The human mind seeks connections. If we have good news, we want to share it with our loved ones. If we have bad news, we rely on others for emotional support. Whatever we do, we need personal connections to support us during good and bad times. And during such times, we come to an understanding that it is through the art of giving that we truly find peace and are able to connect with humanity.
Sattie Persaud founded the non-profit organization World Heritage Cultural Center (WHCC) with a similar sentiment. Overcoming her own obstacles through humanity led her to understand what it feels like to serve humanity. And today, Sattie has established WHCC as a safe haven for people worldwide.
Anyone from anywhere across the world can become a part of its journey without losing sight of their own goals, growth, and dreams. WHCC has grown into an organization that empowers the world through heritage, culture, and diversity via performing arts, visual arts, and culinary arts.
Humanity Prevailed in Difficult Circumstances
Sattie has been a multitasker since childhood. From the age of seven, she supported her family by selling candy and cigarettes to put food on the table and managed her school life and chores. After an unsuccessful early marriage, Sattie Persaud came to America and contested for keeping her jobs and finishing school. However, despite the circumstances, she stood her ground and waited for opportunities. She grabbed three positions; one as a nanny for her uncle and two other part-time jobs alongside full-time school.
Sattie is thankful for those initial opportunities that led her to voice her opinion and become the woman she dreamt of becoming. “Everyone has a story to tell, but few have a voice to do so. My journey to America was under challenging circumstances, but I had the chance to change my destination in life,” recalls Sattie.
However, she points out that great opportunities demand utmost hard work if you want to make something out of it. “The only difference between myself and someone sitting in a refugee camp is opportunity. I had the opportunity to fight for a better life, and I worked very hard for it.”
This understanding of opportunities, fate, and living life bigger than oneself led Sattie to establish WHCC. She asserts, “Never forgetting the generosity of fate, I wanted to give back through something bigger than myself, my life, and with my love for all things culture, heritage and life. I stumbled onto something beautiful that I have dedicated almost half my life to since 2005.”
And thus, a vision was born to celebrate the bond of humanity. A podium where every race, culture, identity gets its own spotlight to shine through performing, visual and culinary arts.
“WHCC is a powerful tool to tell marvelous stories of the human odyssey. It is a common ground in a global village where any culture in the world can come and celebrate and share their way of life through the arts,” describes Sattie.
One Family, One Human Race, One World
Talking about the initial days of WHCC, Sattie Persaud recalls how unreal it felt when the very first show, with 21 countries on stage, came together in a dreamlike manner. It was even more special considering that they had no connections or large amounts of money to spend on marketing.
Within a month from its inaugural show, WHCC went from having 2 cultural groups to 21 countries. A few weeks later, they began working with the amazing team at the Travel and Adventure shows across the US. Sattie is quick to point out the immense support and help she received from John and Julie Golicz of Travel and Adventure.
With a blessed start, WHCC has today recorded over 245 concerts, 800 plus cultural groups globally, and 2500 hundred hours of nonstop cultural performances. Moreover, the non-profit has been broadcasted across160 countries, empowering people of diverse cultural customs and beliefs.
“800 and counting families and organizations that wouldn’t have the opportunity to share their cultural heritage on a mainstream stage just because people don’t know that they exist and there is no demand outside of their own groups. So, spreading the knowledge is the key ingredient in our formula,” details Sattie.
One instance of such includes a woman who is now a Global Ambassador of Botswana in WHCC. “Gouta Mumcy has a stunning dance group with not many opportunities to perform outside of the Botswana community. She heard of our shows and contacted me and now they have been seen by more than a million people through our network,” says a proud Sattie.
Another example is of a young, talented, and shy young dancer who asked Sattie for a chance to perform in a group dance. The group grew bigger each year and today that man is a choreographer in Las Vegas’s top shows.
Finding A Window of Opportunity
Sattie prefers to call the hardships of her life stepping stones rather than roadblocks. She says that everyone in the world faces problems, and it does not matter how big or small they are. What matters is how we pick ourselves up when we hit rock bottom and how strong we start climbing again. “So really no one holds you back but yourself. I believe in doing all you can, planning, trial, and errors, until you get the right formula,” asserts Sattie.
Hence, her advice for emerging leaders and entrepreneurs follows the same path of believing in themselves. She wants them to create and build their life’s blueprint and wait for the right tools to find a window of opportunity. “Everything happens on its own time, don’t force it, just be ready to hit the ground running when the opportunity is there!” she asserts.
Towards a Better Future
In the near future, Sattie Persaud wants to take WHCC to new heights and give opportunities to as many talents as possible. Till now, she has perfectly balanced her day job and her art of giving back to humanity through WHCC. However, she is at a point where she wants to work full-time for her non-profit organization. Hence, moving forward, Sattie has set her sights on the capital launch of WHCC, which is due in 2021/2022.
“In the next few years, I hope to raise enough seed money to open our state-of-the-art 30,000 square foot facility for the HQ of WHCC. So, the next chapter begins now with our capital campaign in raising $6M to $10M in the next couple of years,” concluded Sattie.
