Category Archives: Programs to Help

Returning to homelessness is not an option.  Help us provide a home for Kenya's orphaned and needy children.

HOMELESSNESS IS NOT AN OPTION

HOMELESSNESS IS NOT AN OPTION BUT RETURNING TO HOMELESSNESS IS EVEN WORSE!

Your donation makes it possible for Matanya's Hope to give children like this little boy a safe, loving home.

Your donation makes it possible for Matanya’s Hope to give children like this little boy a safe, loving home.

Help Matanya’s Hope Provide a Home for Kenya’s Orphaned & Needy Children during this pandemic.

Your support helps us meet the needs of hungry, scared children every day. We are delivering food to sustain the hungry and special hygiene stations to protect at risk communities during this Covid 19 Pandemic. We are sheltering more than 35 children from this storm, providing water, clothing, shoes, medical, academics, spiritual grounding and much more! We need your help!

SOME FACTS ABOUT OUR MATANYA’S HOPE COMMUNITY.

1. Approximately 1/8 of our MH students are orphaned, abused, and neglected; they do not have a home apart from our MH family. In the face of Covid 19, we find ourselves with 35 homeless children and no safe place for them to find shelter. We have to act quickly to establish a home – a place these children can be safe, away from the most populated Covid outbreaks.

This pandemic opened our eyes.
If there is a time that MH cannot provide money for these children in Kenya, where will they live?
If all we do is rent a temporary home, what stability will they have? We must prepare for the future.

FIGHTING HUNGER BY GROWING OUR OWN FOOD:
By securing land and building a safe house, we will have a permanent place for generations of Matanya’s Hope children to call home. This permanent solution will enable us to feed our children, freeing them from the plague of hunger. As it stands today, we rely on buying food from the market. If there comes a time when Matanya’s Hope cannot provide funds for the children, hunger will overtake their lives. This famine is a gateway to sickness, hopelessness, and the inability to learn well. Together, we can prevent this tragedy from happening.

Just before the Covid pandemic hit, donors like you helped us make a down payment on 1 ¼ acres of fertile farmland. Let us come together and give these children a chance for a healthy and hopeful future. This land is their hope. Without it, they will return to the hunger and devastation of the streets. Together, let us stand up for the young.

Young boy cooking cabbage and potatoes for the days lunch

Young boy cooking cabbage and potatoes for the days lunch


SENDING OUR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL:

For those needy children not yet sponsored, we will have the option to send them to a local day school and mentor them from home.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
DONATE TODAY.
CHANGE A LIFE FOREVER!

At this time, if Matanya’s Hope cannot offer financial assistance to house these desperate kids, we will have to send innocent children who we have loved, nurtured, and guided back to the streets. Please help us establish a safe home to keep these children protected from the dangers of the streets.

2. To our children, a Matanya’s Hope safe house is like a light in the darkness.
The provision of land and a home in Matanya’s Hope’s name will serve these children for generations. Please help us give them a legacy. Like any family, our children’s children will continue the tradition of opening our doors to the orphaned and hungry children in desperate need.

Your donation of any amount helps Matanya’s Hope provide hope for some of Kenya’s most vulnerable children.

Let’s think of the child. We are their only hope.

Simon & Benjamin for Blog

DONATE TODAY

If you would like to make a recurring donation, select option through the DONATE button.

Send checks to the address below:
Matanya’s Hope PO Box 562 Homewood, IL 60430 708 822 4673 www.matanyashope.org

Handwashing stations are crucial to slowing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.  
Each wash station will serve those in need.  Your donations can help thousands of people every day have the ability to wash their hands with soap and water.

Help Matanya’s Hope Respond. Provide. Prevent.

Mr. Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Matanya’s Hope is launching a drive to help provide free wash stations and masks to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable communities from spreading COVID-19.

Handwashing stations are crucial to slowing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Each wash station will help thousands of people every day have the ability to wash their hands with soap and water.
Our first station is up and running!

Handwashing stations are crucial to slowing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.   Each wash station will serve those in need.  Your donations can help thousands of people every day have the ability to wash their hands with soap and water.

Handwashing stations are crucial to slowing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Each wash station will serve those in need. Your donations can help thousands of people every day have the ability to wash their hands with soap and water.

Help our children fight against the corona virus.
The communities are at risk; water, soap and masks are difficult to afford.

Your donation today can save a life.

