Our World

Our world is in pain. Every week it seems like the news is packed with devastating stories; things that none of us can even begin to wrap our minds around. How do we respond to our world’s desperate call for help?  Is there any hope left to hang on?

A while back, Humanity and Hope United’s founder Riley Fuller said something about the villages he works with that resonates with the current climate of our world.  He said:

“It may not look to the outside world that there’s a lot here. It may not look like there’s hope here. But, I believe in you. ”

It may not look like there are a lot of helpers out there.  It may not look like there’s a way to overcome the evil that we see blazing through our society, but what if someone believed there was? Wouldn’t that be comforting?

Humanity and Hope believes that every single one of us holds the potential to rise above even the bleakest circumstances. 

Meet Dunia. Her name literally means “our world” and we believe her story is calling us to respond. Not only to her, but to everyone who has ever felt lost or hopeless or abandoned. 

Photo by Christina Cernik

Dunia Miranda is a single mother. She lives in a small hut with seven children in the village of La Cuchilla. Not too much is known about her except that her husband had a drinking problem and would beat her. He has since abandoned the family. Her only source of income is occasionally washing other people’s clothes for money.

Dunia is trying desperately to rise above her circumstances. She puts on a brave face every day for her children and actively seeks any work she can find. 

But, Dunia is tired. 

Our world is tired.

You can help. We all need each other so desperately. The world's heart is breaking and it is actively seeking givers to bring back the hope. 

Please follow the link to our latest campaign which will provide sustainable jobs opportunities for women like Dunia in the village of La Cuchilla. By purchasing a mug or bracelet created by Moon& Lola, you will not only provide concrete opportunities for individuals in need, but you'll also be telling the world, "I believe in you."

That phrase is a comfort we all really need right now. 

-Kelly Segar with Ally Browning and Kathryn Muccino

Life Unfiltered

What do you want to be known for? Have you ever asked yourself that question?

I bet without even realizing it, you screen your Instagram photos based on your answer to it. What would our albums look like if we all posted our outtakes instead of the ones we’ve carefully selected to share? 

I think we’d realize that we are all much more alike than we are different. We’re all flawed.  We all yearn for acceptance.  And deep down, we know it’ll be easier to find or follow our purpose when we embrace our outtakes.  But how do we get ourselves to that place of vulnerability? 

We can look to our friends from La Cuchilla for some help. Meet Karmen and Aldon. They didn’t ask us to take these photos multiple times. Sometimes there is no option but to be vulnerable. They live every day unfiltered. 

And that goes for their water and homes too. The people of La Cuchilla ration out foggy water just to survive. They’ve woven shelter out of twigs and old pieces of trash. 

Their lives are so different from ours.

And yet, it is in their reflection that we see our potential to live life unfiltered. 

Despite the daily struggles and heartbreak and exhaustion, they are living proof that vulnerability pushes. It may be uncomfortable, but it pushes you to seek out a true purpose in this life, something that will bring you hope in all of life's most trying seasons. 

Many villagers of La Cuchilla have told us their most earnest wish is to find their purpose. They ask themselves the same question we do: “What do I want to be known for?” These next two weeks we invite you to join us for a couple of unique fundraising events and help us raise money to create jobs for women in La Cuchilla (event details below). 

We all need one another so deeply. We need the villagers of La Cuchilla to teach us about living life in a very raw way; without filters.

They need us to give them the acceptance we all yearn for by investing in jobs which give them the opportunity to find their purpose for the first time ever. 

I am, you are, we all are: individuals, dreamers, victims, apprentices, ambassadors, advocates, lovers, educators, health providers. We are the change makers. Let’s live our lives in such a way that when we look at the big picture it needs no filter, because it tells the world exactly what we want to be know for. 

-Kelly Segar with Ally Browning and Riley Fuller

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The Generous Event - September 30, 2017
Location: Colony KC + The Rino, 7-11 pm
{312 Armour Road, N. KC, MO 64116}
Honduran appetizers, beverages, live music, silent auction and story telling
Purchase tickets here. 

