Our Story

Years ago, our family traveled to Kenya on a community service trip. We were just ten years old, and we had been living in what we now consider our New York City bubble, innocently oblivious to the reality of the poverty and hardships in the world around us. Over the course of our visit in Kenya, we helped build a girls dormitory at a secondary school, we visited old classrooms (very different from the classrooms back home), we learned about and participated in some of the various chores that women are expected to complete daily, and we chatted with local girls and learned about their particular hardships and aspirations. Upon returning to New York City, our dismay for the lack of education for girls in Kenya continued. In our conversations we had learned that, while young girls often have high aspirations for the future, they are often told to give up on their dreams due to stereotypical expectations that force them to become homemakers. We were determined to do anything in our power to help the girls we had met obtain the education they deserve.

Just a few months after returning from Kenya, we decided to start a foundation aimed initially at raising money to send young women in Africa to secondary school for four years. To send one young woman to secondary school for four years, with all the necessary clothes and school supplies, it costs about $12,000. Through our initial efforts, we were able to raise enough money to send two girls to secondary school for all four years. This was the beginning of the Hope and Chance Foundation.

While we initially focused on girls in Kenya, we expanded our focus to other parts of the world. After we returned from a family trip to the Chiang Mai Province of Northern Thailand, for example, we included young students in this area in our support as well. Far too often, children in Chiang Mai Province do not complete schooling beyond primary school, as the schooling requires transportation they do not have, and the cost of sending a child to secondary school becomes too much of a burden for parents. We learned that the minority groups in this area live on just a daily farmer’s wage.

However, we also learned that the importance of education is slowly but surely taking hold in this region. What once was thought of as an expense (especially since continuing a child’s education means forgoing the child’s financial contribution for the family) is now seen as an investment in the future.

We connected with a local program director who explained, “Many students have ambitions (and the ability) to become doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers, and to do more with their futures, but they simply need support to do this.” We realized then and there that the Hope and Chance Foundation could help.

These are a few of our experiences that have driven engagement. We have learned that helping and giving is rewarding for the helpers and givers, in addition to the rewards for the beneficiary communities. We look forward to experiencing and writing each and every chapter in this story.

Julia and Caroline Keswin