That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Peter Mutabazi

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

Gaby welcomes entrepreneur, foster dad and all-round inspiring human, Peter Mutabazi, to the podcast. Peter's story is UNBELIEVABLE - and yet, it's all true. He tells Gaby about how he was treated by his own father when he was young, how he chose to live in sewers, and how the kindness of a stranger changed his life. Peter has now fostered 47 kids - and adopted 4. He's a single dad who has worked for the Red Cross and World Vision and who spreads joy every day on his socials and in his life. We hope you enjoy listening this inspiring and joyful chat as much as we did! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's that Gabby Rosslin podcast, Kevin Rosslin podcast. Peter, thank you for being a proper joy spreader. Thank you for all the good that you put out. And thank you for getting your neighbor to mow their lawn just as we start recording. is hysterical. How are you, Peter? IMT. Well, yes. It's usually that time that you're relaxing and all of a sudden is there more running around your house. Always happens, especially around your house. So give everybody

a sort of update of how many people you have in your house at this present time? Well, yes, at this present time, I have six children. My youngest is four and my oldest is 21. So that's how many kids are having my home. Okay, I think we need to start at the beginning, if we may. As I said, I saw your stories on Instagram and I suddenly thought, this is somebody who we hear so many awful things in the world. And then when we read a story like yours and you're out there to just spread kindness and do good things for others, thank you for being one of those people.

That's why we want to talk to you because what you do is remarkable. So may we start at the very beginning, Peter? And I know it's a tough start, but when people hear the tough start and they hear where you are now, they're going to fall in love with you like the rest of the world has done all over social. So please tell me how it all started. Right, absolutely. So I'm from Uganda, grew up poor of the poorest, you know. As a little boy, no one told me to dream.

You know, he's an example. If her mother cannot feed you for the night, you know, how does she tell you to dreams? That was me growing up. You know, I went to fetch water three to four miles away every day, twice a day. There wasn't room to be a kid, you know? Again, at a very old age, you begin to provide for your family. And being the oldest, I had to take part in that.

Never had a pair of shoes, never slept on the mattress. Life was just miserable. And it wasn't just us. It was everyone around you. So it wasn't like there was somewhere you can compare with and say, I wish I could be like that family, you know. When you live in a village and it's all known for being the worst poverty, it's all you know. So at age of four, I began to realize that my father was different.

You know, he was just mean and abusive in everywhere ship from you could imagine. So as a kid, you know, these are the words I had from my father before I went to bed and when I woke up, Peter, you'll never mount anything. Peter, you're useless. Peter, I wish you're never born, so I don't have to feed you. I'm sorry, Peter. that you were being told that. I'm so sorry. I know. So as a kid, you know, there's no peace outside and there's no peace within your home as well. And that was difficult for me. And also I realized that not only the abuse was coming towards me, but also was coming towards

my mother. And as a kid, I didn't know how to protect my mom. But also, most of the time, my mom got abused because of us. Every time we're hungry, and she went to my dad and said, hey, the kids haven't eaten. Would you provide them a meal for them? And she got busy. for that. So as a kid, I was afraid to say I'm hungry in order to protect my mom. So that is the life that I knew. So for me, I could not dream because dreaming was lying to myself. So at age of 10, I thought my father was going to kill me. So I was like, look, this man is going to take my life. Why give him the opportunity to do so? I had never been 20 miles away from my village. So I went to the bus station and I asked the lady, hey, of all these buses, which one goes the farthest? The reason why I asked

the farthest was. I wanted to die so you would never see my dead body. Oh, beautiful. And that's why I ran away. And I ended up in Kampala and became a street kid at an age of 10 until 15, for sure. And then something, when you were 15, a person's kindness changed your life dramatically. Yes, absolutely. So as street kids, we learned how to steal, you know, steal what you're helping. So I saw this man and I followed him. so I wanted to steal from him, but he stopped me and said, hey, what's your name? And that rattled me. Why?

