Josephat Kibui Gitau poses for a photo with Rose Kirika Foundation founder Rosemary Kirika who is also the Kiambu Deputy Governor..HANDOUTWhen Josephat Kibui Gitau completed his KCSE in 2012, he knew one thing for certain, he wanted to become a teacher.
What he did not know was how a boy raised in deep poverty in Gakui village, Gatundu North, would ever manage to set foot in a university lecture hall.
What followed was a journey defined by grit, false starts, unexpected miracles, and eventually, an inspiring cycle of giving back.
After sitting his KCSE at Makwa Secondary School, where he was a day scholar, Kibui immediately confronted a harsh reality.
“I’m a realist. I knew my life, and I was devastated because I came from a very poor background,” noted Kibui.
He did not even pick up his result slip as he had a fee balance he couldn’t clear.
With no money for college, he took whatever work he could find.
Josephat Kibui Gitau poses for a photo with Rose Kirika Foundation founder Rosemary Kirika who is also the Kiambu Deputy Governor..HANDOUTLater, he secured a small teaching gig at a local academy, making KSh 4,500 a month, supplemented by boda boda hustles.
But deep down, the desire to become a teacher never faded.
“Back in high school, I loved teaching. I knew I’d become one,” he recalled in an interview with journalists.
The turning point came from the most unexpected place, a Mother’s Union meeting.
Josephat Kibui Gitau poses for a photo with Rose Kirika Foundation founder Rosemary Kirika who is also the Kiambu Deputy Governor..HANDOUTThrough her, a team of six villagers from Gakui mobilised and raised around KSh 200,000 for Kibui’s education.
The money paid for his first two years at Kenyatta University.
The remainder was invested in two calves for his mother to rear.
When they were eventually sold, they paid for another year of fees.
Still, life on campus was tough.
“I struggled during my studies. But Rosemary really came through for me and would give me KSh 100 daily for my expenses,” Kibui says.
Josephat Kibui Gitau poses for a photo with Rose Kirika Foundation founder Rosemary Kirika who is also the Kiambu Deputy Governor..HANDOUTLike many young graduates, Kibui believed that finishing university would instantly open doors.
“I had the mentality of finishing the course today and getting a job immediately, which was not real,” he admitted.
His first job in Nairobi allowed him to take a KSh 75,000 loan, which he used to enroll his younger sister into university, fulfilling a promise he had made while still a student.
But the job was short-lived as his contract was not renewed.
He would later return to the village and went back to riding his uncle’s motorbike.
Community pressure mounted on his mother would however compel him to leave again in search of opportunities.
He landed a position at a private school, then worked his way up slowly until the government advertised teaching jobs.
In a rare stroke of merit-based luck, he secured a posting at Kiarithaini High School in Nyeri.
His dream of becoming a teacher had finally come true.
But success didn’t make him forget where he had come from or the hands that lifted him.
“Had Kirika not helped me, I wouldn’t have helped the boy and my sister,” he reflects.
Back in Gakui, he started a youth charity group.
During one outreach, a boy narrated a story so similar to his own that it moved him deeply.
He rallied friends and raised funds using the same model that had supported him.
The boy eventually joined JKUAT, relied on HELB loans, and completed his studies, becoming yet another product of the cycle of generosity.
“That is my success story. Today I’m an employed teacher who has also helped change lives,” Kibui said.
As an educator, community pillar, and mentor, Kibui represents the transformative power of opportunity, even when it comes from unlikely places.
His journey from boda boda hustler to qualified teacher, from struggling beneficiary to philanthropist in his own right, is a testament to resilience and gratitude.
For Deputy Governor Rosemary Kirika, Kibui’s success is deeply personal.
“I touched his life in 2013. He completed Form Four together with my daughter in 2012. We mobilised a team of six people from Gakui and raised about KSh 200,000. The money wasn’t enough to see him through university, but we paid his two-year fee and bought two calves,” she stated.
She remembers sending him KSh 100 daily during his studies.
“The young man was able to go through university education through the model we adopted. He finished in time and graduated,” she says.
But what touched her most was his disappearance after graduation and the unexpected reunion that followed.
“In 2016, when he graduated, he kind of disappeared and only resurfaced last week to tell me his story, which is a success,” she stated.
Today, Kibui is not only an employed teacher but also a mentor and benefactor to others, a quiet force of transformation in his community.
According to Kirika, Kibui’s path from hustler to educator, from struggling youth to a helping hand, illustrates the extraordinary power of perseverance and generosity.
