WHERE DID THE GF IDEA COME FROM and where is it going?

 Background of the Founder

I was born and raised in abject poverty in Meru Count in Kenya. Growing up in a dysfunctional family, life was brutal and cruel. My siblings and I witnessed domestic violence of untold proportions.  We experienced hunger, deprivation and suffering that was sometimes unbearable. As a girl child, I felt unsafe most of my childhood. I was parentified (forced by circumstances to be a parent to my siblings from an early age). The one thing that gave me and my siblings hope was our mother. She was and still is hardworking, a woman of faith and a generous soul. To have suffered the way she did and be as resilient and gracious as she is is a testament to the unbreakable human spirit. It shows that anyone can be gracious, regardless of their circumstances. The name of the foundation is in her honour. To be gracious means to be kind, courteous, and compassionate. 

I escaped poverty by working hard at school with the help of family, community members, friends, schoolmates, churches, teachers, and even strangers. While life at home was brutal and sometimes cruel, I encountered the caring spirit of human beings in amazing ways. From my teachers, who encouraged me to persevere, to my classmates in high school, who gave me their used pair of shoes and some of their food during parents' visiting days when no one came to visit me (my mother could not afford the costs to come visit). I was driven by a desire to complete school, get a job and help my parents and siblings out of poverty. After graduating from University in 1997 and getting my first job in April 1998, I spent 11 years helping my parents and ensuring my five younger siblings got an education (I have 2 older sisters who were not as lucky as I was to complete school). 

Finding My Life Purpose

By 2009, I started to feel that I had accomplished my mission of helping my parents and siblings out of poverty. My younger sister and 4 brothers were through school and were adults pursuing their chosen life paths. For the first time, I made New Year's resolutions that did not involve helping my family. I could finally return to my lifetime dreams of pursuing further studies up to PhD level and writing books. By then, I had a well-paying job and was financially comfortable. Then, I met a girl in Turkana (one of the poorest places in Kenya). She reminded me of myself at her age. She was from a poor family, and unless someone supported her, she was at risk of not joining secondary school and most likely would be married off. I decided to be that someone. I bought her books and school uniform and paid school fees. My colleagues and I drove her to Kakuma girls' secondary school. Seeing the smile on her face as she sat at her desk with her books brought tears to my eyes. I had found my life purpose. 

The Founding of GF

For three years, I supported the girl in Turkana and looked for more girls to help. This included my nieces (children of my two elder sisters). While doing this was deeply fulfilling, I realised I needed help to do this well without exhausting myself to death and/or negatively affecting my job, from which I got the money to help. I founded the Gracious Foundation in 2013 as a private foundation (a company limited by Guarantee under Kenya Laws Chap 486). From the start, I wanted GF to implement programs I wished existed when I was growing up—programs that could have made me feel safer, healthier, and happier and made my community fairer. 

Where am I now, and Who runs GF?

I am still formally employed and fully dedicated to my job, which enables me to donate money to GF every month. I am based outside of Kenya. I wish to remain as anonymous as possible. My reward is in knowing that by donating my income, I am making our society safer, healthier, fairer, and happier.

GF is run by a small group of people who believe that we can all be gracious, no matter who we are or what we have (or do not have). GF is not a corporation with a bureaucracy, managers, supervisors, and all the other complicated setups. I donate as much money as I can every month; the people do their best with it, and they get compensated as much as possible within the limits of what I donate. Each one of them donates more of their own time and effort than they are compensated for. What we do at GF is not just charity. It is a deep expression of gratitude.  And we all have something to be grateful for.