Howl at the Moon - October 6, 2017
Locations: Tippy Creek Winery, 6-9 pm
{5920 N 200 E. Leesburg, Indiana 46538}
Live Entertainment, wine, food truck and good company
Purchase tickets here.

Growing to Roar

RP Imagery, La Cuchilla

“…we believe that magic can happen inside people. Magic can’t happen inside projects; magic can’t happen inside inanimate objects. Love. Loving people is our end goal. And it’s just difficult to describe why unless you’ve seen the results.”

— Riley Fuller, President and Co-Founder

As Humanity and Hope United embarks upon building relationships within a new village we will be partnering with called "La Cuchilla," it’s important to be reminded of the potential for magic dwelling in each person we meet. The village of La Cuchilla consists of 27 families living in 20 small homes. They all share one well to obtain life-sustaining water, which must always be boiled in order to make sure it’s safe to drink. The villagers of La Cuchilla have told us they have been praying for seventeen years for our arrival, and we do not want to let them down. 

RP Imagery, La Cuchilla

So where do you start when you are called to help others prosper? Transformation isn’t something you can achieve overnight, nor is it something that should have a planned trajectory. There are a lot of unknowns along our path to serve the people we partner with, but the one thing we do know for certain is that people grow when they are loved well. 

We are reminded of this truth when we look at this recent photo of some of the young girls in La Coroza, a village Humanity and Hope United has been partnering with for years. The girl to the far right is Sarah. From this photo you may never know the suffering and hardship she has faced in her young life. She has been thirsty. She has felt alone and scared. But, these experiences do not define her as you see her today, hand on her hip, ready to face the world. 

RP Imagery, La Coroza

If you look closely at the slideshow below, you can see the progression she makes as time rolls on. In the earlier photos, you still see joy, but it is also coupled with exhaustion and hesitation. She is not yet ready to believe that the love being given to her by strangers is something that will endure.

Flash forward a few years and we are now able to revel in the fact that she is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Sarah sees the people of Humanity and Hope United as her friends. She welcomes volunteers with open arms because she knows that they are there to love on her, and will always believe in her. Not only that, but she has clean water to drink, food in her stomach and experiences of joy and stability at home. The power to dream big has been inside of Sarah since the beginning, now she just has a little more “roar” behind it.

It is our deepest hope that one day the children of La Cuchilla will pose for a photo with courage in their eyes and a strong stance to take on the world, just like miss Sarah.

So let's ask Sarah...

What would it be like if his character was supported and encouraged? 

(click right to see her response) 

What dreams would live in her eyes if she knew she had a stable platform from which to soar?

What would happen if he met new people and they held him with love? 

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Magic would happen. 

“Together we are so, so strong. Magic happens when we focus on serving the world, not saving the world.”

— Ben Higgins, H&H Board Member

Upon returning from a trip last month (which you can read about in our previous post ), Ben and the rest of the team at Humanity and Hope United were encouraged by the stories they heard and the path they travelled, admiring relationships old and new. They travelled from Sarah's village of La Coroza to La Cuchilla and were able to compare the two. And just like the old photos of Sarah demonstrate, despite immense hardship, love grows abundantly in the hearts of the children and adults of La Cuchilla. But, these hearts are tired. They long for a brighter future, but how can they look to a future growth without present work? 

Jobs give people a purpose and a means to provide. Purpose and stability bring hope, and that's where the real magic lives. Without motivated adults to look up to, Sarah's story would have turned out much differently. Please help us to give voice and power to the wishes of the villagers in La Cuchilla by joining us in our campaign to provide them with jobs, a way to provide stability they've not yet known, which will enable them grow into the best version of themselves. Together let's help them grow to ROAR. 

By: Kelly Segar with Ally Browning