Because for the very first time, someone asked me what my name was. But also as three kids, when you're kind, that meant you're abusive. Because everyone who was kind, it followed with abuse. So because he asked my name, and because he gave me something to eat, I was waiting for the abuse, but it never came. So he came back next week. The fourth week I kind of knew what he comes, what he buys, and why he parks his car. So I knew one day, someone knows my name, one day I did not have to steal because someone would give me a meal. And so he fed me for one year and a half and one day he said, hey, you know, he said, hey, Peter, if he had to go school, would you have to go to school?

I laughed because I had never taken a shower. I slept in the sewer. Why? Because the sewer smells so bad that no other human beings can go. So for me, I had lived in life where there was no glimpse of hope. So for him to say... This is extraordinary. I mean, this is your real life you're talking about.

This isn't a book that you're reading. This isn't a film that you're talking about. This is your real life. How did you keep going, Peter? What gave you hope before... I mean, even all those days, those weeks, those years, before you met this man? Well, most cases in the streets of Kampala,

they died because of two things. Either they got malaria or... they were run over. Or we ate something that was poisonous and we, you know, kids died. So you knew you didn't count for like you'll ever make it to 14. You'll like it if you made it for the day. So for me, I had to learn how to live day by day, you know. As a street kid, you could not dream farther than that, you know. Again, dreaming was being useless. Dreaming was lying to yourself. So for me, I could not dream. I could not dream this next week. No, you just had to dare. And that's what you thought about. And that was my life. Yeah.

So apologies for interrupting you, but it's just such a shocking story. So he then, after a year and a half of feeding you and being kind to you and calling you by your name and doing all of these things, he said, would you like to be educated? And you couldn't imagine that. No, because I thought to go to school, you have to have mom and dad. To go to school, you have to dream and be hopeful. And I didn't have any of that.

There's nothing in me I ever thought I could go to school. But also, I had been taught for so many years that I would never. amount to anything. So for me, going to school was more of going against the green, but I was told I never amount to anything. So why would I go to school? And I said, no. And so next time he comes back and he said, hey, by the way, if you go to school, there would be lunch, dinner, and breakfast. Literally, this is what I said. I said, what time can we later? Can we go now? Because I didn't believe there's anywhere in the world that you can have three meals a day. Because I had never had two meals in my entire lives. Three, that can be true. But remember, he'd fed me for one year and a half. So he'd

gained a little trust in me in someone. So that's why I went to school, not to be a teacher, not to be anything, but because he said there'll be food. So that's why I went. Okay, so then you started school and that, I mean, education changed. I mean, it should be available for everybody as we know, but it changed your life. I mean, he changed, this guy changed your life. There's no two ways about it. He was a, he, he saved you, didn't he? Absolutely. It saved me every way for you could imagine. You know, yes, for me, I went to school for food, but later he invited me to his home. And for the first time, I saw a dad who was listening to the kids, who was laughing. And in some way, he became my idol. And I said, if there's a family

that I would like to be, I want to be like him, you know? And that's how I excelled in school, because now I had an example of what success looked like. And I excelled. I went to school. in Uganda. I went to school in England, and that's how it came to United States as well. So, okay, taught me through. How did the trip from Uganda to England happen? How did that will happen? Well, so at my church, we had visitors, you know, students from Durham University. So they came to Uganda for six weeks. You know, so my pastor said, hey, I'm too busy, but can you hang out with these kids? So I did hang out with these kids for six weeks. So when they went back home, they told their school, they're like, hey, we met this guy in Uganda. We think he should

giving him a scholarship to study in the United States, sorry, in here in England. And that's how it came to US, you know, to, sorry, to United Kingdom, uh, through the kindness of these strangers that I go to hang out for six weeks. Absolutely. You know, so what amazing just for me. I mean, getting on an airplane. You'd been living in the sewers and you had no food and, and, and you'd been abused. And, and then suddenly you're on an airplane to the UK going to school here. So for a few weeks, how did the, then, how did the, how did the, how did you end up in America? So then after school, after, you know, going to school in England, I went back to Uganda. Oh, you went, okay. Yeah. So while I was working in the refugee camp in, in Sudan,

I saw there was a white boy, a shirtless. I was like, what is who doing here? You know, by then I was dating an American, so I taught him here. Sorry, so right, hold on. So you've gone to school. You're now working where? In the refugee in Sudan. Looking after people. Yes, looking after refugees, absolutely. And that's what I made at this 18-year American boy. You know, I was like, hey, if you come to Kampala, my girlfriend is American, you can come and hang out with us.