Help us provide:
10 60-liter water containers
10 large liquid soap dispensers
water
Each washing station costs $75 and provides community members with soap and water.

Kenya requires everyone to wear a mask, yet the people we serve cannot afford to purchase this 20-cent protection.

Kenya requires everyone to wear a mask, yet the people we serve cannot afford to purchase this 20-cent protection.

Poverty means there is little access to clean water, soap or masks.
Every cent counts! Kenya is in desperate need of our help.
Your donation can SAVE LIVES!

donate now

Please donate. Or call: 708-822-HOPE (4673)

You can be a Hero

Little boy in class - by Anton Crone  HORIZONTAL

I Hid My Face and Cried

On my morning drive, I pass more than 5 preschools, each one colorful and set on tending to someone’s precious developing child. I can choose from a variety of television and radio stations, each designed to enhance a child’s sensory, emotional, cultural and academic development.

Children gather together to learn and explore the world.  Your gift of any amount can bring this same joy to the children of Africa.

Children gather together to learn and explore the world. Your gift of any amount can bring this same joy to the children of Africa.

But 18 hours away by air, these options are gone. In place of carefully cleaned tabletops and learning tools, children are lucky to go to school. Some gather beneath a tree, fighting hunger, longing for a single book, sharing the stub of one pencil. Others are fortunate to learn indoors. Albeit scarce, there is hope.

Classrooms in rural Kenya rarely have concrete floors.  Blackboards are painted on the cracked walls.  Children gather, hungry for education. Hungry for food.

Classrooms in rural Kenya rarely have concrete floors. Blackboards are painted on the cracked walls. Children gather, hungry for education. Hungry for food.

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

In 2005, Matanya’s Hope began by sponsoring the educations of 4 needy students. Today, more than 200 at risk youth are in school. They range from preschool to university, Masters Degree classes. The once overlooked communities see our support as HOPE.

In his own voice, Matanya’s Hope student Kelvin writes, “You came into my life when I needed saving the most. I was surrounded by violence, sickness and poverty. I was hungry, scared, dirty and hopeless. I hid my face daily and cried. People saw but no man cared what happened to me. Even in school where most were poor, I was worse. That is until you came into my life. When I am done with my education, it is my greatest desire to save others as you have saved me. Your sponsorship has changed my life.”

Simon and his brother Benjamin need our help. These boys eat from garbage cans. They have no change of clothes, no bed to sleep in, no story to listen to at night. But you can change that! Sponsor one of these boys today and get ready to hear a story like Kelvin’s!

These boys fend for food in the streets. They eat from the trash. They have no bed.  They have no bedtime story.  You can HELP change their story by sponsoring one of these boys today.

These boys fend for food in the streets. They eat from the trash. They have no bed. They have no bedtime story. You can HELP change their story by sponsoring one of these boys today.

Now more than ever, we need your partnership. One of our greatest needs is to increase the number of people who give monthly to support our outreach to vulnerable children. Our monthly partners help sustain the work we do throughout the year. You can give today by donating in one of the following ways:
1. DONATE through this blog
2. DONATE on our website: www.matanyashope.org
3. DONATE by sending you check to: Matanya’s Hope PO Box 562 Homewood, IL 60430

Will you help Simon and Benjamin go to school like these children?   Donate today.

Will you help Simon and Benjamin go to school like these children?
Donate today.

Matanya’s Hope PO Box 562 Homewood, IL 60430 708-822-HOPE (4673)

If a single day goes by where someone else doesn't benefit from your being alive you've wasted your day.  Harry Berman

When “No” is Not an Option

A New Porridge Program is Met with Success While Hunger Remains

After successfully feeding 200 at risk youth today,
our celebration was challenged
when we found four children huddled together,
digging out of dirty, bacteria laden buckets filled with trash,
for something to eat.

Benjamin and his siblings Simon, Mercy and a baby sister are forced to feed from trash for their very survival.

Benjamin and his siblings Simon, Mercy and a baby sister are forced to feed from trash for their very survival.

One clutched a piece of rotten mango.
Another held a broken plastic container.
Their torn clothing was sizes too small and caked with dirt.
Their rubber sandals were broken and worn thin.
Any success we felt from serving the needy during this remarkable day waned.

Simon is hungry.  He watches over his 3 siblings as they fend for food on the streets.  You can HELP Simon today by donating funds to feed him and send him to school.

