About MMH Hope

Mama Makeka House of Hope (MMH Hope) is a Nonprofit Organization established in memory of Mama Makeka Rebecca, who died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to inadequate health care services. The goals of Mama Makeka House of Hope are to promote and support initiatives related to health, education, and community empowerment for underserved communities, primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central San Joaquin Valley of California.

Since Mama Makeka House of Hope was established in 2002,

In Fresno

• We conducted two years of training in theater for high school students as a way of dealing with personal, family, and community related conflicts.
• We conducted under MMH Hope Fresno Bright Horizons for Children a systematic study of Eugene, Oregon-based Relief Nursery, Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center (SAEHC) and assessed the feasibility of adapting these programs in West Fresno.
• We are now advocating for the implementation of Families At One, which was the result of the Fresno Bright Horizons for Children feasibility study. The goal of Families At One will be to strengthen families living in West Fresno through a combined high quality and accessible child care and preschool services, home visits, and approachable mental health services.

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In Africa 

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  In Education, we equipped two girls' schools in Congo with sewing mach ine and supplies, coordinated an international consultation on education for Congolese Mennonite churches that co-managed several hundred primary and secondary schools with a student population of more than 80,000, and we continue to facilitate the provision of university scholarships to 25 students per year in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• In Health Care we provided medicine and medical supplies to a rural hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo that serves more than 150,000 people.
• In Community Development we built homes for orphans and their host families, and provided supplies for one child and family support network in Zimbabwe.
• In Peacebuilding we partner and provide financial support to the Kinshasa Center for Peacebuilding, Leadership, and Good Governance.
• In Professional Resourcing we believe that a person is only a person through other persons, to draw on South African Bishop Desmond Tutu's characterizations of ubtuntu, so a professional is only a professional through other professionals. Consequently, we continue to facilitate annual exchanges of health professionals with one health district in Congo. One of the exchanges carried out in a different health district dealt with training of local doctors on dealing with medical consequences of sexual violence.

Furthermore, a current priority is to establish an International Center for Professional Resourcing in Kinshasa where teachers, doctors, nurses, community development workers, peacebuilding agents, school administrators and professional students will have access to a best library in the region, internet, and a retreat center for short-term seminars, courses and professional renewal.

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Throughout her life Mama Makeka Rebecca believed that "there is always room for one more." Therefore, as a nonprofit organization, Mama Makeka House of Hope envisions bringing the same sense of hospitality, nurture, deep faith, empowerment, and hope to individuals suffering from the consequences of all forms of violence and conflict and those without access to the most basic education and health services.

12 November 2009