Our Story
Our History
Key moments
The seeds of Mirror of Hope are planted by way of assisting a small number of impoverished children who attend church in Tommy’s local parish. Tommy’s goal is to help them obtain an education, and help them get out of the slum. Initially, the children met under a tree, before the parish donated the use of a small office.
The first group of seven girls are sponsored to pursue their high school education. Most of the girls are orphaned and come from HIV/AIDS affected families.
While the organization makes great strides towards keeping a number of children in school, the parents and guardians of these children are still coming to the organization asking for food, money and other handouts. The Women’s Empowerment Project is formed to provide peer support and skills development, helping the women to improve their economic position.
In 2012, Canadian based Fondation le Pont joins our limited group of supporters and later invited Tommy to Canada for a fundraising event
Nathan Taiaroa visits the organization and establishes an immediate bond that sets up a series of relationships with Australians who in turn revolutionize our education sponsorship project through numerous sponsorships, providing the organization with significant momentum.
A partnership that would become a turning point for Mirror of Hope began as Edmund Rice Foundation Australia became our corporate partners, giving face to our SILC and Future Poa projects and opening gates to partnership with The Australian Government.
Serving young people in distress and unemployment, the project empowers youth through development of hands-on skills and digital literacy.
Two Mirror of Hope beneficiaries and among our very alumni become our first local sponsors by sponsoring a girl from Kibera to school.
The Women’s Empowerment Project adopts an economic model called SILC, through partnership with the Edmund Rice Foundation in Australia. Since its implementation, SILC has yielded massive results for both women and men, and is supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
We officially become a (501)(c)(3) registered organization in the USA, opening a new dawn to our American supporters.
We officially receive our Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status through Youth Out Loud, our official registered partner in Australia.