Simon is hungry. He watches over his 3 siblings as they fend for food on the streets. You can HELP Simon today by donating funds to feed him and send him to school.

We are thrilled that we have such generous donors who have helped us provide relief programs for thousands of at-risk children. In addition to porridge, the Matanya’s Hope sponsorship program sends impoverished and orphaned children to boarding school giving them a better chance at life through love and education.

Hundreds of children enjoy their first day of porridge at a needy school in Naro Moru.

Hundreds of children enjoy their first day of porridge at a needy school in Naro Moru.

This story remains critical.
We cannot leave these 4 children by the side of the road.

A MIRACLE IS NEEDED

Please donate what you can.
Every dollar helps.

If you are interested in sponsoring one or more of these children, please inbox us or call: 708-822-HOPE (4673)

Sponsorship improves the lives of at-risk children by sending them to boarding school, providing: food, clothes, shelter and a nurturing environment all for $1,500 a year per child.

Mercy Wambui was born in 2014, but has only known feeding from the trash for her 6 years of life.   Let's give her the gift of a miracle; let's send her to school.

Mercy Wambui was born in 2014, but has only known feeding from the trash for her 6 years of life. Let’s give her the gift of a miracle; let’s send her to school.

goat cheese making 3

It’s All About the Cheese!

Travel around the world: to Switzerland, Kenya and to the USA where our story of cheese was born.

Last year Aisha and I were flying across the USA to visit my son. At the same time, a woman named Beatrice was traveling from Switzerland to visit her children (who moved here years ago). Though strangers, mutual flight delays and gate changes united us. The loudspeaker garbled messages which Beatrice (fluent in German) struggled to understand. Patience gave way to uncertainty and by evening, waiting had become almost painful for everyone; we were exhausted. Beatrice had been traveling for almost 24 hours! Our flight which originally had us landing at 9:00 pm would now get us to location at 3:00 am.

Conversation confirmed that Beatrice was struggling to understand the onslaught of English spoken gate changes and flight delays. It felt only natural to Aisha and I to take Beatrice under our wings.

So what about the cheese!

Through Beatrice, we learned that her daughter Michele lives on a farm in Idaho. She raises goats and transforms the freshly collected milk into exoticly flavored cheese. I have to admit, (ever since I was a little girl and watched the movie Heidi!) I have such an attraction to natural living! And of course, I love goat cheese!

How we tie in: The Maasai in Kenya traditionally live among their goats and cows.  Goat milk is plentiful and is highly nutritious.  This Maasai woman and her child are pictured here after receiving a gift of Garden of Life Protein bars.

How we tie in: The Maasai in Kenya traditionally live among their goats and cows. Goat milk is plentiful and is highly nutritious. This Maasai woman and her child are pictured here after receiving a gift of Garden of Life Protein bars.

On the other side of the globe, Matanya’s Hope delights as our chef students: Kelvin, Jackline, Purity, Greg and Sanayian rack up their culinary accomplishments. And one thing Kenya has abundance of: GOATS! THIS is how Beatrice, Michele and I came together to bring the art of cheese making to Matanya’s Hope.

Pictured above: Separating the cheese curd from the whey.  The curd will be served as cheese while the whey can be added to food to increase the nutritional value.

Pictured above: Separating the cheese curd from the whey. The curd will be served as cheese while the whey can be added to food to increase the nutritional value.

In just a few short weeks, I will travel to Kenya with Michele’s recipe for goat cheese. From that point on, Kenya meets Switzerland and the sky’s the limit!! With an increasing availability of refrigeration, students can manufacture, preserve and share the delicate flavors of cheese.

Stay tuned! The excitement of this adventure has just begun!

Michelle

Matanya's Hope Culinary Arts student Kelvin Waweru poses with graduate chef Greg.  Cake: Double chocolate, banana cream.

Matanya’s Hope Culinary Arts student Kelvin Waweru poses with graduate chef Greg. Cake: Double chocolate, banana cream.

Craft Fair Poster

Hope for your Skin – Hope for the World

It’s hard to provide food for the hungry, clothing for the naked and shoes for the barefooted children without funds. Every year, Matanya’s Hope continues to focus on raising money for our outreach programs, including the provision of food, school supplies, blankets, hygiene items and safe drinking water systems.

Help comes in a variety of ways.

