a housekeeper in order to make ends meet, which left her less available to be a mom to her boys. Since Nagaveni worked at houses from the early morning until late in the evening, it was not feasible for her to get back home and feed the boys in the afternoon after they were finished with school. She wished desperately that someone could come alongside her and help her with just being a safe person for her sons to be around. With their dad out of the picture, it became even more necessary for them to have father figures in their life, and even mother figures since Nagaveni was working so many late hours.

Thankfully, the boys had been regularly attending a feeding program at one of The Hope Venture’s local feeding centers where they could play, eat, and learn computer skills. The Hope Venture provided relief for Nagaveni and for the boys, allowing them to eat an afternoon meal and continue their education even after school was out for the day. The boys are now under the supervision of trusted adults at the feeding center, so they are able to feel safe and learn while their mom works. Even though their family is still in the process of being rebuilt, and their financial burden is not completely alleviated, the people at the feeding center are able to provide a meal and a presence. And most of the time, that’s really what people need.

Hope After a Life-Changing Accident.

James is a highly disciplined, organized, and passionate student. He enjoys his studies in school, and takes pride in his education. He dreams of completing his education thoroughly and getting a well-paying job so that he can better support his family with being the first-born son. James was diligently pursuing his dreams, until one day they came to a crashing halt. His father got in a bad accident, which left him in a vegetative state for a long period of time. For a season, he was in a coma and his family feared he wouldn’t wake up. Thankfully, his father did wake up, but ever since his life has never been the same. His father was not able to walk after the accident, and to this day he crawls everywhere to get around. His father’s accident was life-changing for James and his family.

He was unable to focus on his studies as diligently as before, with the weight of having to help provide financially for his family hanging over him daily. He began to carry the heavy burden of his family, knowing that he needed to provide for them since his dad couldn’t anymore. He also began to worry how he would continue to pay for his schooling. James still did his best to show up to class on time and maintain his commitment to his education. During this time, James got connected to The Hope Venture. We were able to bring hope to James and come alongside him by connecting him with a sponsor who would cover his school fees. James is now connected to people who care about him, and he lives with relief of not having to worry about the fees of school. While the pain of his dad’s accident still lingers over him, he can continue his education without the financial burden.

Moments of Turnaround Joy.

Robert is a hardworking, diligent student at Lodwar Boys National School. He gets along well with his classmates, often showing up as a leader for other students and even holds the title of “Dormitory Captain.” Robert’s parents divorced years ago, and he currently lives with his father. His father is an older, illiterate man. His elderly condition has left him more vulnerable and he does not have the strength to meet all the basic needs of his family. As a result, Robert struggled with peace of mind when it came to his studies. He did not have enough school fees to continue his studies, making it a difficult environment for him to continue pursuing education. Every day he struggled feeling distracted in school and worried that he would get pulled out of class for not having the bill paid.

Thankfully, Robert was able to get connected to The Hope Venture’s Student Sponsorship Project. We were able to come alongside Robert in helping cover his school fees. Not only is his education covered, but he now has books, pens, and school uniforms, so he is fully equipped to continue pursuing his studies. He now has peace knowing that there are resources around him and people who will help him and his family.

The Hope Venture has a saying called, “motaj” which means “moments of turnaround joy.” This means that we are all givers and also receivers, so we can turn around and give joy to someone else. Even though Robert lives in a vicious cycle of poverty and wasn’t able to pay for his school fees on his own, he experienced the joy of receiving financial help and love. In the future, Robert wants to become a doctor and help the community around him and give back to those who’ve supported and been a blessing to him. What a beautiful example of motaj.

Empowering People to Empower Others.

Anbuselvan is a twelfth grade student who excels in his studies at Don Bosco School in India. He is the middle child in his family, and has an older sister who is married and a younger sister who is studying just a few grades younger than him. His father works for a building construction company and earns a daily wage doing heavy labor. Anbuselvan’s mother works as a housewife, but the family’s main source of income comes from their father. Although money was tight, they were still able to get by and provide for Anbuselvan’s education and put food on the table.

However, when COVID-19 started, the world collectively faced the impact of a global pandemic. Things shut down, life was depressing and scary, and there were so many unknowns for everyone. Sadly, Anbuselvan’s father caught Covid, and he became very sick from the virus. He did not have the strength to work and had to stay in bed for multiple days on end. The sheer unknown of the virus was bad enough, but the family also worried about how they were going to pay for Anbuselvan’s school fees. As time went on his father continued to suffer each day in bed, and the family became increasingly panicked over their deep financial crisis. It brought them all to tears just thinking about the children not being able to continue their studies, especially because education was a pathway to a different life.

