Mission 2018 was a grand success and is now a part of Matanya’s Hope’s 13 year and growing history! Thank you all who sent donations, gifts and financial support. Our blog site: www.journeytohelpafrica.com and our Facebook posts bring so many beautiful stories of this year’s journey to life. Our students were visited and loved on. Plans were made for their futures. We are changing thousands of lives and together, you and I are lifting human beings from feelings of hopelessness and despair to lives filled with hope and a future.
This little girl enjoys a daily cup of porridge made possible through donations to the Matanya’s Hope porridge program. Without such donations, she may be one of countless children who go days without a single meal.
From our porridge program (which feeds 2000+ students daily), to the 10,000 liter rainwater tanks which provide clean safe drinking water vs. polluted, bacteria ridden river water most are forced to drink, we are saving lives.
Young Sabina stands by a bottle of water her family recently collected from a nearby river. Her family will drink, bath with and cook with this water.
Today, Matanya’s Hope has 240+ students sponsored in boarding schools (and we just added another today!) including 49 university students who are marching to a much brighter employment future with their education. We have graduates in accounting, engineering, nursing, teaching, business, beauty, information technology, culinary arts, pharmacy and law. Together, we have accomplished all of that and more.
Just sponsored! Nkatha, orphaned and living with her old, jobless grandmother, can now lvie and dream with Matanya’s Hope. Sponsorship means she will go to school, enjoy daily nutrition, have clothing, shoes, school supplies and most of all… SHE CAN HOPE.
This year our appeal is different. Matanya’s Hope must strengthen our core funding so that we may continue to provide the lifesaving food, water, counseling and other extraordinary programs we have developed – all which bring hope to our kids.
While it is essential to maintain individual student sponsorships and their needs, the need for core financial support has turned critical. This funding supports: the shipping of much needed donations, mailings, and the maintenance and gas for our vehicle during the 3-month mission in Kenya. My time in Kenya is spent gaining new introspective and serving each of our students, visiting their communities, and dispersing the donations where they are needed most. Last year over 3.5 tons of donations were shipped for a little over $13,000. That is 7000 pounds shipped for less than $2.00 lb. Operation Christmas Child does a wonderful job delivering shoe boxes of gifts to needy children and they collect $9.00 for each box. That is 4 times the cost of our delivery method. We operate on two continents and incur related costs in maintaining our position with both Kenya and the United States governments.
This little guy was thrilled to receive the gift of shoes through your donations.
As we have grown so has the work load. We have in the past depended solely on a volunteer board and a few volunteers who have done all the paper work of financing and accounting. Matanya’s Hope runs a very streamlined budget to cover necessities, but as our impact on the region expands so does our need to have to have someone oversee the legalities of our 990s and record keeping in a non-profit world. Barring a fully versed volunteer on the regulations of non-profits, I may from time to time need to outsource a few of our critical documents for professional mandate.
Each annual mission includes volunteer participants who pay their own way. In no way do core funds support our mission volunteers.
Mission participant Emily and the team of 6 friends traveling from their USA University showered the children with faith, hope and love. In so doing, all of us were transformed.
For our donors who specifically contribute to one of our other programs such as porridge or water tanks, thank you. We appeal to you to continue supporting our efforts by contributing to our core fund. Please help Matanya’s Hope maintain the services provided to so many in need. Our goal is to increase our core fund by $35,000; to operate effectively in the coming year. Thank you for your continued provision.
Simply put, we are asking that each of us who believe in the work Matanya’s Hope is doing to raise competent human beings out of the storms of life, donate to this need. Dig a little deeper and contribute to help Matanya’s Hope grow.
We are near the time of year when we all think of giving and I can’t imagine a better cause to help.
These children are praying over a 10,000 liter rainwater storage tank made possible through donations to MH. Prior to the tank being place, the children suffered from dehydration and related issues including lack of ability to focus
This is John. Just a few months ago, he was sleeping cold and hungry, on a dirt floor. He was frequently subjected to homelessness; his mother could not afford $3 rent. Today, he finds joy in writing to his sponsor and in attending school.
MH university student, Phineas Kaimenyi, is pictured here on University campus. Only a few years ago, he thought university was a dream for others, not for him.
Michelle Stark
Board President
and Ann Thomson, Board V.P.