We sat down with Chris and Zoe Lomas to learn more about the heart behind their Ballito-based organisation, Hope4®.
By the time Chris and Zoe arrived in Ballito last year, their lives had already been shaped by war zones, refugee camps and some of Europe’s toughest humanitarian landscapes. Yet, sit with them over coffee and you are struck not by drama, but by warmth, humour and an unshakeable belief that ordinary people can change extraordinary circumstances.
They are the founders of Hope4®, an international NPO now headquartered in Ballito, with operations spanning Moldova, Ukraine and beyond. Their story begins quietly with a schoolteacher, a reluctant entrepreneur and a single decision to say yes.
A call that changed everything
Zoe, a French and Spanish teacher originally from Romania, first visited Moldova as an interpreter on a church trip. She was confronted with women in prison raising babies, teenagers growing up in detention centres and children abandoned, not through lack of love, but because poverty had left parents with no choice.
“I just wanted to encourage them,” she says. “To give them hope.” When she called Chris with the idea, “Let’s move to Moldova”, he responded immediately with “Over my dead body.” But life had other plans.
From reluctance to resolve
Covid devastated Chris’s UK business, giving the couple space to rethink their future. By February 2021, they had landed in a freezing Moldovan winter, unsure of what lay ahead, but determined to serve.
They started small: buying washing machines, delivering food, helping wherever there was need.
Then the war began. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of refugees poured into Moldova. Chris and Zoe donned their red Hope4 jackets and drove straight into the chaos.
When hope became a movement
At the first refugee centre, the answer to “What do you need?” was simple: everything.
With almost no funds, Chris made commitments he wasn’t sure they could keep. Then came a phone call that sparked global fundraising, within a week, R2-million had been raised.
Hope4® quickly became one of Moldova’s earliest and most effective responders. Warehouses opened, aid poured in, partnerships formed. Since the war began, they’ve helped distribute more than R1.2-billion in humanitarian assistance. They even expanded into Ukraine, delivering aid near the front lines, despite warnings that their lives were at risk.
A new chapter in South Africa
Nine years ago, Chris and Zoe honeymooned in Cape Town and fell in love with South Africa. In 2025, Ballito became home and with it, Hope4®’s most ambitious chapter yet.
Here, the focus has shifted to long-term transformation: renovating schools, providing essential supplies and rolling out rape recovery kits for children – tackling one of South Africa’s most devastating hidden crises.
“It’s estimated that more than 150 000 children are raped in South Africa every year,” Chris says. “We can’t ignore that.”
Hope through jobs
Alongside Hope4®, the couple has launched a purpose-driven business to create dignified employment. From Ballito, they are building a call centre that pays double the national average salary, with profit sharing.
Their healthcare initiative, Hope4 Doctors, aims to employ hundreds of professionals and deliver over two million treatments across South Africa within the next two years.
Love at the core
Married for nine years, Chris and Zoe describe their partnership not as sacrifice, but privilege.
“We have given up on our own dreams,” Zoe says. “Now we work on the dreams of others.”
They still draw no salary from Hope4®, insisting that transparency is non-negotiable.
From Moldova to Ukraine, and now Ballito, their journey has been defined by compassion and faith, not ambition. From their small North Coast office, Hope4® continues to reach further, making a tangible difference well beyond local borders.
Details: www.hope4.org; IG: @wearehope4; FB: WeAreHope4