During this time, they were able to get connected to The Hope Venture and Anbuselvan received a scholarship to continue his studies! He was greatly relieved to be able to continue his education since it was something he was excelling in and becoming passionate about. He now desires to graduate from college and pursue a degree in business so he can learn how to support his family better. He also has a desire to help bring financial aid to other students like himself so that they can feel better equipped in pursuing their education. His experience in struggling with the impact of COVID-19 is not unique, but the way he responded to the financial help that he received is. What a beautiful example of empowering people to then go and empower others.

Making a Difference in One Life and Inspiring Dreams for Others.

Francis Kathitu lives in Mathare, which is the second-largest slum in Kenya. It is packed with people, highly dangerous, and is extremely impoverished. He’s one of 58 sponsored students there, and has proven to be industrious, intelligent, and joy-filled. He has dreams of pursuing higher education, and even to help in educating others in the future. He is also a natural-born leader, one that other students in his school look up to because of his discipline in school. While Francis had big dreams, achieving them was quickly proving to be impossible. He comes from a single-parent family and has an older brother and a younger sister. His siblings were both born from different fathers, and Francis has never known his own father.

His family situation has been difficult for him in many ways. With his father not in his life, it was a struggle for his mother to raise her children. She was a single mom, just trying to do the best she could to find any means of income for her family. Because of the pressure and expectations on her, she found a means of paying for food and rent through prostitution. For some time, this was income that was life-saving, but eventually, Francis’s mother contracted various diseases. 

These diseases were so detrimental to her body that her condition deteriorated and she was unable to continue working in order to provide for her family. As a result, she had to relocate to the countryside, and Francis and his siblings were unable to continue living in their home. Francis used to be sent home from school due to not being able to pay the necessary fees, which over time had accumulated to 45 thousand Kenya shillings ($316). Francis used to lie to his principal, saying that his mother would bring money in the future, and would ask if he could stay in class that day. Most of the time, the principal would get upset and send him away from school, causing Francis to miss most of his lessons and fall behind. On top of missing class, his school uniform was in tatters, and the sandals he owned were a gift from one of his teachers who noticed he needed some.

Thanks to our partnership with Fanuel in Mathare, we were able to find Francis a sponsor who has committed to paying his school fees, so he never has to worry about being sent home again. Included in his sponsorship was two school uniforms and a pair of shoes, so he did not have to worry about his school attire moving forward. As a result, he did better in school and was greatly improving in both his education and home life. He even was able to score a B+ grade in the school exams! Through sponsorship, his self-esteem was improving, and his dreams were becoming more of a possible reality.

Francis dreams of becoming a high school teacher who can make a difference in other students’ lives like his. He is now achieving good grades, making it realistic to dream of a career involving engineering or architecture. His ultimate dream is to help his family and the community around him, making a difference in the lives of students who come from families like his…so that they can now dream as he does.

Making an Impact for Change and Providing Relief.

Flavia is a pleasant, imaginative, and bright first-grade student. She loves studying math and science and enjoys normal kid things, like coloring and dancing. Her parents, Francis and Linda, raised her as an only child in their devout Christian family. Her father is a small entrepreneur, but he struggles to fulfill their basic needs through his business. His dream was to sustain his family and his business, while also trying to find a way to ensure Flavia had a good education. Recently, with inflation so high it made it difficult to invest in Flavia’s education and provide for the family at the same time. Although he wanted to do it on his own and find a way through entrepreneurship, things were just too difficult. So Francis did one of the hardest things to do: he asked for help. Francis reached out to our partners in India, asking them for help to assist in providing finances for Flavia’s education.

As a result of Francis taking the bold step in reaching out, Flavia was able to get a school backpack and other school supplies from our Backpack Project. Her parents were thankful that The Hope Venture could come alongside their family in providing aid for her education. She has dreams of being a scientist in the future and is very disciplined in her studies. Francis and Linda recognize The Hope Venture’s role in positively impacting the growth of not only their daughter but the community around them.

Hope for a Better Life Through Education.

Maiser Jahan is an eight-year-old girl who benefits from one of The Hope Venture’s India NFE (Non Formal Education) Centers. The NFE project was created to have schools established in impoverished areas to encourage children like Maiser to improve their chance for a formal education. India has not counted their citizens living in extreme poverty in a census since 2011. People who are living in these conditions are not cared for by society, and are left to pick up the pieces of their lives with the little they have. The NFE project strives to acknowledge the people who are impacted by poverty, and give them a chance at a different path.

