Legacy in Learning: World Food Prize Laureate Professor Gebisa Ejeta Honors Mother with New School in Hometown

EJERSA LAFO, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA – In a powerful tribute to maternal sacrifice and the roots of education, a newly constructed secondary school in the rural heartland of Ethiopia now bears the name of a mother whose vision changed a family’s destiny. The “Mootuu Ayyaanoo Secondary School,” named in honor of Professor Gebisa Ejeta’s late mother, was officially inaugurated in Ejersa Lafo, West Shewa Zone.

The state-of-the-art facility, built at a cost of over 60 million Ethiopian Birr, stands as a permanent monument to the enduring power of a parent’s belief in education. The school is equipped with modern classrooms, laboratories, and facilities designed to provide quality education for the community.

Professor Gebisa Ejeta, a globally renowned plant geneticist and 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, was born in the nearby village of Holonkomii in 1950. In numerous interviews, he has consistently credited his mother, Mootuu Ayyaanoo, as the foundational force behind his academic journey. He has recounted how she sold firewood and walked vast distances to markets to earn the funds necessary for his early schooling, instilling in him the values of perseverance and the transformative power of knowledge.

“It is the deep wish of every child to honor their parents. We are profoundly moved and grateful that this school, a place of learning and future-building, carries our mother’s name,” said Professor Ejeta, reflecting on the inauguration. He and his family have long championed the critical importance of education for rural development.

The school’s inauguration is more than a local event; it is a symbolic closing of a circle. The boy who walked dusty paths from Holonkomii, propelled by his mother’s sacrifices, has become a world-leading scientist whose work on drought-tolerant sorghum has improved food security for millions. Now, his legacy ensures that children from his homeland will walk into a modern school bearing the very name that set him on his path.

“For us, this is the fulfillment of a long-held hope,” said a community elder during the celebrations. “Professor Gebisa has not forgotten his home. This modern, clean, and high-standard school is a gift that will change generations. We are overjoyed.”

Local residents expressed immense pride and gratitude, highlighting that the “Mootuu Ayyaanoo Secondary School” is a beacon of inspiration. It serves as a constant reminder that from the humblest beginnings—fueled by love, sacrifice, and education—global leaders can emerge.

The naming elegantly weaves together personal history and national progress. It honors a mother’s silent labor while investing directly in Ethiopia’s most vital resource: the educated mind of its youth. As students begin their studies within its walls, they will learn not only from textbooks but from the story embedded in the school’s very name—a story of unwavering belief and the seeds of greatness sown by a mother’s hands.