Layoffs and reduced work hours amidst COVID-19 is leaving less money for giving to allow donors to meet their basic needs. We know being able to financially contribute to non-profits may not be an option for everyone. While sponsoring a child or activity is incredibly helpful, there are tons of other ways to support causes and people that need help and won’t create financial strain.

A couple of simple ways to help Hope for Hearts:

❤ Shop smile.amazon.com and designate us as your charity
Join our newsletter, Pocket Full of Hope
❤ Spread the word invite friends to follow us on Instagram

Now, how can you help other causes in need, check out some ideas below.

Sign petitions

Just by providing your name, you can help further a cause. There are countless websites with petitions that need signatures from people like you. Consider going on Change.org or iPetitions and spending a few minutes a day signing ones that are meaningful to you.

With a simple search, there are hundreds alone regarding Uganda, the treatment of their people, land, and animals. Your name can make a huge impact and it is as simple as going on to your laptop and clicking a few buttons.

Share information on social media

In the age of social media, we all have some sort of platform where our friends and family can read our posts. Whether you have 100 followers or 1 million, there is someone out there that is influenced by the content you share. By sharing fundraisers, petitions, and resources from nonprofits on your personal accounts, you are attracting more eyes which can lead toward donations and more support. It is a free and easy way to spread the word.

Vote

Whether it’s voting by mail or standing in line, the politicians we elect have the power to chance the world. Not only is it important to exercise this right, but also make sure you are researching what these people stand for. Even though we live in the U.S, America is a powerhouse and very influential with foreign policy. Electing a politician that prioritizes human rights, especially in countries like Uganda, can work toward ending issues like human trafficking, poverty, and the AIDS epidemic.

Donate items

We are all guilty of having a closet filled with things we don’t use anymore. Clothing, books, and school supplies are all coveted items in Uganda. Donating them to organizations will not only help provide resources but it is also a way to make space in your home. A win win!

Volunteer

They say time equals money which is why volunteering is so useful. There are countless ways to give your time, so there is something for everyone. Help facilitate fundraisers, serve food in a shelter, or teach free English classes online. Have a skill you want to use? Even better! If you are good with social media, volunteer for a few hours making posts. Work as in PR? Try to get some press for a meaningful cause.

So, there you have it! During these difficult times, there are still many things you can do to help. And, if you do have the financial means to donate, consider making a donation to Hope for Hearts so that we can continue to fight for the rights of children in Uganda and provide resources such as these.

Sending love and blessings,
Cristen Lyn

Red beaded necklace and blue owl statue

Want to give your loved one something truly special this Valentine’s Day? Our beads of hope necklaces are a unique, lovely statement piece that directly helps the women of Uganda.

These beads are made from recycled magazines that are then carefully strung together to create a one-of-a-kind, eco-friendly piece of art. They are handmade by the women of Uganda, and the proceeds from these necklaces go directly back to the community. Our beads of hope are another way we are trying to help build the community from within and help break the cycle of poverty.

Red beaded necklace and blue owl statue

The beads are called kambulagos, and they are a popular business venture for women of Africa, the Caribbean, and many other countries. We have purchased our beads directly from the woman of Uganda, and the proceeds of each necklace support both St. Elizabeth’s Academy and the Kankobe Children’s Home. Not only are these beads a wonderful gift, but they’ll also give your loved one a taste of Ugandan culture.

Valentine’s Day isn’t exclusively about romantic love, it’s also about the love you bring into a community and the world. The women and children we work with at Hope for Hearts have so much to give to the world, but it takes your support to help them share it. These beads of hope give the woman of Uganda the gift of a future.

Get your handmade necklace today!

Sending love, hope and happiness.
Cristen Lyn

Group of children at St Elizabeths Girl School

In just a few days we’ll be celebrating not only the start of a new year, but a new decade. 2020 will be a momentous year, and I hope it brings you vision, clarity, peace, and strength. I hope you can stand strong to face the obstacles in your way. I hope you can find the strength to do the things you think you can’t, and continue doing the things you know you can.

