CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Uma Thurman and Arpad Busson at the HHF Heart of Gold Ball; Eva Mendes and Petra Nemcova; Wyclef Jean.
After I was blessed to survive the tsunami that ravaged Thailand in December 2004, I chose to turn the tragic ordeal into a positive influence. I believe there are two sides to every experience, and that ultimately we can choose to focus on the positive or the negative.
We can even make the decision to try and change the lives of suffering children—and that’s exactly what I set out to do.
In 2005 I established the Happy Hearts Fund (HHF), a charity whose mission is to improve children’s lives through education and technology. Helping children through education has always been an important goal of mine—even before the tsunami. By providing the opportunities and the tools, I see the children’s lives become safer and their family’s futures and communities become brighter, and I watch these children hope and dream again. It’s these experiences that have made my work with Happy Hearts so rewarding.
People should support causes that are close to their hearts—organizations that will show the tangible results of their contributions. The focus of the HHF is to build sustainable schools with computer labs for the children around the world who need them most. Happy Hearts supports more than 40 programs; to date, all our costs and expenses have been underwritten, allowing 100 percent of the donations to go directly toward helping the children.
In my work with the HHF, I met an English grandmother named Alison who, after a devastating earthquake struck Yogyakarta, Indonesia, had a dream: to build a kindergarten. In about two years she’s built 34 kindergartens and a primary school. We—all of us—can change the world, one person, one village, one country at a time.
The earthquake in Peru struck on August 15, 2007. Last January I traveled there with the HHF to see what could be done. Just two months after that initial trip we created a partnership with ING/Peru, and just this October, using matching funds, we opened two schools with a sustainable bakery and fair-trade business for the community. It’s remarkable what can be done when amazing companies puts their efforts—and their assets— behind programs that are socially responsible.
While I was in the Congo, which is considered one of the world’s neediest places, I mentioned our work in Haiti. The Congoliens said, “Forget about Haiti—it’s a lost cause.” They were joking, but it was also very sad. Haiti definitely needs so much help. We partnered with Wyclef Jean’s charity, Yéle Haiti, and one day, after opening a computer lab there together, we entered the slum of Cité Soleil. Once Jean stepped out of the car to say hello to the people, they carried him over their heads for miles. He is their hope, but he can’t do it on his own—just as the HHF can’t do it on its own. But we can do it together. The more caring people we add to this formula, the more the results will multiply.
