It is exactly 3:00 pm on a Saturday evening when I arrive at Paul Kamau's workshop for a planned interview. His face is radiated with amity as he comes towards me with extended paws and after a handshake, we get seated.
Kamau, 42, is not only a Jua Kali artisan but also a man of God, a pastor in this case.
"Everyday I start with a prayer before opening my work," he tells me calmly and firmly. Kamau makes chicken cages, rabbit cages and dogs kernels and is widely known here in Thika.
He operates from Munene Industries area just opposite ACK St. Andrew's Cathedral where he has been stationed since 2008.
Before then, he worked for Kenya Vehicle Manufacturer Company in Thika but due to work closure, he chose self-employment as a way to survive in this man eat man society.
In the era where people refuse to take up work unless they enjoy it, Kamau did not hesitate in engaging himself with woodwork carpentry thanks to the 8-4-4 system where he combines it with skills he learnt at Kirinyaga Technical Training Institute where he did mechanical engineering.
For him timber is gold. He started this business with Sh300 by making tomato boxes which he sold at Sh200 each. Kernels followed and later chicken and rabbit cages which seemed to be in demand than the latter.
Located along Kiganjo-Makongeni road, the traffic was his advantage as travellers could see his display from the cars and soon orders followed.
"When quails business was booming, I got hundreds of calls from people as far as Meru and Nakuru which were breeding areas. This was my breakthrough," he recalls in a manner that epitomises the very essence of human kindness.
The cages cost according to sizes and the smallest one costs Sh2,500 while big ones fetch Sh10,000. Sometimes a day passes without making any money but on a good day the pastor cum Jua Kali artisan makes Sh2,000; this is after paying all his workers and other expenses.
Per month, he makes up to Sh55,000.
He has hired 4 labourers to help him and on a good day, he hires 6. His worktools include a hammer, tape measure, saw, square and chisel.
As we continue with our chat, 2 people arrive and go to a finished cage, only to learn later they are the owners who had made orders.
Since he operates in an open space, Kamau tells me he has encountered problems. Theft cases had derailed his progress earlier but now he tells me the eye of God watches for him at night. Again when the sun is beastly, he has had to endure all the fangs from the sun and when it rains, for him it pours.
He works with cutoff timber that has been discarded and considered inferior raw material by timber companies. He points out that the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute advised farmers to use cheap cages.
In Kenya, where even our president sells milk as a side hustle, Kamau also has a side hustle of roofing and partitioning houses.
"Youths need to invest in their talented areas, be creative and create infinite possibilities out of self-employment." he advices the 'play-first-work-later' generation.
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