Hope Unlimited

History

Hope Unlimited is founded in 2017 by Ananthapriya (Priya) Subramanian and Martin Sloot. It is our firm belief that every child has the right to a healthy life and good education. Also, equally important, we believe children benefit from learning at an early age to respect differences: people may look different, think different, live differently but the world is a better place because of this diversity and when children learn to relate to others and celebrate diversity.

Here’s why we chose the three themes. Priya lost her elder sister and Martin his brother to congenital heart diseases. In India alone, nearly 1.8 million children are born with congenital heart diseases (CHD) every year.

Another area of passionate interest for us has been education, especially primary education: the building blocks of a child’s future. With the right environment and a bit of support, children from marginalised backgrounds can finish school education and follow their dreams, whatever they may be.

While a healthy childhood and a good foundation in education are important for the future, we believe that for a just and civil society, it is important that children learn early to respect seeming differences, be they colour, race, gender, sex, caste or religion and that this diversity only makes us stronger. If children have the opportunity to see the positive aspects of diversity, we believe they can grow up respecting differences and understanding inclusiveness and tolerance; values vital for the emotional health of any person and of any society.

So if children have a healthy start in life, get a chance at good education and are also given a platform to celebrate diversity, it gives hope for a better, brighter future. We know this will take time and requires lots of small steps, but every small effort helps! It is these three strands – health, education and contributing to a tolerant, inclusive future – that form the basis for Hope Unlimited.

In short: by taking small steps, we hope to contribute to big dreams by making sure children are healthy, educated and empathetic.

About Hope Unlimited

Vision & Mission

Our Vision

Hope Unlimited believes that the future offers hope when our children are healthy, educated and grow up empathetic while believing in a diverse and inclusive society.

Our Mission

Hope Unlimited wishes to provide support to young children from marginalised backgrounds in India in developing and realising their dreams and future goals by:

Providing financial support in the form of scholarships for children up to the age of 15 years from economically deprived families in India to pursue their education;
To provide financial support towards heart surgery for children with congenital heart disease under age 15 from economically deprived families in India;
To foster awareness, understanding and respect between children, to celebrate diversity by connecting different cultures through the sharing of experiences and opinions of children through different activities on a non-profit basis, such as the establishment and publication of a regular Magazine for Children, a related website and the organisation of related activities.

Values & Principles

Respect, tolerance, impartiality and inclusiveness are the core principles and values of Hope Unlimited. These principles will guide our decision making and policies.

The Priorities

The focus of Hope Unlimited will be on girls from marginalised backgrounds and communities. The focus on girls stems from the low status of girls in India. Each year, Hope Unlimited aims to support 2-3 children with heart surgery and school scholarships. Lastly, Hope Unlimited aims to further develop Connect, its digital magazine for children and by children.

The Journey

Education

Case story 1: Paravur, Ernakulam district

Case story 2: Eachome, Wayanad district

Case story 3: Sumaiya, Chennai

Case story 4: Gayathri, Coimbatore

Case story 5: Abhinayavalli & Soundarya, Villupuram

Case story 6: Books for children, Annaikatti

Case story 7: Support with online classrooms

Case story 8: Mahalakshmi, Puducherry

Case story 9: Roshini, Chennai

Case story 10: Sarah, Chennai

Case story 11: Saranya, Tiruvannamalai

Case story 12: Clemencia, Chennai

Case story 13: Scholarship for six girls

Case story 14: V. Nisha, Chennai

Case story 15: Dhanam & Karpagam

Case story 16: Scholarship for dreamers

Case story 17: Eveline, Chennai

Case story 18: N. Santhoshini, Chennai

Case story 19: Hashini, Chennai

Case story 20: Kethziyal B, Chennai

Case story 21: Kishore, Chennai

Case story 22: 13 Scholarships

Case story 23: Saineetha, Chennai

To our latest case story

Health

Case story 1: 'I want to be a doctor'

Case story 2: 'Here’s to life and health'

Case story 3: Hope Unlimited supports third heart surgery

Case story 4: A Class Leader from Mumbai

Case story 5: Support for fifth heart surgery

Case story 6: 'A new start in life'

Case story 7: 'Theja'

Case story 8: 'Ruthimasri'

To our latest case story

Magazine ('Connect')

Connect is a publication of Hope Unlimited in India. Connect is a magazine for children between the ages of 8 and 15 years, but not only! With the magazine we hope to stimulate young minds to appreciate the diversity in multicultural, multi-religious societies and encourage them to learn from differences rather than looking at these as barriers.

The central theme of the magazine is ‘diversity’. By connecting children living in different states of India and those in different countries across the world, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the richness of diversity and the opportunities this provides.

Our Volunteers with 'Connect':

Veeresh H.V.R. (Promotions / Coordination)

Rimplepreet Kaur (Editor)

TO CONNECT

Help us take small steps

About our logo

The name and logo of Hope Unlimited is linked to the name of our daughter, Priti Hope Sloot. Priti – currently twelve years old – designed the logo of Hope Unlimited in 2017 using seven different colours! We believe the logo symbolises hope (with a bit of imagination, it resembles a beating heart) and that Priti has given each day of the week its own colour.

About Priya & Martin

Ananthapriya (Priya) Subramanian is trained in international relations and journalism. After 14 years in journalism, she worked for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Save the Children in India. Since 2012, she is an independent consultant specialised in communication.

Martin Sloot is trained in communication and political science. Since 2000, Martin worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in different positions and countries. In 2016 he started management consultancies for the (I)NGO sector.

Welcome to Hope Unlimited