Meet the Founder All Donations are Tax Deductible.
 

Norma Nashed is the Founder and Director of Reaching Hearts for Kids.  Throughout her childhood she experienced extreme poverty as an orphan. She believes this has prepared her heart to be sensitive to the needs of economically-disadvantaged children and those orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and living on the streets in Africa and elsewhere. She started the organization five years ago working alone from a small den in her home which she calls her office.

Norma was born in Palestine but was raised in Jordan. The late Dr. Robert Darnell and his wife, American missionaries in the Middle East, took her into their home as their own daughter and provided her with care and education. She worked in Lebanon,  Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, and the U.S. and traveled extensively in Europe.  She speaks Arabic, English, and French. Although she associated with the poor most of her life, through the position and influence of her boss, founder/president/CEO of Royal Jordanian Airlines, Norma was able to meet the late King Hussein of Jordan several times in her own office, and later mingled with other members of royalty.
 She was one  of the first two Jordanian girls to attend the first private pilot course in Jordan. After starting to fly, her training was interrupted by the war and she left Jordan.  Norma served as secretary to the AOC (Airline Operators Committee-IATA Approved), and elected for seven years. She was the only woman among 41 international airlines managers serving Cairo International Airport, Egypt.  She later became Sales Office Manager, then Egypt Sales Promotion Manager for the airline in Egypt.  When she immigrated to America in 1985 she co-authored Speaking Professionally, an intermediate-level course in ESL (English-as-a –second language) targeted to the Middle East.

The idea of caring for needy children started brewing in her mind seven years ago while fighting cancer at which time she visited her homeland after an absence of 12 years.  She took time to visit  the school that she had to clean at 10 years of age to help pay for tuition, a high price to pay for Christian education in a culture that looks down at  manual labor.  She noticed two students were sent home.  Immediately her reaction was “How can you punish children for poverty?”  It was a natural thing for her to pay $1,000 so that these two innocent children could continue their education.  She had done this on several occasions to allow children take their exams when she was  Students Account Manager in one school.

Nothing is more important to a displaced child than a stable environment, which is the reason that Norma is determined to see such children sheltered, protected and cared for in homes (orphanages) that provide for their physical and emotional needs; and at the same time ensure access to basic education impacting their lives for now and eternity. Her ministry has grown to serve hundreds of children in eight countries.  Her fundraising depends mostly on few loyal friends.

Returning to the United States where she lives, she knew what God was calling her to do with her life.  A few weeks after her return she quit her job and started planning and organizing what has developed to be Reaching Hearts for Kids, humanitarian outreach of Reaching Hearts International, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) religious organization located in Maryland.

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