By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Wanting to see young children grow up to achieve their dreams and fulfil their potential, 21-year-old Kristine Louisa started a non-governmental organisation to do just that.
The Hopeful Hearts Foundation, which started in April 2024, has one mission: to provide essential support to primary school students, mainly in government schools throughout Antigua.
“I’ve been working on [starting the foundation] since January, and the Hopeful Hearts Foundation’s aim is to assist primary government school students by providing school supplies and holding educational seminars, because I believe that all students in Antigua and Barbuda deserve to have a very bright future regardless of what situation that they’re in,” Louisa told Observer media yesterday.
Louisa and her team began to execute this mission by launching a schools supplies drive, aimed at equipping children with the tools to succeed.
Donation boxes can be found in various locations including the AUA, Toy Box, Harper’s, Neverland, Christ the King, ACT, and Stationery Art Craft (SAC) – All in One.
“I put the boxes in these locations and my aim is that the people go and donate whatever they can donate, the price and the quality doesn’t matter, just as long it’s a good product for the students to use.
“This would happen every quarter of the year and there are so many other things that I have planned, like a seminar coming up hopefully by the end of this year—I’m still working on it—but together we can definitely create a brighter future for all the students in Antigua because every single student deserves that,” she added.
Louisa spoke about her own journey in volunteering and how that impacted her decision to start her own foundation.
“I’ve been a volunteer in Antigua for almost seven years, and in my experience in volunteering, I’ve seen, heard, and experienced so many things that made me realise and made me open my eyes into why I wanted to do this.
“There are so many children that I have worked with, whether it be in Kiwanis, whether it be in the Halo Foundation, and while working with them, I noticed that there are so many children that need help that Antiguans don’t really know about.
“They’re single moms of 10 that don’t have an extra support system to help them because they can’t provide all of the necessities they need for their children’s schoolwork, so I did this because I wanted to help the students in Antigua, especially the primary government school students.
“That’s what I’m aiming for, and that’s the whole goal of the foundation…just because you don’t go to a private school doesn’t mean that you can’t get the best of the best,” she said.
Louisa said that the first batch of school supplies will be delivered to the CT Samuel Primary School next week Monday.
Speaking about how challenging it was to start a foundation, the young philanthropist said, “I must say it’s not the easiest thing that I have done, but I have such a strong ambition for it and if it wasn’t for my ambition and my goal, I don’t think I would have even thought about having it.
“But for the future, my goal is to turn dreams into realities; you never know if there’s a child that doesn’t have, let’s say, a proper pencil or a proper pen to even sit down and write notes and so if you’re [willing to support] a child, they’re going to want to sit and they’re going to want to study and do well and they’re going to be motivated every day to go to school and interact with their peers and have a good conversation with their teachers,” she said.