Group of children at St Elizabeths Girl School

I find this to be the number one lesson I have learned from the kids we serve in our orphanages and schools. Life is hard. It’s not always smiles. These kids came from some of the toughest places imaginable. Homeless, hungry, lacking education or family support. Through all their hardships, they stood strong in the face of adversity, and they envisioned a better life for themselves. They did not give up. They will not give up.

There are many children in our schools that are now happy to be in a home with a roof over their heads, a new familial bond with our staff and friends made at the school. They can once again begin to smile. But it’s not all smiles all the time. They still have memories of where they came from. They still face struggles learning the unknown. And while they may cry tears of sadness or frustration, they are really watering the seeds you’re planting for their future.

With your donation, you can help provide the seeds of knowledge to these children. Instead of crying alone on the streets, they can cry in the comfort and loving arms of our nuns, teachers and counselors. They can feel loved, supported, and most of all safe. They can let the tears out, then with amazing resilience that only a kid can have, they pick themselves up, go back to the books, and stand strong to build a better future for themselves.

As everyone is finalizing their New Year’s resolutions, I find myself thinking about mine. Taking a lesson from our kids, I resolve to stand strong. I resolve to stand strong in all that I do. I resolve to stand strong for others who need the hand up, by continuing to continue raising money and fighting for orphaned children in Uganda.

Will you resolve to stand strong with me? Stand strong for yourself and for the less fortunate.

Wishing you peace and happiness in the new year,
Cristen Lyn

Recently I shared some insights on birthdays that were turned into national holidays. We discussed a few great, well-known, world leaders who earned a holiday in their honor. Jesus, Gandhi, George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. If you haven’t had a chance to read that blog, take a look here.

I want to share another story about an ordinary person, who became so extraordinary they too, were honored with a day for their life’s work – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

Avila Pakir Jainulabdeen (A. P. J.) Abdul Kalam was a well-loved and prominent political figure in India, having served as President from 2002-2007. But his path to the presidency was far from easy. His father was a ferry owner and imam of a local mosque, and his mother was a housewife. He was the youngest of 5 siblings. While his ancestors were at one time wealthy, they eventually lost their family fortune. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s family became so poor that from an early age he had to sell newspapers to help pay for his education and take care of his family.

Kalam worked and studied his way through good education and eventually graduated in Aerospace Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. He served as the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV II), and was Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. He was widely known as “The People’s President,” and dedicated much of his life to education, writing and public service. He wrote several books and spent every moment he could speaking with students from remote villages to big universities.

There’s no doubt that A. P. J. Abdul Kalam would not have been as successful in his life if he hadn’t worked so hard to support his own education as a child. And you can tell he knew it by his dedication to teaching the next generation of students from all walks of life. His story has served as an inspiration for millions of students, and will continue to do so for years to come. For his dedication to education, in

2010 the United Nations named October 15 “World Students’ Day” in honor of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s birthday.

In every student there is a future leader. From political figures to educators, scientists to small business owners, every leader has a role to play in making the world a better place. The American Dream has always been about turning rags into riches through hard work and dedication. What is often taken for granted in this scenario is access to at minimum a basic education. If you can’t learn to read and write, perform basic math tasks, etc. Your chances of finding a vocation that will lift you up in life becomes extraordinarily harder.

For country’s that are experiencing major atrocities on the home front, such as India or Africa, education most often takes a major back seat to securing basic necessities such as finding food and shelter. For every child that does not have access to education, the cycle of poverty continues. Whether it’s traditional or vocational, education is a barrier to entry to lifting children up from poverty to prosperity.

So in honor of World Students’ Day, won’t you help us take away this barrier for more children in the world? By making a donation to Hope for Hearts, you are providing the tools our kids desperately need to take them off the streets and give them a hand up to be the best leaders they can be in their community.

Donate Today

Humbly Yours,
Cristen Lyn

Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. Take a moment to think about that. I know it may be hard. Perhaps you’ve lost a friend or loved-one to suicide, or feel for those who have… for the people who felt they had no other options. It’s a difficult topic to explore, but it’s worth discussing in honor of World Mental Health Day.

