In 1992, Peter Mbogo Kamau’s daughter was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease. She needed open heart surgery, which at the time could not have been performed in Kenya and was taken to Apollo Hospital in India. Sadly, she did not pull through. Due to a late diagnosis and the long period it took the family to raise the colossal amount of money required, her condition had deteriorated and she was too weak. She died and was buried in India.
That experience and encounters from desperate families of heart patients seeking to raise money for their surgeries moved Peter to resign from his job as a tour guide and devoted himself to helping these families find a solution. Take Heart Association Project (THAP) was thus born out of grief and compassion for others.
The organization was officially registered as a non-governmental organization in Kenya in 1996 and as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the United States in 2002. After Mr. Kamau’s death, CFACH registered a DBA known as Care for a Child’s Heart (CFACH) to better reflect the patients that we serve.
A group of individuals who shared Mr. Kamau’s passion, took the mantle and for the last several years have dedicated their time and efforts towards this worthy cause.