MY STORY: How I am stitching my way to success

Victor Kipkemoi Molel at his tailoring workshop.

My name is Victor Kipkemoi Molel. Many people call me fundi (tailor). I am 42 years old and a resident of Kaporuso Village in Bomet East Constituency.

I sat my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in 1991 and scored a good grade. I was called to Cheptenye Boys High School in Kericho County but I opted to go to Kaporuso High School instead.

While in Form Two, I was in and out of school because of lack of fees. My parents tried the best they could to raise my school fees, but they couldn’t get enough. They sold firewood and brewed busaa for sale.

On June 10, 1992, I dropped out of school and went home a frustrated man. On September 9 the same year, I escaped from home and trekked to a place called Triangle in Narok County.

Life there was hard. I lived in a temporary shelter and indulged in heavy drinking of illicit brews. I cut off communication completely with family members.

Later, I moved to Ololulunga Town where I started a business of collecting hides and skins from the nearby villages and selling them for a profit to more established traders.

One day, I went to a chang’aa drinking den and forgot to lock the door to my house. When I returned, the Sh30,000 I had kept under the cover of the mattress was not there.

Later I got saved and went back home to my family who at this point were almost strangers. Family members were overjoyed to see me again. This was a crucial turning point in my life. I got married in 2000 and I am now blessed with four children.

I discovered later that tailoring was my calling and took a course. I started a cloth repair business in 2001 in Kembu Township with a capital of Sh140. I used the money to buy sewing thread and lubricating oil for a hired sewing machine. A shopkeeper allowed me to use his verandah to operate the business on condition that I kept it clean.

The business gradually grew and I opened my own tailoring shop. In 2013, I went to Kaptembwo in Nakuru to pursue a three-month course in leather shoe making. I bought a second-hand heavy duty leather sewing machine for Sh60,000 (a new one costs about Sh150,000). My wife and I operate the tailoring and leather shoe making businesses with two full-time employees.

I am now stitching my way to success through tailoring business. My future plan is to open a big workshop with modern equipment, give back to the community by training less-fortunate youths for free.