As many young people claim there is no employment today since there are not many white collar jobs available, the creative ones are making hay while the sun shines.
One such youth, who will not wait for employment but has chosen to create it, is David Muriuki who makes a living by making cookware like pans and sufurias.
Muriuki has set his own workshop just outside the main house where he resides in with the rest of his family.
With only soil and scrap metal, particularly discarded aluminium vehicle parts and charcoal, Muriuki the artisan toils to finally produce well-polished sufurias made in different sizes.
At the entrance of the workshop, you are welcomed by a hot furnace. It has a steel container which is heated using charcoal. Since the boiling point of steel is higher than that of aluminium, the aluminium in the steel container melts and Muriuki moulds it into different containers, most of which are sufurias.
On the other side, his counterpart Wycliffe Oteto aids Muriuki moulding the soil according to the different sizes and shapes the cooking pans should be. When the molten aluminium is red hot, a small portion of it is poured into the moulded piece of sand. It is left to spread out for some time. He does this carefully since it is very hot.
When this is done, he separates the soil from the new sufuria. The soil is used to shape the sufurias and spread the aluminium. The soil is recycled for moulding as many sufurias as possible.
Once the sufuria has been separated from the soil, it is very hot. It is thus left for a while to cool down.
The finishing of the sufuria is done outside the workshop. The sufurias are then filed to produce a nice finish.
In an average day, Muriuki makes a total of 30 to 40 sufurias and there is a ready market. He sells them at different prices depending on the size.
On a good day, Muriuki can make up to Sh20,000. He says the sufuria-making venture is his only source of income.
“The money we make has helped us buy this piece of land, provide for our basic needs and send all my children to school,” says Muriuki whose three children are in university.
Despite all this, Muriuki cites the challenges he meets each day. He says they are always at loggerheads with the municipal council about the venue of selling their products. He also faces a challenge with brokers who sell the products at low prices lamenting that the cost of getting aluminium scrap in the market is very expensive.
Muriuki is appealing to the government to help him mentor and train youths to have skills like his and make an honest living.
He also urges the youth to take up any kind of job instead of being selective.
“This is a wake-up call to all the youths who keep on whining and asking the government to provide jobs for them. They should use their skills they have to create employment, quips Muriuki.