My driving force is making women smile

Grace Mbugua, 39, is the Executive Director of Women’s Empowerment Link (WEL), a non-profit, non-governmental national women rights organisation that prides in empowering women and girls to realise their potential. She spoke to ALLAN OLINGO.

I have always been passionate about women issues. On many occasions, I have seized opportunities that have made a difference in women’s lives. We have made great strides within our organisation and whenever I think about the impact we have had, I get the strength to work even harder.

With the promulgation of the new Constitution, people assumed that women had special seats reserved for them. That’s how we came up with the idea of developing the Kenya Women’s National Charter that would unify the women’s voice despite their status or ethnic affiliation. We formed a consortium with about 30 like-minded women’s rights organisations, dubbed the initiative Mwamko Mpya Uongozi Bora, and conducted forums.

Grace with husband, Dominic Kimani (left) and children; Gabriel, Mercy and Jesse.

With the help of my husband, I established Women’s Empowerment Link (WEL) but in 2009, my husband was posted to Nigeria and I felt I had to join him. It was a trying moment though as WEL was still young. Luckily, the board members came through for the organisation and provided support to the staff. Meanwhile, I worked remotely and gave guidance through Skype. I also managed to come back home every month, thanks to my husband’s generosity as he bought my air-ticket every time.

I lived like this for two years, commuting between Nigeria and Kenya. I believe I made it by the grace of God. My family was also supportive and understanding.

I have been married for the last 15 years and I thank God for giving me a great husband and children. They understand the nature of my work and are supportive. For instance, since the job is demanding, my family has deliberately opted to cut off some activities to balance work and family.

Best friend

As my job is stressful, I ease it off by working out or sharing with my husband, who is not only my closest confidant but also my best friend. Even though he is out of the country (he is now based in Sudan while the rest of the family re-settled in Kenya), we talk tens of times on a daily basis. We share our challenges, achievements, joys and laughter. It’s the secret to our marriage.

We also belong to a group of eight couples called Gwataniro, whose main objective has been to build our marriages and share the challenges of staying together despite the tough terrains we face. It’s a group that I wish every couple would have to support their relationship, especially in dealing with issues that affect marriages such as money, relatives, in-laws, children, and any other external factor.

I was born in Nyeri in 1973 to a large family of eleven children. My father, Josephat Karuri, was a lecturer at the University of Nairobi while my mother was a teacher, so I spent a better part of my childhood at the Kikuyu Campus lecturers’ quarters where my father taught until his demise in 1984.

Tough life

Despite the large family, my mother managed to spread her love and care to all of us and oversee us through education. We moved to our farm in Nanyuki when I was in Class Seven. Life was not as smooth as we felt we had moved from a town to the ‘jungle’.

I did my high school education at Mwenje Mixed Secondary School in Nyahururu and it is here that my leadership and management abilities were built. After the ‘O’ Levels, I joined my mother in managing our farm and it was extremely challenging. I had to manage several farm workers, especially whenever my mother was away. We would wake up at 4am to prepare tea and githeri for the workers then walk three kilometres to the farm carrying the food. We would then join the workers in tilling the land. This built my resilience.

In 1992, my mother and elder siblings ensured I pursued my childhood dream in clothing designs. They sent me to Kenyatta Market in Nairobi to learn tailoring, but after only three months I realised it was no longer my passion. I then joined Kenya Institute of Management for two years to pursue a diploma in Business Management.