Robert Mutunga is a 25-year old Kenyan youth who lives in Kayole, Nairobi, and has worked hard throughout his life just to keep a smile on the faces of homeless children.
Robert was born and raised in the city's Soweto slum. He is the firstborn in a family of three and had a normal upbringing in the ghetto.
He was a bright student and his father ensured that he went to a good primary school but this changed in 2007 when he finished his KCPE and the country was hit by the post-election violence.
The young man told Kenyans.co.ke that the situation was so dire that all his parents became jobless and they had to relocate to the village. That wasn’t an option for him, and that is when the rain started beating him.
“I had passed my KCPE and was called to a national school but I couldn’t report for lack of school fees. I was really passionate about school so I ran from my fathers place into the streets and became a street urchin,” Robert narrated.
Robert proceeded to tell this writer that he never enjoyed his teenage years since he became mature at a very early age. “In the streets, survival is for the fittest,” He remarked.
Robert explains that at first, he always hoped that someone would come to him out of nowhere and volunteer to take him to school, but the wait became too long and he knew that he had to find a way out of his situation.
The desperate minor kicked off his hustle by selling scrap when he was 13 years old. He resolved in his mind to save enough to be able to get money for his school fees, and after two years of hustling, he had saved enough.
He narrates that the passion to help children began when he was in the streets. He recalls that there were a number of children homes in the neighborhood and he always wanted to help in whatever way he could, even if it just meant spending time with the kids.
“They say if you think you are too small to be effective, then you have never been to bed with a mosquito. I used this to find my purpose in society because I knew that I was not born to exist but to live a purposeful and impactful life."
After finishing his highschool, in his pursuit to share love, Robert found himself volunteering at Emmanuel New Hope Rescue Centre, a children’s home in Kayole, with no clue where to get finances from.
He was however lucky to work for Sovereign communication, and that has played a great role in his pursuit. Robert explains that getting finances has been a major challenge, but that will not make him change his cause.
“If you want to change the world, first change yourself and how you view people. It is not always about you, but the people you have touched with empathy and compassion. Give more than you take and fix more than you break.
Lighting another person’s candle doesn’t make you less bright,” he concludes.
