Bright Fiatsi had the values of community and charity instilled in him when he was a young boy. At the age of 4, his father left him and his mother to fend for themselves with their educations. Bright’s mother was pursuing a community health nursing degree at the time which forced her to leave Bright under the care of his grandmother while attending primary school. His mother finished her nursing degree when he was six and came back to care for him.

Because of the nature of her new career as a community health nurse, Bright had to live in remote villages where his mother worked in the community clinics.

There were quite a few instances when people came to their house and pleaded with his mother to help them because they did not have money for treatment at the clinic. There was nothing like health insurance in those days and Bright’s mother would try to take care of their medical expenses at the clinic. For patients who were very poor, she would tell them to come to her house for food items, clothing, basic medical supplies, etc. Sometimes she would even give out some of Bright’s clothing to their kids. Bright says, “As a kid I was greedy and always disapproved, but she kept telling me that they are my siblings. She told me if I gave to others, it will come back to me one day.” He began to understand this as he became older and extended the same kindness to his own friends and their kids.

Bright experienced how fulfilling it is to see someone thrive after giving them some assistance, especially children. After finishing his accounting Higher National Diploma at Ho-Polytechnic in 2006, Bright completed his national service at Kwahu South District Health Administration as an account officer. Fortunately during this time Bright met Eric who was also in the midst of his national service. They soon realised that they both shared the same passion for helping people and started to plan how to do it on a bigger platform. After national service Bright moved to Accra for a Financial Assistant position with Alliance Media Ltd. Eric joined him in Accra and feeling that the time was right, they decided to establish Cheerful Hearts Foundation.