So he came and hang out with us. And then he came back to United States and said, hey, I made this guy. He really, really loves children. You should give him a scholarship to come and study in the U.S. And that's how I came literally through the strangers I made of the law. the way. So the people I didn't know that somehow saw the best in me and advocate for me. And that's how truly how I go to be who I am today. Okay. So, Peter, you are so special. Goodness me. What an, it's very humbling to talk to you

and what an honor to talk to you. So you get, you arrive in the States and you thought, I know, I'm going to save kids to give them what I never had. How did the first one, how did it happen for a single guy from Uganda arriving in the States and fostering and adopting. What was the first thing? How did all that start? Well, so it began when I arrived in the United States, my first day I struggled because I saw how much food they had and I saw how much food was being thrown away. So I think in my own faith, I began to really question like, wait a minute, how can God loves people so much that he would give them so much throw away and others can die of black people. It's like, this thing just doesn't really work for me that I feel angry, but so much food

is wasted. And yet, I had to lose members of my family for lack of beans and potatoes. I was like, this is just unfair, you know? But at the same time, I really began to see, like, too much is giving much required. Like, of all people, I felt I was the wealthiest man on the planet. Like, I had a family I didn't have. I had all these things that I didn't want to live an American life where you get stuff and get richer and richer.

Like, that's not what I wanted to. They're like, no, I'm going to use what I have to really change the life with someone else. But I had a problem. I had travel over the world. I had never seen a black person who was adopting in Uganda or in Ethiopia or anywhere. The people I saw adopting were all Caucasian and we were married. And I was none of that. So I thought, no, you know, it's amazing when you don't see something that looks like you,

how sometimes you believe it a lie, like, well, maybe I'm not supposed to. So for me, I put on hold because I didn't know they were loud. me. So when I went into forced care system, I said, hey, would you allow me to mentor teenagers for at least one hour a week, you know, because I didn't know they would allow me to foster because I had never seen a black person who was fostering, you know? So the social work said, hey, but have you ever thought of being a foster dad? I was like, yeah, I think about that. But I'm not qualified. She said, why, I said, I'm single. She said, no, you can be literally that day, I signed up. Not because I had, but because for me, I understood the course of kids had lived the life like I had lived

before, you know, that you can live in the wealthiest country on the planet, but their kids going to bed with no food, their kids being abused. And I wanted to pay it forward. I wanted to truly live a life of what that kindness of a stranger changed in my life. And that's why I became a foster dad. I started with one. You know, I thought, I can do one, you know. How old were you? How old were you when you first fostered? I was 39. Wow. You know what? Since this, Then I've had 47 kids. Oh, Peter. Yeah.

So, I mean, it is remarkable everything that you've done, but looking at your socials and hearing your story, you have the most incredible outlook on life. And for everybody who is listening to this and is feeling lost and broken and scared and worried because of all the news that's going on in the world, And because of their own situation, they don't need to look outside of their own situation. Their own situation can be heartbreaking as well.

I still am intrigued to know what kept you going. I understand now that it's the kids. All of those kids and there's six of you in the house now and you keep fostering and you learn how to do your daughter's hair and you, I love it. You say, I'm a bald black guy. I've never had, you know, but now I've learned to do my daughter's hair. You cook, you do all of it. But what kept you going?