Just 6 weeks ago, my college friend and roommate introduced me to an organic, natural moisturizer which she is funding completely as a fundraiser for Matanya’s Hope. I must admit, I was a bit sceptical – but I tried it and the results were immediate softer, more hydrated skin! Best of all, this natural product can be used on your face, hands and body! It smells wonderful too – with a hint of lavender and camomile!

Poster for Moisturizer and Matanya's Hope Final

More to cheer about!

On Saturday August 3, Matanya’s Hope will be participating in a community event at the Flossmoor Community House located at: 2218 Hutchison Road Flossmoor, IL 60422. We will be introducing this organic, hand crafted moisturizer for the first time. Also featured will be Kenyan items such as: handmade leather and beaded sandals, jewelry and more!

Hand Beaded & Leather Sandals - Matanya's Hope

Sponsorship Poster Alan & Eric 2019 - DESPERATELY NEED SPONSORS

Alan and Erick

ALAN AND ERICK: FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

Meeting these children jolted everything in me. They were hungry and displaced from the $3 a month rented room their single mother could not afford. While some of the siblings trekked hungry to their nearby day school, others remained home, to search for something to eat.

Eric - Kimahuri Primary

Alan  Kimahuri child

Alan and Erick are brothers. They were introduced to us last year during mission. They are the youngest of their family.

Although Matanya’s Hope only takes 1 child per family, we found sponsors for Jane, John and Ester, Alan and Erick’s three elder siblings. We hoped and prayed that Alan and Erick would benefit from the love and care they needed from mom, now that their elder siblings were in school. But, that never happened.

Alan and Erick fell prey to a hopeless despair, epidemic beyond poverty. Teachers reached out to us, begging us to “Please sponsor these bright boys. They need your help.”

Dreams start here. Let’s be the voice of hope for Alan and Erick.

These children were sponsored last year.  Among them are Erick & Alan's siblings.

These children were sponsored last year. Among them are Erick & Alan’s siblings.

As my great grandfather Harry Berman once said, “If a single day goes by where someone else doesn’t benefit from your being alive, you’ve wasted your day.”

Let’s make this day count.

Will you please help us send one or both of these boys to school?
Contact Matanya’s Hope for more information: 708-822-4673
or email Matanya’s Hope founder, Michelle Stark at [email protected]

Thank you.

Amazon smiles Banner for blog jpg

Shop Amazon and Help our Children

Your shopping makes a difference. Do your regular Amazon shopping at smile.amazon.com/ch/13-4330919 and Amazon donates to Matanya’s Hope.

This is Sabina Nyaguthi.  She dreams of going to school like the other children, but fees often prevent her from attending class.

This is Sabina Nyaguthi. She dreams of going to school like the other children, but fees often prevent her from attending class.

Shop at Amazon Smiles – Matanya’s Hope. Together, we can make this world a better place… and shop too!

Purchase your:
Groceries
Summer clothes & shoes
Toys for the kids
Health food items
Household items
Beauty Care
and so much more!

Happy Mother’s Day from All of Us at Matanya’s Hope

NEED FOR HOUSE - MOTHER FEEDING CHILD

Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at Matanya’s Hope!
In rural East Africa, mothers love their children.
They want to see their children prosper, just like we do here. But, the challenges these children and their families face are overwhelming. Mother’s often forage in the fields for mere pennies, hoping to feed their family a single meal. Cost of a solitary pencil is often prohibitive.

Children at Matanya Primary School understand the value of education.

Children at Matanya Primary School understand the value of education.

This Mother’s Day, you can bless your mother by giving the gift of HOPE. Kenyan mothers pray for the opportunity to send their children to school.
Say YES and give a mother in Kenya reason to smile!

Educate a child and you have helped a village.

Click the DONATE button at the top of this page.
or
DONATE through VENMO. Select Matanya’s Hope.

________________________________________

MICHELLE AND SABINA NYAGUTHI

The Matanya’s Hope 2018 mission team will be building a home for this mama who is fighting all odds to provide a stable environment for her family! We thank Jennifer Oliak and Oz of Salt for raising every coin to make this gift possible!
These are the kinds of blessings that your donations to Matanya’s Hope make possible.

________________________________________
This Mother’s Day, SHOP Amazon Smile and give to mothers in need!
Choose Matanya’s Hope as your beneficiary; make an impact on our mother’s in Kenya.

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