Wings of Hope: Can Good Guys Win?

In 1964 four St. Louis business executives heard about a woman in Kenya who had been flying medical supplies to women and children in the African bush.  She was using an old canvas covered plane.  Between the heat and its age, the cloth covering had disintegrated and the woman needed another plane to continue her humanitarian work.  The four men decided to try getting her a metal covered plane, a small Cessna equipped with an extended fuel tank.  St. Louis in the 1960's was the center of aviation in the Midwest.  There were alot of general aviation pilots and they were always, "trading up" for better planes.  The businessmen found a plane, brought it up to fighting trim and delivered it to Kenya.  Since it is most certainly true that no good dead goes unpunished these same four men were quickly inundated with requests for help from around the world. 

Today, Wings of Hope, the organization these men started has a fleet of 140 airplanes.  These planes are donated—not bought—and meticulously rehabbed by scores of volunteers.  They are then flown by volunteer pilots to 155 bases located in 41 countries on four continents.  But it is what happens next that is truly amazing.  Wings of Hope has developed myriad programs using these planes to help the indigenous people solve specific problems.  Usually these problems involve health issues, but they sometimes branch out into issues of sustainable food and clean water.   Wings of Hope is now a recognized international resource that works on implementing poverty reduction strategies for people around the world.  It thinks small but impacts big.  They establish a base of operations and partner directly with the poor being served. 

If you think this sounds like a very nice story about good people it is about to become a truly remarkable story.  Wings of Hope accepts no money from any government or governmental agency or from the United Nations.  It gives no money directly to any government or governmental agencies.  It works with people, not entities.  It relies on private money for funding and volunteers for work. 

My husband is a general aviation pilot, which makes us part of a small fraternity.  Because of this, and our ties to the St. Louis community, I know many of the people who do the grunt work of refurbishing the donated airplanes.  In a world where good guys frequently finish last, it brought me tremendous pleasure to find out that Wings of Hope has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.  They made the short list of some 150 people or organizations that were anonymously nominated by a select group of international judges.  The final decision will be made in October by five judges selected by the Norwegian Storting or Parliament. 

Given the strange, politically charged and generally socialistic slant of the European mind, the chances of Wings of Hope winning the Nobel Peace Prize are slim.  But they have been recognized.  They have been nominated.  And, frankly, I think they should win.  Any organization that has 7 people on staff but 2500 unpaid volunteers is running on pure altruism.  Any organization that counts on private money instead of governmental funding is proving that the free market has a conscience and a soul.  Any organization that works with small groups of people to solve specific problems is modeling the right way to eat an elephant—one bite at a time. 

Whether or not Wings of Hope received the Nobel Peace Prize they deserve it, and I am proud to know them.  By the way, if you want to support this worthy organization, go to http://www.wings-of-hope.org/.  They would be happy to hear from you.