Elderly people in Kathiani are making use of their time by selling jewellery they have shaped out of stones.
A group of 36 elderly widows and ten elderly men have formed a group in Kwa Kimeu village whereby they meet every morning and go around together collecting stones of different colours. Afterwards they meet in the shade to shape the stones and finish them with wire.
The group coordinator John Kioko spoke today, encouraging more elderly people to join the group. He said he considered it as a great move to help the elderly and the widows who spent most of their time at home to gain the funds needed for their upkeep.
“We do a lot of work including shaping stones to jewellery. I embraced the idea because I have seen a lot of old people and widows stay at home lonely and stressed without enough funds to feed themselves and their children. When we stay together it not only provides funds but creates more of a social life for all of us”
Kioko stated that the group also had some problems, such as not having the funds needed to get different materials like the wires that they use to connect the jewellery. However, Kioko said that despite this there were times when the business had big profits.
“We are saving money so that we have several projects. We’re focusing towards the middle of this year so we can set up a paraffin shop in Kathiani town to increase our earnings, and buy a big tank. We are also aiming at starting a water project of distributing water on our town as our project too,” Kioko added.