In 2010, her parents found that they could not earn enough in their village to feed their children, so they migrated from Bengal to Delhi in an effort to keep their family afloat. Their main source of income relied on collecting garbage, in addition to Maiser Jahan’s mom working as a maid. Her father knew the value of education, as he struggled with being illiterate, and dreamed of his children having a different life. Their economic situation was so difficult that they fell below the poverty line. Between the two of them, they earned roughly one hundred USD per month, a small salary for a family of six. Due to this small salary, luxuries such as going to school, having nice clothing, and new toys were not things that her family could afford.

The family struggled so immensely that Maiser even recalls playing in mud and waste as a child. She grew her imaginative spirit by making up stories with her broken dolls and old utensils. Despite these challenges, being part of The Hope Venture’s NFE program has greatly improved her education, and given her a pathway toward a better life. She loves learning to speak English in her classes, and even tries to introduce herself in English to anyone she meets! Her teacher, Ms Sweata, encourages her to continue learning and says she is a very bright student. Despite the challenging upbringing for Maiser and her siblings, she continues to dream of a better future for her life, and dreams of becoming a police inspector to make a difference in her local community. To this day, the NFE project continues to invest in Maiser’s education in the midst of a society that has deemed her not worthy of investment.

Joy in the Midst of Sorrow.

Srirampura is a slum area in the heart of Bangalore City near the main railway station. The living conditions in these slums are immensely challenging as the houses are right next to one another, making the space crowded and tight. It is common for large families to live in a small room, no larger than the size of a bedroom. These tight living quarters greatly impact the quality of life for people in Srirampura. Many people suffer from poor hygiene and chronic illnesses as a result of contamination from where they call home.

Kevin is a young student in sixth grade at a government school. He lives in this slum area with his sister, Deepika. Their father, Krishnamurthy, earns a small daily wage doing construction work. His quality of life led him to deep despair and he turned to drinking alcohol to make himself forget his problems. He would get sick from drinking so much, he wasn’t himself, and it led to many heated arguments with his wife, Kavitha.

One day, Kavitha was so distraught from her husband’s addiction and was consumed by deep depression, that she took her own life. All the responsibility fell on Krishnamurthy to earn the income for the family and provide, leading to immense financial scarcity. Consumed by his grief, Kevin and Deepika’s father was barely able to put food on the table, turning to alcohol as an even greater source of comfort. As a result, Krishnamurthy’s parents stepped in to help take care of the children and took on responsibility for raising them.

During this difficult time for the family, Mr. Jonathan, a partner with The Hope Venture, became aware of the children’s story. He took personal interest in the well-being of Kevin and Deepika, and began to frequently check in with their grandparents to learn how they were doing. He was able to give Kevin and Deepika backpacks, lifting even the small burden in their life of not having the right supplies they needed for school. He knew that backpacks would not magically solve their problems. They still will have to cope with the pain of their mom commiting suicide, and their dad’s alcohol addiction. But even in this pain, having Mr. Jonathan care about them brought some relief, and gave them a sense of hope during their circumstances.

Empowering Dreams.

Velma is a driven student with an outstanding discipline and outgoing personality. She takes pride in dressing professionally, and presenting herself well. She is calm, talented, and brilliant in her studies. She has a sense of compelling confidence, and it is what sets her apart from the majority of students at her school. In fact, Velma attends Christian Eminent Academy, which is the school that our Kenya Ag Project provides some produce to to help offset the cost of their school lunches. She was even voted for the most discipled, dedicated, and presentable in her school…this girl is a rockstar!

Despite these achievements, however, she comes from a difficult background. After her parents’ painful divorce a few years ago, she was left to be raised by her aunt, who is married with three children of her own to raise. This transition was painful, as she grappled with the effect of moving to live under the care of an individual who wasn’t her parent. Despite these challenges in the transition, Velma dedicated herself to being a responsible student. She remained steadfastly resilient in the face of grief, and continued to press toward her goals. Much of her drive comes from a desire to unify her family again, and see them all come together.

Even though she has been blessed with being able to live with her aunt, she still faces challenges in having her basic needs met. However, thanks to the partnership between our Kenya Ag Project and Christian Eminent school, getting a daily school lunch is one less thing she has to worry about. Food is fuel, and hopefully this food can help fuel her to do well in school and achieve her dream of being a neurosurgeon.