Petra Nemcova
Starting with a modest goal of building just one school, supermodel and philanthropist Petra Nemcova has gone on all out to make sure no child is left behind after natural disasters strike.
petra nemcova started her journey into philanthropy with the goal of rebuilding just one school.
The Czech-born ambassador for Chopard and Tumi, TV host and Sports Illustrated a lumna w as 2 5 w hen s he was swept up by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the most devastating natural disasters in history. She clung to a palm tree for eight hours enduring the pain of her broken pelvis while awaiting rescue, but it was the cries of children fading into silence that anguished her more. She returned to Thailand determined to help local communities recover from the catastrophe, and made up her mind to focus on the period after first responders leave and the years-long work of repairing broken communities begins.
Since then, wherever natural disaster has struck, Nemcova has followed, reconstructing resilient structures and putting affected children back into classrooms. In 12 years, her nonprofit Happy Hearts Fund ( HHF), which has chapters in Indonesia, Mexico and the Czech Republic, has assisted over 100,000 children in resuming their education at more than 170 schools across the globe. Late last year, it merged its US operations with disaster relief organisation, All Hands Volunteers. The new combined entity, All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response, is dedicated to providing communities the full arc of support, from first response to rebuilding schools and homes that can withstand future calamities. ( HHF’S three chapters outside the US remain under the HHF umbrella.)
The plan to pool their resources and boost efficiency came about early in 2016. “We see from our work that just in the US,
there are more than 1.5 million [non-profit organisations], and many don’t communicate together very well,” Nemcova says over the phone from the Czech Republic. “They don’t share know-how, and there are gaps and overlaps.”
Co-founded after the same 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami by former tech executive David Campbell — whom Nemcova decribes as “a ball of energy” — All Hands Volunteers had previously partnered HHF in Nepal and Peru. Together they opened the first local school just a-year-and-half after the Nepal earthquake of 2015, and a mere seven months after the 2017 floods in Peru.
“[ The incidence of] natural disasters has [risen dramatically] since the 1980s, and they’re not going anywhere, so it’s important to focus on disaster awareness, preparedness and education,” Nemcova explains. “It’s something that’s unfortunately part of our lives and you never know when it’ll happen, so it’s vital for communities to be aware of how they can be prepared.”
The hurricane season in late 2017 — which saw tropical storms Harvey, Irma and Maria pummel the Gulf Coast and Caribbean in quick succession — kept All Hands and Hearts busy. Powerful winds swept residents out of homes and roofs off buildings on Saint Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, while heavy rain and leakage led to the formation of toxic black mould on buildings; add to that a delay in federal assistance to the elderly in
“If I ever tell you that I’m content, that is highly unusual for me to say,” she adds. “I’m happy, but I’m constantly thinking what more we can do and how we can do things better”
Puerto Rico who had lost social security records or deeds, and All Hands and Hearts had plenty to work on.
Volunteers paid their own way to the affected areas, spending weeks or even months, and as many as 11 hours a day, removing debris, mucking and gutting buildings, sawing felled trees, and making repairs to structures that could be salvaged. “The volunteers’ accommodation is basic — either a bunk bed or tent — and it’s very simple food that they get,” Nemcova says. “But when you tell them, ‘Thank you so much for your hard work and sweat and love,’ they always reply, ‘I’m getting so much more from this than I’m giving.’”
But this isn’t merely voluntourism, Nemcova emphasises. Besides physical reconstruction and rebuilding infrastructure, the organisation runs community programmes, such as first aid, masonry certification, disaster preparedness and sports, to enrich local communities. “When you send money, that’s important too, but you won’t necessarily have a life-changing experience yourself,” she explains of the benefit of personal engagement over delivering donations from a distance. “When volunteers leave, they are immediately changed and they have a different way of looking at life — with a lot more appreciation and happiness — and they bring that back home to their family and society, so I think it’s valuable on many levels to come and volunteer.”
The surge in fervour for volunteering could have had something to do with the sociopolitical climate in that part of the world. From her base in Miami, Nemcova sensed change in the air. “From the US standpoint, what I’ve noticed is [the growing sentiment that people] feel they can’t rely on the government anymore, so they’ve become more proactive in their communities,” she observes. “That’s a good shift, because that’s where we’re all becoming part of the solution.” In the mix are ‘woke’ millennials, who Nemcova opines, are “extremely caring about the world and the communities they live in”.
There may have been lots going on in the Americas, but Nemcova hasn’t taken her eye off Asia. Closer to home, HHF’S Indonesia chapter is marking its fifth anniversary by launching the “I Am Change” campaign. The ambitious plan aims to build 200 schools by 2023 in the East Nusa Tenggara province, which includes the islands of Flores and Sumba and the western portion of Timor island. One of the poorest provinces in the country, East Nusa Tenggara is challenged by a 22 percent poverty rate, and with 23 percent of its population under the age of nine, there is an urgent need for refurbished education facilities.
Twelve years since she embarked on her mission to rebuild schools for disaster-stricken communities, Nemcova still devotes time to maintaining connections with those she serves. In this year alone, she has visited teams of volunteers in Peru and Puerto Rico, stopped by California for the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party and Vanity Fair Oscars Party, headed to Nepal to reopen schools, and made an appearance at a charity cocktail event in Singapore last month. There’s simply no slowing down for her.
“It was a crazy journey last year — so many disasters, one after another — and it makes you focus on helping as many children as possible,” Nemcova says. “And now that we’re in the new year, I’m taking a moment to think more about the steps we can take to [reduce the] years that children and families are forgotten [after first responders leave disaster zones].”
“If I ever tell you that I’m content, that is highly unusual for me to say,” she adds. “I’m happy, but I’m constantly thinking what more can we do and how we can do things better.”