Please visit our website for blogs from other summer trips and Patrick's blog with up to date news.
If you want some basic history--here's the story of how it all started.
Mercy Care Centre Foundation
Supporting a Non-denominational Christian School in the Heart of the Slums of Kenya
Brief History
1991
Dorna Amimo, wife of the Rev. Gilbert Amimo, of Nairobi, Kenya, visited her eldest son, Jeremiah, who was a junior at Liberty U. Dorna stayed for a week with Peg Cox. Pat Fitzgibbons, Peg’s upstairs neighbor, also spent time getting to know Dorna and Jeremiah. Dorna was invited to speak at Grace Episcopal Church, Lynchburg, and was well received. One of several friends introduced to Dorna was Carroll Brown, a physical therapist who worked with Pat, an occupational therapist at LAUREL Regional School. Carroll and her husband, Wayne, had spent 7 years in Kenya and Tanzania as Baptist missionaries. They were fond of Africans and were fluent in Swahili. Pat, her parents, Mary Alice and Dave Fitzgibbons, and the Browns did many things for Jeremiah in the following years. Pat, Peg, and the Browns kept in touch with Dorna by mail.
1995
Dorna and her husband, Gilbert, asked to visit in Lynchburg again in order to see their son, Jeremiah, who was now living in Waynesboro, VA. As a result, many more people in the Lynchburg area got to know and love the Amimos. The couple stayed for 5 weeks with Pat Fitzgibbons, and met many of her family members and friends. Dorna and Gilbert attended Holy Spirit prayer group meetings each week at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Fran and Jim Dorman, leaders of that group, became friends with the Amimos and began keeping in touch with them afterwards. The Browns had Dorna and Gilbert over for meals and introduced them to many of their friends. They also helped Pat in transporting the Amimos to visit Jeremiah during their stay.
Gilbert had been the pastor of the largest Episcopal parish in Nairobi at the time, and was also a popular speaker all over Kenya. He had recently been allowed by his bishop to give up his pastorate to give talks and lead missions in various Episcopal churches around the country. He was assigned at that time to a parish that had no church buildings, the second largest slum in Nairobi, Mathare Valley, one of the poorest spots on the continent. Dorna and Gilbert anguished how to help their new parishioners, who often were without food, who lived in squalid conditions, but were such good people. The Amimos prayed for guidance. They decided they would do what they could…by simply sharing food with a few families and providing simple classes to young children and their mothers. This was the beginning of what would soon become Mercy Care School.
1996
The Browns, who had visited Mathare Valley in earlier years, knew how desperate the living conditions were in this slum. While on a trip to Eastern Africa, they visited with Dorna and Gilbert, and saw their little school. They became motivated to do more to help. Mr. Fitzgibbons died that year and his family requested all donations be given to the school. Other friends sent money periodically to support the struggling school.
1997
Dorna died of a serious digestive ailment. Her dying words to Gilbert were to please keep the school running.
1998
Gilbert visited for a month, staying with the Browns, the Dormans, and Pat Fitzgibbons. He spoke at the Brown’s church, Peakland Baptist Church, who were very supportive of the school from that point on. Gilbert continued attending Holy Spirit prayer group at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, spoke at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bedford, VA, and gave talks to a number of other churches and groups. The Brown’s friends, John and Joy Johnson, Roanoke, VA, suggested Carroll and Wayne form a non-profit organization, so that donations could become tax deductible. They did so, and the Mercy Care Centre Foundation was formed. A small number of board members met every other month and began organizing donor lists, sending out newsletter, making up pamphlets, and organizing an annual dinner at Peakland Baptist Church. Each summer, the Browns began taking groups of people from the Lynchburg area to Kenya to see the school. Twenty one people visited the school this last summer, 2007, led again by Carroll and Wayne Brown.
2008
When MCC school began, there were about 20 preschoolers. Now there are 500 students from toddler age through sophomore year of the (new) secondary school. Over 100 of them are orphans, living with relatives. There are 400 donors who receive the MCCF newsletter quarterly, nearly 100 of whom have been to visit the school in person. The MCCF board is made up of 12 dedicated men and women, representing various denominations and service groups. Last year’s African dinner, held at First Presbyterian church, had an attendance of 300 people and raised nearly $10,000. Many schools in the Lynchburg area have recently begun to partner with the MCC, including T. C. Miller Elementary, Thomas Jefferson Elementary, and E. C. Glass High School, who has adopted the MCC as a sister school and created a new club: The Mercy Care Council.
Volunteers from Centra Health have contributed generously. Recently, the local Rotary Club supported the efforts to get matching grants for $50,000 to help meet many needs of the elementary and secondary school.
The MCC Foundation has done much to organize support for the feeding, educating, and spiritual underpinning of these students, giving them hope and a future. With the assistance of so many generous people in Central Virginia, the Kenyan school has become an award winner in many regional and national drama, choir, and dance competitions. Nearly all of the students completing 8th grade have achieved high scores in National exams, despite their limited resources. The MCC Vocational School that started a number of years ago, has won a Presidential award for its excellent sewing school. Patrick Lumumba, Headmaster, is visited for the first time, Oct. 6 to 29, 2008, and the African dinner was held this year at E. C. Glass H. S., Oct. 11, 2008. As the secondary school has continued to grow the school reached an enrollment of 600.
2009
The big news of 2009 has been the amazing growth at the school as a result of the continued additional of secondary classes and the grant from Rotary International made through a partnership between the Rotary in Lynchburg and in Nairobi. Several new class rooms have been created, A computer lab is up and running as well as several science labs needed for the students to meet the high standards required for a secondary diploma in Kenya. Meanwhile the school has had may distinguished visitor—including the Governor of the Rotary for a large part of east Africa. The students have continued to win many awards in music, drama, academics. Take a look at Patrick’s webpage for just a sampling of the beautiful and accomplished students.
The African dinner had another amazing turn out and the with silent auction, teacher and child sponsorship, and many generous donations, the dinner raised over $20.000. The secondary school is now complete ans students enrollment has reached 750 student in grades pre-K through 12.
2010
This spring the ECG Mercy Care Council partnered with the National Honor and raised $2500 at a yard sale to help support the Foundation’s work at the school. Carroll and Wayne Brown are currently in Africa with Bob & Joan Sydnor of Lynchburg and a group from New Bern Baptist Church in North Carolina. Our ECG group is soon to follow and has been able to collect and purchase over 2000 lbs. of supplies to take with us on June 25th. Twenty-one adults and young people associated with ECG and MCC will spend two weeks in Africa this summer and experience first hand the miracle that is The Mercy Care Centre. Please check in our adventures as our journey unfolds.
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