Rev. Dr. Peter Mageto grew up in a small village in southwestern Kenya where there was no electricity or running water. He attended college and seminary in Nairobi, Kenya and was ordained in the Methodist Church of Kenya. He started a church under a tree, which would be called Riakong’a Methodist, in his home village, Matierio. Lavington United Church in Nairobi sponsored him to travel to the United States to attend Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, where he received his Masters and Doctorate Degrees.
While working on his doctoral dissertation, he lived in Evansville, Indiana with his wife, Irene, and 2 children, Teddy and Chrystal, from 2003-2006, and served Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Methodist Temple, and the University of Evansville. Peter was invited to speak to a class of students at Signature School in Evansville about the HIV problem in Kenya. He also talked about growing up in a small African village, and mentioned that, having never owned a book as a child, he had a dream of a room that could hold books for people in his village to read. Four students from the class heard him, and decided “Peter wants a library? We’ll build him a library!” Elizabeth Korb, Catherine Forston, David Moore, and Sarah Moore were the four original founders who took up the project. They are shown here with Peter.
Original Founders 2005
Funds were raised, the library was completed, and in 2006, Peter moved back to Nairobi with his family. A team of 11 from Evansville traveled to his village to help inaugurate the Amani Reading Centre. In the 10 years that followed, teams continued to travel to the village twice a year to hold Medical/Dental/Eye Camps in the Reading Centre.
In 2016, Peter returned to Evansville and Signature School, and spoke with another class about life in his village and in Africa , He mentioned another dream he had for the area surrounding the Amani Learning Centre (the name is changed because the Library now contains a computer lab with 6 computers, and computer classes are taught on a regular basis for people in the village.) He dreamed of having guest rooms available for volunteers traveling to his village. Students at Signature School wanted to take THAT project on. Anirudh Banuru, Zack Potter, and Kristian Lockyear were the ones who spearheaded this project.
What they didn’t foresee was that the project would grow from the dream of creating housing for volunteers, to creating a whole health care center! Rooms would be available for dental, lab, eye, pre and post natal care as well as general medical care. In addition there would be rooms for visiting medical personnel. Peter’s brother, Clement Maiko, an Engineer who lives in Nairobi, is tirelessly and efficiently managing the project.
Since 2006, Peter has served in administration positions at Daystar and Kenya Methodist Universities. He currently holds a position at Africa University in Zimbabwe. His wife, Irene, earned her Masters and Doctorate in Nursing at the University of Nairobi. Their oldest child, Teddy, currently attends the Florida Institute of Technology, and is studying aerospace engineering. Their daughter, Chrystal, has recently graduated from high school in Nairobi.