Clark MCK Academy was founded in 2009 on the grounds of a small
Methodist church in the rural community of Athiru Gaiti, near the town of
Maua in Meru County, northeastern Kenya.
Stanley Gitari, who attended college along with his wife Mary in the U.S., returned to the
Maua area with a goal to give back and help his community through his
outreach work at Maua Methodist Mission Hospital.
Kenya was one of the countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic in the late 1990’s. Today there are over 3 million orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya, with about half estimated to be the result of the AIDS epidemic. Seeing the large numbers of these vulnerable children unable to attend school in his home Athiru Gaiti area, Stanley applied for and received a U.S. government grant to build a small school. The school was started in 2009 with thirty 3 & 4 year-old-children in a church building. While construction was beginning on the first classroom, the grant was unfortunately pulled. After relating the story of the lost grant and inability to continue building the school to a visiting mission team in 2010, Stanley was approached by a team member, Ed Clark. Together they developed a long-term 10-year plan that provided for the continued construction and expansion of the school. And since that start, many other contributors have supported the school over the past few years and assisted with its continued growth.
Today, Clark Academy has 430 students. An additional higher grade has been added each year since its inception and classes now range from 3-yr-old through 8th grade. The school has 15 classrooms, a kitchen and dining area, a new library, and “real” rest rooms compared to the earlier outhouses. Students receive two meals a day which some would not have otherwise, In addition to scholastic learning, Clark also teaches the children other needed life skills such as animal care for pigs and goats. Construction will begin soon on a dormitory for students who walk many kilometers to school and/or lack a sufficient living environment and support at their home.
Clark students have consistently performed at the top levels in area scholastic competitions. Most recently, Clark’s premier and oldest 8th grade class placed first in the ward in the Kenya national exams required to transition to the next level in secondary schools.
In 2017, Clark Academy became a partner of Sodzo International, a mission group with a similar goal to help vulnerable children and families. Sodzo sponsors, among other things, the Watoto wa Ahadi rescue center for children living on the street in the Maua area.
We don’t know where we'll be in a week or in a month. We do what we want for as long as we want, always trying out new experiences.
