No One Has Worked Harder

As you are all honoring the graduates in your communities, we invite you to help us honor Smith Samah, Hope International’s first master’s degree recipient.

Many of you have been following Smith’s journey from the beginning. You can read more about Smith here and here. We all know that Smith will be leading Liberia in an important capacity, in the not-so-distant future.

Smith has been in India for two years. He left his family, his fiancé, and his community to pursue his degree and did not have the financial means to return to Liberia once for visits or breaks during his education. He has continuously worked so hard and maintained such joy and gratitude for the opportunity. He is constantly affirming his focus on making The Hope Project proud for the faith placed in him.

Smith is set to graduate from Sandip University with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering on July 8th.

As with all graduations there are expenses for his gown, dissertation fees, travel to the town where graduation is being held and a suit jacket ($470 in total) and for his plane ticket home ($1,000). Total Needed: $1,470. 

I can think of no student who has worked harder or given more to his alma mater, Hope International. Well done, Smith! What an honor it has been to journey alongside of you.

If you would like to help cover these costs, we would welcome your gift. We will add your name to a on-line group card that we will send to him from us all.

We extend our deepest gratitude to Elijah Frazier, the AVID program of Cascade High School and the Evans Family for paying for Smith’s tuition for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.

In Celebration of Smith,
Jackie

Sew Many Reasons to Celebrate

Dear Friends of Hope,

Let’s celebrate together! Project Redwood of Tides Foundation has awarded us a grant that funds and enhances our Sew Much Hope and Cooking Up Hope programs for the next year. Not only does it provide funding for these two on-site vocational programs, but a portion of the grant provides funding for selected graduates to be awarded start-up funds for small businesses. It is their belief in these programs over the last 4 years, and the generosity through three previous grants, that has made the long-held dream of providing vocational programs for the students of and the community around Hope International possible. Thank you, Project Redwood!

Some of the first recipients of these business start-up funds will be a Sewing Cooperative of Sew Much Hope graduates who will be sharing space to begin their businesses. Abel, who we have introduced you to before, will be leading the endeavor.  We look forward to sharing with you all the beautiful details in the near future.

Speaking of beautiful details!  Here is a sneak peak of the Sew Much Hope students sewing the table runners that will grace the tables at our upcoming event. 

Will you please join us on May 13th at our 15 Years of Hope Celebration and Fundraiser in Seattle, as we celebrate these programs and all that has unfolded over the last 15 years. 

Sew Many Reasons to Celebrate,
Jackie

In Sorrow and Hope

Dear Friends of Hope,

Early last week I was writing a 2-part email to you about, Hope International night school teacher, Moses (who we first introduced you to in January 2020) and his magical classroom of K-1 adult students who attend school each night at Hope International. 

It is with the deepest sadness that we share Moses unexpectedly passed away on Thursday, April 6th.  He lost consciousness while teaching Wednesday and was taken to a hospital where he died the next morning. 
 
Words are hard to come by here. During our recent trip to Liberia, we spent a full evening attending his class. He was full of joy and vigor, and it seemed he had aged in reverse over the last few years.

We were mesmerized at his teaching and the student’s obvious love for and connection to him. They hung on to his every word. Even the evening security guard stood in the window each night hoping to learn. Moses was that kind of teacher. 

Many of you shared money and we were able to send Moses to Ghana (his first airplane trip), to replace his broken hearing aid (there were none available in Liberia). I fully believe that this gift that you, the Hope community, collectively made possible, reinvigorated him, and made his passion for teaching adult learners even stronger. 

Moses’s impact over the last 10 years at Hope International cannot be easily communicated. His devotion to and celebration of students, who found themselves learning to read as adults, was such a beautiful and hope-filled thing to witness.   

May we all create a life that expresses the generosity of spirit that Moses’s did. We will love and miss you forever Moses. 

Together in Grief, 
Jackie