In the journey called life, it is easy to lose hope and abandon one's dreams especially when the luck stars fail to align from the word go. Most people will curse and stay down rather than stand up, dust themselves and pick the pieces.
However, this is not the case with Robert Chacha. The young, energetic and determined communications profession has a story of resilience, perseverance and hope.
Chacha was raised by a single father. His dad sacrificed everything for him to be where he is today. When Kenyans.co.ke contacted the communications professional, he was eager to share his story.
He joked about coming from a marginalized community where the luxuries of the city were not affordable. He joked about seeing a refrigerator for the first time when he came to the city after finishing his Form Four education.
The journalist shared that his life was full of ups and downs and his story has been a painful one since birth. Chacha does not know his mother and neither does he know where she was buried. He was raised by his father only, a man who gave up on marriage when his wife left.
"I was born alone in my family, I have no someone to call brother nor sister, my parents divorced while I was 3-years-old, my Mum passed away and was buried in her maternal home, I have never seen her grave," he told Kenyans.co.ke.
Chacha narrated that his father worked as a watchman to provide for him. When he joined high school, his father could barely afford school fees or pocket money, he handed him Ksh50 to last a whole school term.
The four years that students spend in high school turned to five years for Chacha due to lack of fees. However, his talent in reporting and storytelling was so conspicuous that his teachers encouraged him to pursue a career in journalism.
Chacha could not join college immediately for lack of school fees and was forced to do odd jobs to make ends meet. He worked in churches in Mombasa making announcements and when his fellow church members realised his dedication and talent, they urged him to enrol at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communications (KIMC).
"I did all those mere jobs including mjengo (Masonry) and hawking items, but through serving God in church members saw the potential in me, they did a fundraiser, no family members appeared on that day despite giving them cards, thank God for grandmothers, they have such a huge heart, my grandma brought Ksh300 because that is what she could afford," Chacha narrated.
"September 17, 2017, I travelled to Nairobi. First time in a big city, the innocent boy from a village with big dreams of becoming a journalist was now in the city alone without any person to offer any guidance. A friend of mine whom we schooled together in high school came to my rescue. He sacrificed his time and took to me for admission at KIMC," he added.
Chacha explain that although he faced a tough time and he could barely manage to get three meals a day, he worked hard to build a portfolio for himself while at KIMC. He added that he knew that through hard work he will someday get his big break.
"I worked hard in building my portfolio, I was mocked by classmates because I could not match their class. I decided to spend my entire time in the campus Radio station, where I turned up to be the Head of the Sports Department (power of prayer and Hard work) as well as producing stories," he explained.
When the time came, he got an internship with Kenya News Agency (KNA) and was given the responsibility of covering court stories in Mombasa County.
After his internship, Chacha decided to put his craft to use and started making voice-overs for other people's projects. He later managed to start producing feature stories which he sold to media houses. He has worked with TV47, where his documentary "Mwamko Mpya Kuria" aired. Chacha also worked on human interest features that spotlight his community, which has been marginalized since independence.
Currently, Chacha works at the Bible Translation and Literacy, East Africa as a Projects Editor and Producer. He is tasked with documenting stories and sourcing human interest stories as well as a voice-over artist.
