“Taraja”  is Swahili for “giving hope”. 

The goals of Taraja are to:

1.  Stimulate economic development in one of the poorest places on earth.
2. Generate funding to care for orphans from  Mathare Valley.

The Taraja project, pioneered in 2006, is designed to empower single mothers with HIV, who hand-make native Kenyan crafts such as beaded jewelry and textiles, to support their families in addition to generating funding for Sanctuary of Hope (SoH) children’s homes for orphans in Kenya.

 Mathare Worship Centre (MWC) and Taraja as a ministry of MWC, was founded by Pastor and Mrs. Karau, who heard the cry of the poorest of the poor twenty-five years ago and could not turn away. Throughout their years of service in Nairobi’s second largest slum, they have witnessed first-hand the plight of 600,000 people living in six square miles. MWC ministers to and transforms the lives of Mathare dwellers through a Christian centre that offers education, health care, economic empowerment, training in vocational areas, and spiritual nourishment. The obstacles faced by the poverty-stricken residents of Mathare Valley are plentiful. Steve Karau, Pastor and Mrs. Karaus’ son writes, “Broken families, insecurity, child abuse, drug and alcohol addictions, high HIV/AIDS incidence, poor hygiene, low level of education, hunger, and a myriad of other critical social crises have found a haven in Mathare. The result is a people who are hopeless, broken, and open to spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional abuse and degradation.” The Taraja project lifts some of those who suffer most, single mothers with HIV and their children, into dignity, self-sufficiency and hope while giving them an opportunity to support orphans from their own community.

 Pamba Toto is the primary US marketer of Taraja crafts. Profits from Taraja sales are shared equitably between MWC artisans and SoH through Hope’s Promise. Pamba Toto was founded in 2006 by Debbie Lee and Colleen Briggs, friends of SoH/Hope’s Promise Kenya, to generate funding for SoH. To learn more about Pamba Toto, please  visit www.pambatoto.com

Sanctuary of Hope (SoH) is a ministry of Hope’s Promise, comprised of two small orphan homes in Kenya that provide families for a total of 21 children. Through the financial and prayer partnership of many friends in the United States, Pastor and Mrs. Karau became parents to eleven Mathare Valley orphans at SoH #1, opened in October 2006. Ten more children were welcomed home to SoH #2, opened in September 2008. Pamba Toto has also begun to sell items made by the SoH children. 

 Hope’s Promise (HP) of Castle Rock, Colorado was established as an adoption agency in 1990 and pioneered an orphan care division in 2002 to “reflect God’s heart in redeeming the lives of fatherless and orphaned children worldwide.” HP establishes and oversees small, family-like homes in Kenya, Vietnam, and Nepal. Pastor and Mrs. Karau are the Country Coordinators for HP Kenya. Even as HP actively raises awareness and financial support for orphan homes, HP respects the dignity of our international brothers and sisters to provide for the orphans of their own country. Taraja is the means by which SoH/HP Kenya is fulfilling HP’s goal of partial financial self-sufficiency for each home within five years of opening.

Taraja…giving hope in a desperate place.