Asia’s Hope Kids: Obliterating Expectations
Despite their rough starts in life, our kids are graduating high school and university at rates far higher than their peers.
The first generations of Asia’s Hope kids haven’t just survived, they’ve thrived. They haven’t just surpassed expectations, they’ve shattered them. Statistics suggest that fewer than 20% of all Cambodians can expect to finish Grade 12 — fewer than 5% if they come from poor families like our kids. But today 90% of the kids at Asia’s Hope Cambodia are on track to graduate high school. And almost all of our high school graduates qualify for university admission.
They’re getting married and starting their own families, businesses and churches. They’re even returning to Asia’s Hope as our next generation leaders.
Why is it working?
At some level, it’s very simple.
By placing children in stable homes, and by giving those homes the resources they need to thrive, we address an orphaned child’s greatest need — a mom and a dad, not an impersonal or abusive institution. And by insisting that these homes be run by local leaders — caring adults who grew up in the communities they serve — we’re raising a generation of kids who know how to succeed in their own country and who to turn to when they need emotional, social and spiritual support.
What does it mean for orphan care worldwide?
When people working in less-healthy orphan care settings around the world hear about our success rates, they have lots of questions:
What are you doing differently? How can we build healthy homes where orphaned and vulnerable kids thrive? How can you help us implement your model in our country?
And we’re working hard to increase our ability to provide not only answers, but opportunities. Over the next decade, we want to actively train leaders in at least ten other countries — from Burundi to Bangladesh, giving them face-to-face mentorship and on-the-ground experience to take our model, adapt it and implement it in their unique settings. And, God willing, teach us how we can care for Asia’s Hope children even more effectively.
How do we get there?
We’ve identified three key opportunities for innovation that will allow us to provide an ideal environment for Asia’s Hope kids and create a template for others to adapt in their settings.
The first is in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
We’ve been investing in computers and tech-centric pilot programs. The students enrolled in those programs are learning to create websites, design interfaces and develop basic mobile apps. In 2023, we’ll be offering these courses to even more students, and expand into ai, machine learning, data science and Python coding.
As we look beyond 2023, we plan to take what we’re learning in these pilot programs, scale it, and build Asia’s Hope stem Academies in all three of our countries. These academies will offer each Asia’s Hope kid — and children in our local neighborhoods — the stem training they’ll need to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
The second is in arts education.
Across our 35 homes, we have many talented singers, songwriters, instrumentalists, painters and photographers. But too often, these young artists are succeeding despite the lack of formal training available at school and in our homes.
We believe that a comprehensive arts education can provide valuable job skills and give traumatized children valuable tools for self expression.
In 2023, we want to provide our kids more access to musical instruments and art equipment — and invest in partnerships and pilot programs that will allow us to build Asia’s Hope Arts Academies across our five cities in Cambodia, Thailand and India.
The third is in psychological and social support.
Given their extraordinarily difficult start in life, most of our kids are doing remarkably well. But we recognize the need to increase the frequency and sophistication of trauma-informed training we provide our home parents and caregivers.
We also need to hire case workers, counselors and child psychologists who can help us track our kids’ progress and offer developmentally- and culturally- appropriate interventions for kids who are struggling.
Where do you fit in?
Sustaining and growing Asia’s Hope is neither easy nor cheap. Changes in the global economy mean that everything we do in 2023 will be even more expensive than they were in previous years.
Time and time again, we’ve seen our supporters step up to the plate, even in times of economic uncertainty. This year — and in the years to come — we need everyone who believes in what we’re doing to lead courageously: to help spread the word about what God’s doing through our ministry, and to give generously.
You can start by making a generous gift to our 2022 annual giving campaign. As we celebrate the start of our third decade, we’ve set our biggest ever year-end funding goal: $350,000. When successful, this campaign will give us the resources we need to flourish in 2023 and beyond.
Dear friend,
As we enter our third decade of ministry, I’m blown away by what God has done through Asia’s Hope in Cambodia, Thailand, India — and among orphan care ministries around the world.
Because we’ve stayed true to our calling and doubled down on our model of family-style, community-based care for orphaned and vulnerable children, we’ve seen our graduates obliterate expectations for what the world’s poorest kids can accomplish.
We’ve not only proven that our model works in its original setting, but that it’s adaptable and repeatable in other countries regardless of differences in culture, government and religion.
Now, as we look toward the next ten — and even twenty — years, we’re inviting you to join us in helping the kids, the staff and the entire ministry of Asia’s Hope flourish.
May God continue to bless you and your family,
John McCollum, Co-founder
and Executive Director, Asia’s Hope
john@asiashope.org | 614.804.6233
Our year-end funding goal: $350k by December 31 to
Launch Music and Visual Arts pilot program, paving the way for Asia’s Hope Arts Academies in the next five years
Increase funding to expand existing STEM pilot programs which include coding, app development, ai and data science training for high school students in Cambodia
Fund the creation of a mentorship program that will allow us to teach our family-style home model to other organizations around the world
Underwrite 8–10% cost-of-living increases across Asia’s Hope
Close the scholarship funding gap for our 225+ university students
Sustain three homes in Cambodia and two in India that currently lack sponsors
Ways to give
Your gift will be put to immediate use rescuing vulnerable children, providing life-changing educations and improving facilities and programs for staff and kids.
Give non-cash assets
Contact Jeremiah Nguapha jeremiah@asiashope.org or visit asiashope.org/ways-to-give
Use employer matching
Please note that many companies will match a portion of their employees’ and retirees’ gifts to Asia’s Hope. Please visit the ways to give section of our website and click employer gift matching to see how much further your gift can go.
Send a check
Asia’s Hope, 296 West Fourth Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43201
Give online
You can make recurring or one-time gifts using your credit or debit card. asiashope.org/give
Include us in your will
You can use this free tool to help you with your estate planning. freewill.com/asiashope