WOMAN OF PASSION: Caring for the aged

“They say that there are no greater blessings than those you get from taking care of the elderly. I have seen the truth of these words in the three years I have been running my feeding programme for grandmothers in the slums.

“This passion to help people has been with me since I was a little girl. I remember caring for my ailing father when I was nine years old. It gave me such fulfilment to see him get better.

My quest for this fulfilment was the source of inner conflict throughout my career in finance.

“I graduated from USIU in October 1999 with an undergraduate in international business administration. I was also a certified accountant.

I joined a local NGO as finance manager soon after. I have always had a penchant for numbers and for organisation, which accountancy offered. So I really loved my work.

“One of the activities this organisation was involved in was empowering the disadvantaged and unsupported in the community.

Members of staff were trained on how to deliver this. Looking back, I am certain I attended these workshops more frequently than I did the accountancy ones.

“These workshops reignited my passion for helping people, and inspired me to start my own programme in October 2011. I fed the grandmothers in the Kibagare slums twice every month.

“Later that month, I went on my maternity leave after having my second child.

The thought that I should leave my finance job to focus fully on my feeding programme crossed my mind during those three months of leave. But it remained just that, a thought.

“In January 2012, after my leave, I got a lucrative job as head of accounts with another company.

But I soon realised I wasn’t as fully involved in my duties as the position demanded of me. My spirit was conflicted; while I was physically present at work, my mind was fixated on the feeding programme. My spirit yearned to be out there in the slums with the grandmothers.

“That April – four months into the job – I handed in my first resignation letter. My bosses refused to accept it, told me to reconsider my decision. They didn’t understand why I would leave such a job with excellent working conditions and excellent pay. I half-heartedly stayed on.

“I registered my feeding programme, Wells of Hope Centre, as a community-based organisation in July 2012 .

The agenda for the organisation is to empower the communities in the slums: We provide a nutrition programme for the sick and poor grandmothers in Kibagare slums.

We feed them twice every month. We also provide clothing and household items, counselling and spiritual care. Quarterly, we hold free medical camps.

We also started a financial literacy programme where we equip our graduates with basic financial skills and capital to start up their businesses.

 Second resignation

“I chose to focus on grandmothers because they face several unique challenges in the slums: Poor health, a weakening of the family structure that ignores them, no caregivers, eroded respect, lack of social support and no social protection policy. I incorporated a board of seven then hired a handful of volunteers to run the programme while I struggled to shift focus back to work. It was futile though.

“I handed in another resignation letter in April 2013. My bosses must have started to suspect that I wasn’t the right person for the job. They once again gave me time to reconsider. But I knew I wasn’t going to rescind this time round.

“It was one grandmother’s death that affirmed to me that my season of working was over: she was malnourished and in dire need of care, but she had no one to tend to her.

She eventually passed on in her sleep, alone. I was crushed. It disheartened me to know that I could have been there to give her my time and attention as she lay in her bed, dying.

“In December 2013, I quit my job to focus fully on Wells of Hope. The major challenge I encountered was in financing the programme. Members of the board, family, friends and well-wishers had financed it thus far. But as its capacity grew, I had to seek help from corporates.

“Another challenge was in the social concerns that affect the families of the elderly living in the slums, like HIV/Aids, prostitution, drug abuse and rape. One way to navigate this challenge is through managing the plight of the grandmothers and empowering them financially to be able to take care of those under their wing.

“Another challenge has been in getting a team of volunteers who share my vision. Being a volunteer is itself a calling because they work without pay, only basic allowances.

I currently work with four volunteers. I make no money from the programme. To meet my family and personal expenses, I provide accounting and consultancy services to a handful of clients.

“My plan for Wells of Hope is to replicate what I am doing here at Kibagare across other slums in Kenya, in the next three to five years, and to start a home for the elderly.

“I have found fulfilment and my life’s purpose here in the slums, amongst the grandmothers – that I touched someone else’s life, and I can see the change my programme is making. That’s what giving in love is truly about.”

 WHAT SHE ADVISES

•  Do not burn bridges with your employers; you may need them in future.
• When you have a passion, speaking to others about it is like it a cough that comes anytime. Don’t be afraid to ‘cough’’.
• Use the training and mentorship from your employer to get inspiration to pursue your passion.
• When you are pursuing a passion for community, don’t focus on the finances. Focus on the transformation you are bringing to other people’s lives.