Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” This Feel-Good Friday is a celebration of a man who may have wondered about the day he was born, but when he discovered his 'why,' he took it, ran with it, and has never looked back. In living in that 'why,' he helps rudderless, broken, and traumatized youth discover theirs.
Peter Mutabazi was born in Uganda, and ran away from an abusive home at the age of 10. He opted to live on the streets of Uganda, and survived this way for about five years--when out of the blue, a stranger asked his name, and whether he wanted a meal. Mutabazi gladly accepted. Every other day or so, the stranger would come around and offer him a meal and company.
The stranger asked him why he wasn't in school. Mutabazi wasn't interested in school, but the stranger inserted the idea that he could have three meals a day, every day, if he attended. While that was part of the draw, it was also the kindness and compassion shown by this stranger that sealed the deal. When telling his story to the "Unapologetic" podcast (check the end of the piece for the full video), Mutabazi said:
For the very first time, someone saw me as a human being because I was treated more like a stray animal. So for this human being to see the best in me at my lowest, that changed my life. So, I went to high school, I went to University in Uganda, I went to University in England, and that's how I got to the United States.
Mutabazi's life was transformed, and he was determined to always pay it forward. When Mutabazi came to America, he decided he would start by becoming a foster parent.
There were almost 400,000 children in foster care in the US in fiscal year 2021, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ most recent statistics.
Mutabazi is not married and belongs to a rare group – federal data shows that only about 3% of foster parents are single men. And as an immigrant and a Black man, Mutabazi is part of an even smaller subset within the foster parent community.
Since becoming a foster father in 2016, he has hosted about three dozen kids of all races and cultures. Some of his foster children were reunited with their families, while others remain in his care.
Mutabazi shares glimpses of his life as a foster dad with his 328,000 followers on Instagram to encourage other men to be active fathers and signal that a healthy family is based on love, not skin color, he says.
According to his Instagram page and his YouTube channel, Now I Am Known, Mutabazi has fostered over 50 children and teens. Mutabazi has also written a memoir talking about his experiences and encouraging other men to step up and be dads. The story of a single man who makes the choice to foster children and pay it forward, pouring into traumatized, abused, and displaced young people the love and stability that was accorded to him, is a powerful testament.
But in 2021, his adoption of a 13-year-old who had been abandoned by his adoptive parents when he was 11, made Mutabazi a candidate for sainthood.
A 13-year-old boy who was abandoned by his parents has found a forever home.
On Nov. 12, Tony Mutabazi was adopted by his foster dad, Peter Mutabazi in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tony had been in the foster care system since the age of 2, and at the age of 4, Tony was adopted by a couple in Oklahoma. No details are known about his birth parents.
"He's the nicest, smartest kid I've ever had," Mutabazi told "Good Morning America." "From day one, he's always called me 'dad.' He truly meant it and he looks up to me. He's proud to show me at school and say, 'Hey, he's my dad.' That's something that I love about him."
When he was 11, Tony's adopted parents left him at a hospital and never returned, according to Mutabazi and foster care worker Jessica Ward.
Mutabazi was asked to take him for the weekend. When he heard Anthony's story, his first thought was, "Who would do that to a child?!" Mutabazi decided then and there that this boy would have a home. Tony Mutabazi is now 17 years old, and appears often in videos with his dad. Peter Mutabazi recently posted this powerful reel of gratitude for the blessing of having a son and being able to model fatherhood.
WATCH:
Along with with his oldest son Anthony, Mutabazi has adopted an eight-year-old named Isabella, and a seven-year-old named Luke.
2023 brought us so many gifts.
— Peter Mutabazi (@FosterDadFlippr) January 1, 2024
I am grateful for the 7 kids we got to foster, & for the opportunity to adopt Luke and Isabella & make them forever part of our family.
Thank you to the social workers who have entrusted me with these kids, and especially to the kids’ bio parents. pic.twitter.com/uyp1l700JP
Mutabazi said, "I can’t believe that this once homeless and hopeless person has now created this crazy family filled with love.”
Mutabazi has told his story to many outlets, but this "Unapologetic" podcast is particularly insightful and touching.
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