Watching my dad suffer from mental illness, inspired me to pursue psychology

In 1980, Dr. Susan Gitau’s father was diagnosed with a mental illness, a condition that caused them to relocate from a company resident house in Thika to Kiandutu slums. The traumatic experiences she encountered watching her father struggle birthed the passion to create mental awareness in the community and support the needy with basic needs and education.

"I am the fifth born in the family of eight, three who are deceased. I grew up in Thika Town from the age of one to eight in a very lovely stable family but after the age of eight a lot of things changed when my father developed mental illness and life took a tragic turn as he was our sole breadwinner. Because of the stigma associated with mental illness, we had to relocate to Kiandutu Slums. Life was difficult, every night was a nightmare, and waking up was just another day to be thankful for. At times we would sleep and wake up, to the site of a dead body on our front door. There were many cases of rape, murder, and suicide. 

Looking back, I thank God for what I went through as it taught me that children can suffer because of the change of family setting and environment. I went through so much from lacking basic needs and I recall we would travel long distances in search of water. I suffered trauma embracing the new norm. From a family that at some point had everything and now we had to rely on selling "changaa'. I watched as my family members became alcoholic dependent. 

Fortunately, Visa Oshwal Community Thika sponsored my Secondary School at St Anne's Lioki, Kiambu. Later, I joined the University of Nairobi where I graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor in Education in Commerce and Economics. In 2006 I graduated with a Masters in Counselling Psychology at Daystar University and in 2018 obtained my Ph.D.

I have discovered we are wired for a purpose and mine is in impacting lives particularly those living in the slums. I experienced the harsh life firsthand, and it was a blow when I lost my father in 1996 and my mother in 1999. This taught me to fight for myself and that's why I am always passionate about talking about human rights and supporting the needy in society. In 2015, I established Susan Gitau Counselling Foundation (SGCF) which initially dealt with mental health issues but later we discovered that psychosocial support is very key. 

Over the years, we have worked hard to fight against all forms of sexual conflict and gender-based violence, promote peace, children's rights, youth, and women empowerment, and respond to community psychological needs in emergency responses, traumatic events, and conflict situations. Every month, we do charity outreach and reach out to teen mothers, drug addicts, as we create mental awareness to the police, prisons, and children in the slums. 

We strive to offer basic needs to the people we reach out to, education to needy children, and provide free counseling services to victims traumatised by various incidences such as rape. In all our programs, we create awareness about mental health because I believe that if we acquire positive mental wellness, our lives would be transformed. I am always delighted to impact lives.

Having been a beneficiary of sponsorship in high school, I have been sponsoring needy students to pursue their education. Currently, I have ten students I am supporting in the university and colleges and twenty in secondary school. The little consultancy duties I carry out daily finance my charity work and also I get support from well-wishers. So far I have supported thousands of needy families with food and clothing. In 2020, I installed 10 water points in Kianjau primary school, Kiandutu slums during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Looking back at my life, I am glad I am living my purpose. I have success stories of students I have sponsored and are in jobs. For instance, Lilian Gacheri is currently working with Kenyatta Trust, Fred Mulunga who graduated from Kirinyaga University, Nicholas currently in Karatina University, and Livingstone Omkweyi who stayed for four years before joining Jaramogi Oginga Odinga just to name a few. 

I am glad to have mentored young Counsellors and motivational speakers such Kagondu Jr and Paul Wangari and sponsored Counsellors in education at Africana College Thika. Initially, it was hard setting the foundation as we had to register it as Trustee, and luckily, we got the certificate of incorporation this year. I have over a hundred volunteers who help in running the foundation. I have also set up International Professional Counsellors Centres (IPCC) where I provide a platform for counselors to volunteer their services and receive professional development support. We believe in networking and hence we have collaborated with other counselors to promote psychological health. We always interact with people across the globe via our website sgcfoundation.org and our Facebook page Susan Gitau Counselling Foundation.

In my pursuit of purpose, I face financial hardships because there is so much that needs to be achieved in society but there are limited resources. In 2021, I reached out to teen mothers especially in an era where teenage pregnancy has become a disaster in Kenya. We have been providing basic needs, mentorship, and free counseling to young mothers and teenage girls and boys. Currently, we have peer counselors' mentorship programs in high schools and continue to offer vocational training courses like catering and housekeeping at Africana College Thika. Also, we provide hairdressing and cosmetology courses for teen mothers. We are starting an electrical course for the boys next year. 

I believe youths are the future of tomorrow and when they are empowered, they shape the world positively. 

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