The Kenya Project

For many students at Mountain Park Academy in Nakuru, Kenya, “All I want for Christmas is a new pair of shoes” is a very real need. In Kenya, nearly half of people live below the national poverty line, with most of a family’s income going to food and rent, leaving very little for basic needs like shoes.

Through Mountain Park Academy, The Kenya Project helps provide meals, education, and uniforms. This Giving Tuesday, we’re launching our Christmas Shoes Fundraiser to give every student a sturdy pair of school shoes. Each pair costs $25, and our goal is to raise $15,000 to put new shoes on every child’s feet.
All shoes will be purchased in Kenya through local shops, helping support the community and economy around our students.

If you’d like to help, you can give here: www.thekenyaproject.org

Thank you for helping our students walk into the new year with dignity, comfort, and hope.

“From Hut to Hope: The Mountain Park Academy You See Today”

Stand just inside the gate of Mountain Park Academy and you might not spot the original schoolhouse hut. It’s tucked behind the dining hall, now dwarfed by the motion of a campus that grew up around it.

One of the early breakthroughs was access to clean water. A deep well and a 10,000-liter storage tank meant families no longer drew from the same river as livestock. Clean water began flowing not only to staff and students, but to nearby residents and other area schools. An upgrade that became a community lifeline.

Next came food and a dignified place to share it. Meals, which were previously cooked over open fires in the dust and rain, were now prepared in a proper kitchen and dining hall. Health improved. Attendance steadied. And when the poultry project came online, hundreds of eggs were produced each day, strengthening diets and providing older students with hands-on learning.

Play found its place, too. When something new arose on the Upper School grounds, several neighbors asked, “What is a playground?” The community watched as children learned to use swings and slides for the first time on the playground that includes six slides, a jungle gym, and twelve swings, transforming a dusty field. This year, a full basketball court opened; on any afternoon, you might see a student slide an NBA jersey over a school uniform and jump into the game. Plans are underway to upgrade the soccer field, another campus favorite.

Classrooms evolved. Students left old sawmill shacks for bright rooms with desks, a library, computers, and science space. A whole secondary school followed, and the Trade School opened pathways from fashion and beauty to welding and plumbing. These post-secondary options create a path to turn talent into livelihoods.

Named for the Swahili word, “love”, the Upendo homes sit just across the dirt road from the school, offering family-style care for children and orphans. Evenings are filled with children spread out, poring over their homework on bunk beds or the living room couches. Chores get done and if a visitor stops by a song will be sung. Four homes today, each caring for 20 children with live-in house parents, anchor that promise, with land ready to expand to eight as support allows.

The original school hut still stands, but now it marks how a faithful start became a place where hundreds learn, eat, play, heal, train, and hope together. The story isn’t finished. We invite you to be part of the next chapter.

“When a Small Hut Met a Big Vision”

Years after Mama Robi began teaching in a small hut, word of her work reached Mountain Park Methodist in Atlanta, where Gideon, Mama Robi’s son, was working on his master's degree and raising a young family. During a visit, the church surprised Mama Robi with a gift for essential needs at the school. Gideon felt it in that moment: his path might be changing.

He’d grown up watching his mother pray over every need. And he’d learned a simple truth: when Mama Robi prays, things happen.

Then came an unexpected spark. An eight-year-old girl in Atlanta found her mother’s address book. She began writing letters, one by one, asking for help for the children at Mountain Park Academy. Her mother didn’t know a thing…until the family mailbox started filling with checks. Turns out it’s hard to say no to heartfelt, handwritten letters from an eight-year-old with the faith of a mustard seed.

Moved by her daughter’s faith and encouraged by her husband, the mother, an Atlanta legal executive, traveled to Nakuru, Kenya, to see the work firsthand. The students’ warm welcome moved her; the joy on their faces made the impact undeniable. Back in Atlanta, she completed the legal work to establish The Kenya Project and, with a close colleague, offered Gideon a proposal too good to refuse: two years of funding if he would step in to lead the organization full-time.

With support growing on both sides of the ocean, The Kenya Project was established, and Gideon stepped in as Executive Director to carry his mother’s vision forward. The Kenya Project became the bridge between a small hut in Kenya and a community of supporters in the U.S., organizing giving, stewarding projects, and turning compassion into capacity so the school could stand, grow, and serve the children of Nakuru, Kenya.

What began with one mother’s classroom became a movement led by her son-a story of faith, prayer, and practical action converging at just the right time.

Next: what that faith-in-action looks like on the ground today-clean water, daily meals, classrooms, a trade school, Upendo Homes, and a campus where hundreds learn and belong.

“It Started with One Woman and One Hut”

In Nakuru, Kenya, Isabella Robi, affectionately known as Mama Robi, saw something she couldn’t ignore: young children wandering the streets during school hours.

She knew these children deserved more than idle days and uncertain futures. So she did what she could with what she had.

She opened a small hut and began to teach. Mama Robi’s love focused on her students. She learned every child’s name and cared for each as her own. No formal resources. No official classroom. Just one woman, a heart for her community, a belief that education could change lives, and a lot of prayer.

That simple act created a place of safety and purpose, where lessons were more than reading and writing. They were lessons in hope.

Today, that same hut still stands near the front gates of Mountain Park Academy. It’s a daily reminder that big change often starts small.

And what began in that single room has grown into something extraordinary.

Follow along as we share how Mama Robi’s vision grew into a mission called The Kenya Project, and how together, they transformed a humble hut into a thriving campus serving hundreds of students every day.