I recall when I first Joined Daystar at the Valley Road campus. We lived where the Baptist church stands and Athi River was under construction. We had the residences in Ngumo estate.
On my first visit to Daystar Athi campus, I was shown the Men’s Hostel. I remember relating it to the distance we walked from Valley road campus to Ngumo Estate and nicknamed the new Men’s Hostel, Ngumo. I made friends with people from diverse backgrounds, this shaped my character and value system. I played hockey and was part of a great team that even played league teams. This taught me how to work within a team and to be a team player. I also acted in a wonderful production “Chosen, the Story of Esther” as the Villain “Lord Haman”. This made me discover my acting skills.
Although while at Daystar I pretended not to pay attention to the servant leadership narrative, the seed of servant leadership that was planted in me grew over time. Today my affinity to social entrepreneurship is largely driven by what was reinforced in me while at Daystar.
Social entrepreneurship is solving social needs by using business principles to offer solutions that solve that need. While at Daystar, I had the vision to facilitate the creation of 1 million Jobs in Kenya by the year 2020. I was not sure how to go about it then, and today I am still working at it; my current businesses focus on finding solutions in Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, and Security. My recent investment into the Arts has led to the formation of the first SACCO for creatives which incorporates visual artists, performing artists, hairdressers, fashion designers, culinary artists, interior designers, landscapers, sports personalities, and athletes. These groups of people did not have financial inclusion and could not access bank-based solutions. The SACCO allows them to access the funds they desperately needed to build a livelihood. I dare say my dream to create to create one million jobs is slowly being realized as these ventures have created employment.
The benefits accrue to the members and not necessarily to my company. This has also given me an opportunity to apply my skills to solving social challenges affecting the common man. Certainly, this is the servant leadership training that I got from Daystar University.
The Values and Character that I have developed and applied in my business has been in part, because of my time at Daystar University and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to be here.
Roy Gitahi- Class of 1997