“The night before I saw the painting had been one of the worst nights I’d had in years. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and—for a moment—I had lost hope.
The next day, at my son’s kindergarten, I saw his painting hanging above a flyer for a celebration there. The flyer said, ‘Trust in God gives you wings.’ I took it as a sign not to give up—to have faith. That picture gave me back hope and trust.
Now I believe it should be a symbol of the whole project: something that can help give other parents their hope and trust back, too.”
— Nina · Rare Hope Project founding mother
Sometimes meaning arrives before we understand what we are looking at.
At that moment, there was no Rare Hope Project butterfly. There was only her son’s painting—sweeping wings in vivid orange, deep purple, and flashes of gold—and the message beneath it: Gottvertrauen verleiht Flügel.
Then the butterfly appeared.
Our teammate Yosbel Soto Borges created the original Rare Hope Project artwork, bringing together DNA, a butterfly, and people in connection. He had not seen the painting. He did not know its story. In fact, no one on the creative team knew about it. From Yosbel’s original vision, our team developed the butterfly mark now displayed at the top of this website.
It carried the same colors as the painting: orange, purple, and gold. The same sense of movement. The same feeling of wings opening.
Only after the Rare Hope Project artwork and butterfly had been created did Nina share her son’s painting with the team. No one had planned the connection. No one had matched the palette on purpose. That was the moment we realized the symbol of Rare Hope Project had been quietly echoed two weeks earlier.
“Trust in God gives you wings.”
Gottvertrauen verleiht Flügel
A reminder to keep moving.
Call it faith. Call it synchronicity. Call it a moment of perfect timing. For us, it felt like a reminder that Rare Hope Project was growing from something real: a family’s love, a child’s creativity, a teammate’s vision, and a shared belief that no family should have to solve a rare disease alone.
Trust does not erase a diagnosis. It does not make the difficult days disappear. But trust can give us the courage to take the next step before we can see the entire road.
That is what the butterfly now means to us. Transformation. Connection. Hope carried forward. And the possibility that something created in one family’s hardest chapter can become a set of wings for the next.
Creative credit: The original Rare Hope Project artwork was created by teammate Yosbel Soto Borges. The butterfly mark was developed from that original vision. Painting by Nina’s son, shared with family permission.