Today is World Mental Health Day, a day to pause and reflect on mental health-related issues. This year’s theme is “Working together to prevent suicide.” Mental health is not a subject we often explore on this blog, but it is very much worth discussing. Father Mugaga and the nuns who care for the students in our schools not only have the task of feeding, sheltering, and educating these children, but also caring for their mental health and well-being. This care often includes helping children heal from traumatic pasts and the toll the past has taken on their mental health.

The children at our schools are all orphans who have faced several traumatic events in their lives. As a nation, Uganda is still facing several major issues including war, extreme poverty, the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, etc. The impact of these tragedies has been widespread, but the most pertinent impact has been the deaths of so many citizens. One of the results of the unfortunate death toll in these cases is that children face uncertain futures, moving from family member to family member, until there is no one left to care for them. In addition to unstable caretakers, some children suffer from abusive caregivers before arriving at the orphanage.

Children who lack a consistent caregiver can develop disrupted attachment, which means that it is hard for children to form trusting, secure bonds with adults. The children have learned through lived experience that they can lose their caregiver at any moment, so they can develop significant difficulty attaching to other adults. Disrupted attachment is a severe form of trauma for children, leaving them to feel unsafe, unprotected, and vulnerable. This, combined with previous trauma that they have already likely experienced (war, poverty, disease, loss), leads to mental health symptoms that make it difficult for the children to function in a healthy way. Untreated trauma in children tends to mimic the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. They can demonstrate difficulty managing their behavior, with poor impulse control, inattention, hyperactivity, and defiance. This behavior makes it extremely difficult for the student to focus, but also interferes with the learning environment for the other children in the classroom. Often this can lead to a classroom in which the teacher is spending a significant amount of learning time redirecting the traumatized student’s behavior instead of teaching.

Poor mental health can have a major impact on everyone in the classroom, not just the affected child. Teaching and care-taking in an environment filled with traumatized children requires special people who understand mental health and the need for care and patience, rather than punishment. For the children in our schools, those people are Father Mugaga and the nuns who dedicate their lives to caring for these wonderful children. As much as we focus on the need to clothe, feed, and educate these children, their mental and spiritual well-being is also a priority. These children come to us at one of, if not the, most vulnerable points in their life. Many of them feel like they are broken, possibly seeing suicide as the only respite from life on the streets. Our schools give them shelter, love, and, most importantly, hope.

Although mental health is a primary concern for the children at our schools, it is difficult to concentrate on alleviating mental health symptoms when basic needs are unmet. This is where your help can make a huge impact on the long-term outcomes for these children. You can join Father Mugaga and the nuns and make a difference in the lives of these children, impacting generations to come. You can help our children focus on healing their mental health by making a donation to help provide for their shelter, food, and education. These donations allow them to truly focus on the important work of healing and practicing self-care at our schools, enabling them to learn, grow, and thrive.

For the truly disadvantaged in Uganda, counseling and therapy can be hard to access. However, as is true for the rest of the world, there are everyday things we can all do to help. In addition to donating to our children, there are also things you can also do on the home front to increase positive mental health for those around you. Think about all the self-care tips you’ve heard in your lifetime. Do you sometimes find yourself lacking the motivation to do some of these things? Perhaps you could use an extra push in the right direction? Be that motivation for someone else.

Today, in honor of World Mental Health Day, flip the script on suicide. Take 40 seconds to reach out to your friends and loved ones, especially those you may not have talked to in a while. Take the time to check-in with them and be there when needed. Show you really care by actively listening to them, and being there for them, without judgment. Break up their routine. Invite them to go to a yoga or tai chi class. Invite them to connect over a meal. Invite them to family game night. Invite them.

You never know the power a simple gesture of care and kindness can have on a life.

With love and gratitude,
Cristen Lyn

P.S. For more information on WHO’s A day for “40 seconds of action” to prevent suicide, click here