What advice would you give to other people who were in a similar situation to you? I think for me is my father wished the worst for me. But then for me, I reversed it. I said, you wish the worst for me, but actually I'm going to use what you did to me as a foundation to do better for myself. You know, I didn't want to use my past as a way to say,

warm me, that's why I cannot do well in school. War me, my life was miserable. I was like, you know what? No. My father wished the worst for me. And for me not to do well was giving him a win. I was like, no, no, no. I would not. I will not let my past define me, you know? And for people who are listening today, really, sometimes we cannot change the path. There's nothing we could do today that would change what happened to us. But we can use that. We can use that as a way to bed ourselves that I know better. I know what it means to live in a life that is miserable every day. And I didn't want to live that way. I know how to feel unloved and wanted, that I wanted to do that the opposite to my children. Give them a sense of your loved, your sin, your heart. How did I learn it? Because I never had it, you know.

So for me, using my own past and say, I wish someone was there for me to be able to do that for another child, for another family, is what would have to me, be successful and stay to the point, not letting my past somehow detect or, dictate what my future will be. And for me, that has been a place that really energizes me, a place that reminds me of, hey, it was bad then, but you can do better every week. You can do better every year. You can't. Don't let the past truly define you for now. Everybody needs Peter in their lives, quite frankly. Tell me about the kids. Tell me about the kids. How are they doing? Oh, they're doing well. I have a, you know, she just turned three. boy, party training is a whole different joke. I remember it well with my daughters, yes.

Singing songs, sitting there and singing songs sometimes works. Yes. Or even saying, Dad, are you going to stay? And I'm like, absolutely. I'll stay as long as you want. But so the other kids, are you in touch with all the ones that you've fostered? I mean, what happens when you have to say goodbye and good luck in the world? Absolutely.

For me, I'm really, so as a street kid, I would hear people say, what a mother would have their children be, street kids. But in my head, I would say, but you have no idea what my father, my mother had to go through. And it's the same approach I have towards the bioporants of my kids that I foster to truly see them as human being, no, that's villains, to be their resource and to come alongside and truly say, you got this and you can have your kids back. And if I can have their kids back, that is the greatest kids I could ever do to the to that mother. So for me, I have built good relationships with every child's mother or dad that I've

had that we stay in touch, you know, that I still want to be there for them when things can't go wrong, when things go wrong to say, well, I can send my kids to Peter for a week so I can think about my life, you know, and for me, that is important for me that I get to be there for mothers. No mother gives a child, no mother gives birth to a child so they can go into post care, but along the way, things get broken. And if I can mend those broken circumstances and make it better for them, absolutely. And that for me, I get to be the big ankle to so many kids that I go back home because I stay in their lives in some way. So how, what, what decision was it? What part of your mind you thought, you know what? I'm really pleased you do,

but share your story. Was it for, to make sure that more people, do good and a kind. Because I love that you share your story. You've also, you've got almost a million followers on Instagram. You, um, you're very public about everything and you're very honest and you're very open. Was it that you wanted to spread that kindness? I, I feel like you do because when every time I watch you, I just, I feel the world is a better place. Um, but what was your decision to go public with your story? So for me, first of all, so when I went to, you know, you had to go to classes to be licensed as a false parent. So when I arrived, everyone would be like, are you in the right place?

You know, is your wife coming later? You know, I'm like, no, it's just me. And the shock of seeing a male, you know, trying to be a false friend. To me that really helped me to say, wait a minute, if everyone looks at me, that means there's very, very few of us. And that's for me what I wanted to change the narrative. Like, I want it. You know, so from there, I created social media to show that, man, we have. responsible when it comes taking care of the children.

But it's not just mom's job, but it's everyone's job, you know. And then, too, I wanted to change the narrative. The lie I had believed all my life. I thought only why people would do good, you know, that's what I thought. And I wanted to really change their narrative. The kids that I get to take in, I don't choose who comes to my home, but I'm open to everyone. And I think for me coming from Africa, I wanted to show them that, you know what, we can

be and we can be families to others as much as we've seen others. do. The other part was male. I think male sometimes we are not disregarded, but when it comes taking children, we're like, yeah, that's mom's job. And I wanted to change that narrative. Like, no, no, no, no. It's every parent that has a child that we ought to be there for a kid as much as we can. And the other part is I'm not into protesting. There's so much rest problems going on. But for me, I wanted to live a life of protest, a life that looks different, you know, that you can have empathy towards the kids I have, would you have empathy towards me as well? So for me, I thought being open and being vulnerable, especially on social media, was the best way to journey with people, to show that impact, to show that empathy and to remind men, too, that, hey, we have a part to play when it comes to raising our children.

