Mama Robi, a mother of eight could not stand the thought that the children from her Wanyororo village in Nakuru were not attending school. She had been denied education past the third grade due to the fact that her father had three wives and he was not able to educate all of them.
Her dream was to help the children that were wandering in her village without supervision because they could not afford to go to school. One day she gathered the children and told them, “You will go school.” With permission from the parents, Mama Robi began teaching the children in a wooden structure that had once been used as a sawmill. Her dreams hit some obstacles when the children did not return after the first term (semester). The ministry of education denied her authorization to put up a school terming her too old to teach and deeming the land too small.
Meanwhile her fourth born, Gideon Robi was in the United States studying at Beulah Heights Bible College. During one of his regular visits back home to see his mother, he learnt of his mother’s dream of starting a school and how it did not take off. Gideon asked her to gather together the village children and the one teacher she had and he shot a video. When he returned to the United States, he shared this video with then pastor of Mountain Park United Methodist Church in Lilburn, Georgia, Dr. Ferrell Drummond and the rest was history.
Later, Mama Robi visited The United States to see her family, and during the service at Mountain Park United Methodist, Dr. Drummond recalled the video that Gideon had shot in Kenya. The Congregation was moved by what they saw and they instantly raised $1,000.00. Mama Robi went home to Kenya with the money determined to start the school, for a second chance had been granted. Her dream blossomed with 13 children and 2 teachers and in honor of the gift she named the school Mountain Park Academy.
Having seen what she had done, Gideon and Dr. Ferrell continued to spark interest through sponsorship programs for the children. Before long, the first mission trip was organized in May of 2000. Since then, there has been a team going to Mountain Park Academy for a mission trip every summer. These groups have been providing medical care and supplies, books for the library; they also conduct vacation bible school as well as help in the construction process.
In 2005, a new building with eight classrooms, a library and an administration block was built on the same hill that Mama Robi had once been discouraged about due to her old age. God provided in a mighty way through partners based in the U.S and before long the once a dream project started to take shape and blossomed into a full fledged school.
With a simple philosophy such as “Love the children, feed the children, teach the children”, Mountain Park Academy has now developed into a state of the art learning center in the middle of a village in Nakuru and not to mention a feeding program for the 500 plus children that now attend the school. The blessing has spread beyond the school walls and the surrounding community does not drink from the same water as their livestock. A new well has been dug courtesy of sponsors and donors through the Kenya Project based in Atlanta.
In 2007 the 12 stones dinning hall was built to help accommodate the growing number of children. Most of the children that currently attend the school are either orphans or come from very needy families.
Gideon Robi helped found Kenyan project based in Atlanta and has been working with Mountain Park Academy by sending resources in the form of teaching materials, teachers to conduct seminars for the staff as well as financial aid. He now works full time with the project that is run by a board to help raise funds and organize mission trips every year.
The school has become a beehive of activities as mission groups on different missions assemble there every couple of months. In 2009, over 500 pairs of shoes were purchased for the students with donations from sponsors, friends and the incredible fundraising efforts of Hugh Chapman.
Talk of making an impact. Gideon Robi who is a trained pastor has helped bring his mother’s dream to intuition and acknowledges God’s hand in this ministry.
Thanks to Mountain Park Methodist Church, Gideon Robi and Mama Robi, Wanyororo village will never be the same again. Gideon heard his mother’s cry and saw her passion and made it his mission and it eventually became a reality.
