Isaac Gitau: Man changing stereotype around child care

Three years ago, when Veronica Kinyanjui stepped in Kings and Queens daycare centre in Pipeline JB and found Mr. Issac Gitau, she was sceptical of leaving her child with him.

Instead, she asked him where his wife was so that she could hand over the child to her before she could proceed to work.

Like her, Mr. Issac, a papaprenuer in Nakuru, says many parents did not perceive him as the caregiver in the day care at first glance.

 “It was their first time meeting a male caregiver in a day care and they wondered if I was up to the task of caring for the children’s needs. Their reaction was written all over their faces when my wife told them we care for the children together and that it was okay to hand over the child to me,” he says as he lets us in on how he became a child caregiver.

Gitau notes that he has always had a passion for children. However, his interaction and caring for children was ignited in Burundi, while working as his wife’s assistant who at the time was an Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) teacher.

“For more than three years I interacted with children as an assistant and I loved watching them and educating them,” he explains.

In 2017, they moved back to Kenya and juggled jobs.

While at their home in 2020, a neighbor brought in their nine-months-old child and requested if they could watch over the child for her. This he says, they did effortlessly.

He notes that shortly after, their neighbor referred another neighbor to them. That’s when the idea to start a daycare was born and they decided to pick it up as a business.

“At the start, the day care was run by my wife. I was only helping her when I arrived home from work. However, as the number of children increased, we needed to employ an additional person to support my wife with caring for them,” he explains adding that while doing the bookkeeping, he noted that their employee was earning more money than him or averagely the same amount he made on his casual job.

That is when Gitau decided to join his wife full time at their day care and run it with her.

“To date we have cared for more than 50 children in our day care. Giving them the care and attention a father would. I have played with them, watched them grow, helped with their reading and nothing gives me more joy than to see the smiles on their innocent faces,” he says, proudly glancing at the children playing in the room.

Asked if this is a job he had foreseen taking up, Gitau laughs heartedly saying no, while acknowledging that this space has always been seen as a ‘woman’s job’.

“At no point did I see myself as a male caregiver, not to mention starting it at 50 years. However, I had to break the stereotype that men cannot be good child caregivers,’ ’he says.

Now at 55, Gitau acknowledges that he has learnt a lot from his wife and Kidogo -an organization offering training for children caregivers.

At the moment he notes he can comfortably change a child’s diapers, feed them, put them to sleep and tend to them in case they are unwell.

Gitau concludes that for him it is not just about the money but the joy and satisfaction that he gets while caring for the children.

“Our charges range from Sh50 to Sh200 depending on the hours a parent leaves their child with us. Aside from the money, it is the joy of caring for these children that keeps me here.”