A Life That Shaped Mine
Honoring Hak Ja Han Moon and the Journey of Living for Others
To close out Women's History Month, Sarafina Kisile, Treetops Collective Care Specialist & Teen Club Leader, has shared about the life of one woman who has deeply impacted her own journey.
As we celebrate women’s strength and resilience, I am deeply inspired to share the story of Dr. Hak Ja Han, widely known as the “Mother of Peace.” Her life of faith, sacrifice, and visionary leadership has not only impacted the world but has also profoundly shaped my own life and continues to guide the work I do every day at Treetops Collective.
At Treetops Collective, we support refugee and immigrant women and teen girls who have faced displacement, trauma, and hardship. Dr. Han’s journey from refugee child to global leader reminds us that one woman’s heart, rooted in love and faith, can empower generations to heal, grow, and lead.
Born in 1943 in North Korea, Dr. Moon fled south at the age of six with her mother and grandmother, escaping war and division under the cover of night. That early experience of loss and survival shaped her lifelong compassion for displaced families and ignited her determination to help bring an end to human suffering. Together with her husband, Sun Myung Moon, she raised 14 children while building a global vision centered on peace and family.
In 1992, she founded the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), launching a global movement that uplifted women as peacemakers. In just eight months, she traveled to 113 cities, calling women everywhere to rise with compassion, strength, and a maternal heart.
In January 2018, she made history on Gorée Island at the “Door of No Return.” At this deeply symbolic site of the transatlantic slave trade, she became the first religious woman leader to offer a prayer there, calling for forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation for all humanity.
Following her husband’s passing, she established the Sunhak Peace Prize in 2013 to recognize leaders advancing peace, human rights, education, and sustainable development. Honorees such as Anote Tong, Sakena Yacoobi, Waris Dirie, and Akinwumi Adesina reflect her commitment to uplifting the most vulnerable and building a more just world.
To invest in future generations, Dr. Moon made a deeply personal sacrifice by selling a cherished helicopter once used in her and her husband’s missions to establish the Hyojeong World Peace Foundation. Through this initiative, millions of dollars in scholarships have supported young people, especially in developing nations, empowering them through education to become leaders of hope and change.
At the heart of her message is a simple yet profound truth: we are all brothers and sisters under one Heavenly Parent. She teaches that lasting peace cannot be achieved through human effort alone, but requires us to go beyond divisions of religion, nationality, and ideology, and return to God as our common origin. Like sunflowers turning toward the sun, humanity must turn toward that source of love and truth.
Her life has not only inspired global movements, but they have also shaped my life since childhood.
When I was just a young girl, I had the opportunity to serve at an orphanage for the blind through the International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF), an organization connected to Dr. Han’s vision of service. I also spent time with children my age who were suffering from hunger and deep hardship. Even then, I felt something profound, a sense of purpose, compassion, and hope that I could not fully explain.
Looking back, I now understand that it was rooted in the very principle Dr. Moon has always taught: to live for the sake of others.
That feeling has never left me.
Today, in my role at Treetops Collective, I carry that same heart into my work. I strive to give my full self in serving each woman and girl we walk alongside, just as I did as a child, but now with deeper intention and understanding. The joy and purpose I feel in serving others have only grown stronger over time.
As Dr. Han once shared, “You should be able to embrace the nation and the world with true love, living for the sake of others… I pray that you will not look back, but run forward.”
At Treetops Collective, this is the spirit we live by. Through Circles of Support, leadership development, and community-building programs, we walk alongside refugee and immigrant women and girls as they heal, pursue education, and rediscover their dignity and voice. We believe in transforming hardship into hope, and in empowering women not just to survive, but to lead.
Dr. Moon also calls us to live what she describes as a “life set at high noon,” a life without shadow. When we live as lights for others, giving rather than only receiving, we bring healing to the world. We begin to wipe away the tears of those who are suffering and create spaces where darkness cannot remain.
Even now, at 83 years old, despite facing persecution, imprisonment, and personal hardship, her unwavering heart and love for humanity continue to shine. Her life is a testament to resilience, faith, and the power of living for others.
Today, I honor a woman who has shaped not only my faith but my understanding of love, service, and purpose. And I celebrate all women around the world who are working tirelessly, often quietly, to build a future rooted in peace, dignity, and hope.
I am deeply grateful that her example continues to illuminate the path I walk and the work I do at Treetops Collective.
Sarafina Kisile
Collective Care Specialist (Swahili) & Teen Concentric Leader
