A Campaign for Hope

I’m sitting in New York City, the epitome of the international city, at a pre-launch meeting for an event called The Hope Campaign. Gathered with me are several dozens of people who all carry the heart for issues of injustice in the world: child soldiers, poverty, illiteracy, lack of clean water, human trafficking, etc. Each person, including myself, sees the great need in the world, and wants to do something to fight back…but what? How can one small life make a difference? (My good friend, Melissa, and I, reconnecting!)

The statistics on Human Trafficking alone are staggering: 27 million people a year are trafficked in the world, across national borders and within their own countries, some for forced labor, most for sexual exploitation. Some of those numbers include children, and all of those numbers include valuable and irreplaceable lives – someone’s brother, mother, sister, son, friend.

And those statistics take a very real presence not far from me here in Europe. This is not a story for Eastern Europe alone – it is in every nation, and in almost every major city. And the question comes to my mind again – what can one life do in the face of so much?

And that is what drew me to New York for this meeting – the desire to do something. As I listened and gave my administrative piece, I heard the hearts of the others in that room that wanted to work in, or were already engaged in, issues of injustice. As the meetings unfolded, we listened as a framework for the future began to come together. (The picture is of my friend, Tonya, presenting about a township she works in in South Africa)

In short, The Hope Campaign will serve as a platform to focus and facilitate individuals and organizations to educate, inspire and move towards action on issues of injustice. Next year, starting at the end of February and going through mid-March, different groups (and anyone can apply to host a venue) will gather in New York City to raise awareness and provide action steps on issues of injustice.

It was a privilege to be a part of these meetings, and I hope to be a part of the first Hope Campaign event next year. I won’t say any more about it now, but if you’re interested in more information, just let me know. There will definitely be more about it in future updates. (Here I am, in Times Square!)