The Power of Hope

“… looking at people in their eyes, feeling their humanity, and letting them feel yours isn’t just helping, it’s a way to live life to the fullest” – Bobby Sager

The children in these photographs are anonymous urban refugees, but above all, they remain children. They will never stop dreaming or playing. They have traveled across jungles and borders, sometimes by foot, chased by people, and overcome with fear. They have reached Malaysia full of hope for a better life and are unable to safely return home. They live next to us, walk the same streets, and deal with the same issues of growing up as our children. They have the right to education, health care, and child protection.

Their strength and determination, the light of hope in their everyday life was their gift to me. I hope it will also be a gift to you. I hope it will inspire you to learn more about their condition and, one day, make a difference in their lives.

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I would like to thank the children in these photographs, and the ones around them, for teaching me “The Power of Hope”. Hope is about faith – the belief that there is something bigger and more important than us, about gratitude, about love and our connection with family and friends.

“The Power of Hope” was created with one of my students and her siblings. Their father was working away from home, their mother had left them, and I used to visit them often. The project helped us raise awareness about urban refugee children in our community and raise funds for the school.

With gratitude,

anne houang, Kuala Lumpur, 2014.