Kevin Makachia at working |
By Silas Nyamweya, NAIROBI Kenya
There is
a common saying; when life gives you a lemon instead of an orange, you can make
lemonade out of it. But what happens when life doesn’t give you neither an
orange nor a lemon?
This is the situation Kelvin Makachia Osore has
found himself after searching for formal employment in futility.
Makachia Osore, 25, and a graduate from
Kenyatta University is currently surviving by pushing a cart and other odd jobs
in Soweto area, Nairobi. Mr. Makachia, who graduated from the institution in
2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, tried finding a job, but he was
not able to secure one.
“I have tried sending my applications to more
than 200 companies, but no reply is forthcoming,” says Mr. Makachia, who also
claims to have visited many companies in Industrial area seeking any available
job without success.
“The many months I have “tarmacked” and
struggled have been utterly disappointing to my family and me, especially my
mother, who is regretting why he took a loan to educate me at the university.”
Makachia has five siblings, three sisters and
two boys. His mother, a single parent, and vegetable vendor single-handedly saw
him through education, including taking a loan for his university education.
Nonetheless, life has to go on, and this is why
Makachia, an A student in High School and a second class upper division student
at the campus, decided to put aside his certificate and do something that can
sustain him at the moment.
After hard deliberations on what next he had to
do to survive, he settled on water vending and carrying luggage for needy
clients in Soweto area.
“Since I knew somebody who could lend me a
cart, I decided that I will start vending water and carrying luggage for needy
clients such as stall owners in Soweto area,” he said, adding that “luckily,
the business is currently doing better than expected.
He wakes up at 4 am, collects water from school
boreholes in Soweto, and takes it to needy residents whom he charges 20 per
jerrican. He buys a 20-litre jerrican at Sh5, and on a good day, he can go home
with Sh900 profit.
However, he is looked upon by his mother to pay
rent, buy foodstuff, and school fees for his younger siblings.
The current challenge in this business is the
free water brought to Soweto and Kayole by Sonko on some occasions.
“When this water arrives at the village, this
becomes a disadvantage to us as water vendors as we are unable to sell.”
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