It's not just mom's job, you know? And then the other part is I didn't want people to always see biopparents of our kids as villains. Like, I wanted to show the struggles they go through. And the only way I could was to be open about that, to show when kids go back home. Like, that mother worked so hard to have their kids back. So before we judge, we should maybe come alongside those who are struggling and say, you know what? I just want to be there for you by me showing what that looks like. We really do, you know, these days especially, the news is very, very, very bleak and very difficult.

and young people are fearful of what they see on the news and we hear so many things. But we need to escalate voices like yours. We really do. I mean, it's really important what you're saying. I mean, I know that I will feel changed after speaking to you and more people need to hear what you have to say. Do you think that the narrative can be changed

the way that there's so much hate in the world right now? Do you think, I mean, I'm hopeful. I live in hope. I live in joy. I'm very positive. But do you think that the narrative can be changed? Absolutely. You know, again, my dad is Rwanda. We know what happened in 1994. During that time, you think, what's the word coming to? You know, but to see Rwanda to this day, you know there's hope. Yes, at this moment, we're in that blink, that, that toxic politics. But I think there's a way that we'll come through all this. Like, there's hope. along the way, and it's going to happen. Like, I'm an immigrant. Like, right now, most immigrants in the United States, I think they are absolutely scared, you know. So for me to journey with people as an immigrant, who lived in this country, but who chose

to live a life that Woody elevates, supports, and sees the best in others, that maybe in the midst of, you know, when immigrants are mistreated in some way, that maybe I'm that little light of bacon to say, it is possible, you know, and to show the positive. that not all of us are criminals, but are doing something special, that maybe they can see our story and say, you know, yes, not every immigrants, but not every immigrant is, you know, here those who are doing good in a way that they can maybe tell our story in a different way. There are many, many, many good people, and I think we need to, we need to hear more about the good things that are happening in the world and people who are making a difference

instead of hearing about the bad things. I think that's really important. So thank you for Thank you for your socials, and thank you for speaking to me. So I'm dying to know what the kids make of it all, because you know, you have some incredibly famous followers in the States and lots of people talk about you. What do the kids make of it all? Do they just go, oh, come on. Did they call you your dad, yeah?

So come on, dad, what you're doing now? What are you making? What are you saying? Right. You have to know, like, almost 90% of kids in Foske have never had a dad. So for me, being their dad is special for them. Like, they just love having a dad and goofing around and all doing this, you know. And even the things that we get to do on social media, they're in it. They're the ones who are any ideas. They're the ones who take part. Of course, we are kind of famous everywhere we go. People are like, oh, we know you. And my kids kind

are aware of their like, oh, someone has seen us somewhere, you know? And they're aware of that. And for me, bringing even pride, I think Fosker sometimes the scene is like, those bad kids over there, you know, that for me, I'm doing the opposite. Like, these are my most amazing kids, see their joy, see their smile, hear their words, see them play, that in some way you can do the same for someone else who needs help, that you can see our kids in Foski in a different way that they're not all bad. Even if they're bad, there's a reason why. And if we cannot focus on behaviors, but focus on the roots, why do kids behave this way? what happened to them? And I think along the way, we get to come with different empathy towards those that need us the most. Peter, thank you. Thank you for what you do for all those kids. Thank you for joining me today. And thank you for the goodness and the kindness and the hope that

you're putting out in the world. And we need more people like you. Thank you very, very much. And thank you for using your platform to share agenda as well. It's how you make us feel seen, had and known and we're grateful for you. Bless you. Thank you, Peter. Thank you.