They say when life gives you a lemon instead of an orange, you can make lemonade out of it. But what happens when life gives nothing?
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 surviving by transporting goods for clients in his handcart and other odd jobs in Soweto, Nairobi.
Makachia, who graduated 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 Makachia, who also claims to have visited many companies in Industrial Area, Nairobi, seeking any available job without success.
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“The many months I have ‘tarmacked’ and struggled have been utterly disappointing to my family and me, especially my mother, who is regretting why she took a loan to educate me at the university.”
Makachia has three sisters and two brothers. 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 which is why Makachia, an A student in high school and a Second Class Upper Division student, decided to put aside his degree certificate and do something that can sustain him.
After hard deliberations on what next he had to do to survive, he settled on water vending and transporting luggage for clients in Soweto.
“Since I knew somebody who could lend me a cart, I decided that I would start vending water and transporting luggage for clients such as market 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 and sells it to residents whom he charges Sh20 per jerrican which he buys for Sh5. On a good day, he makes a-Sh900-profit.
However, he is looked upon by his mother to pay rent, put food on the table and educate his siblings.
Hid headache is the occasional delivery of free water to Soweto and Kayole by Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi’s Sonko Rescue Team.
“When this water arrives, as we are unable to sell.”
Silas Nyamweya’s piece on an unemployed graduate was ranked second in a citizen journalism competition organised by the U-Report section Standard Digital
