Street families making a change to the environment in Kakamega town
BY WANJALA .B. DANSON
Normally, one thinks of venturing in to a business of selling fine goods but never thinks about a business involving selling waste materials. In Kakamega and across the country, the business of selling waste products from homes and industry is ongoing rabidly.
If you take a look at Kakamega town, you are likely to see at least one street boy carried a sack full of waste products in it. Many people usually bypass on what may be the content of dirty sack street families usually carry. In real sense valuables are been carried. This includes heaps of garbage for the dumped scrap metals, shoe soles and plastic bottles.
During the youths Tetemesha Talent Show held at Kakamega social hall in Kakamega town, street boys were busy plugging out metal-like substances from files which had be dumped at the back of the hall.
By bad lack, they were chased away by event security bosses. But a person of whose conscience work properly could have leaded them to pick valves from the waste which the county government needs them no more.
It may be superficial weird to collect waste materials, but many individuals across the country are venting in to the waste material to earn a living especially young people from poor families.
Waste product traders in the town point out those suppliers are not only the street children but other young people in town and its environs that have no other means of earning a living.
Further that most of the materials come from the neighboring estates where the street children delve
Street boys activities do not only helps them to get dairy meals, but it also protects the environment from perils of non-biodegradable substances which ordinary individual do not care about and also provide materials need in our metal and plastic industry for manufacturing fine goods.
After selling waste materials to business men, plastic materials which are collected are crusher into small particles and transport a long side other scrap products for recycling companies mainly Nairobi and other towns in the country.
Kevin Omondi, one of the street boy said, the challenges which are facing the business, source of raw material provider is overexploitation by middlemen by been underpaid them and also inadequate of security . In that some big individuals usually robber them their property.
They are also seen as rejects of the society and hence the public having a negative perception to them. This misinformation leads to harassment of environment cleaners.
The street families are now calling for help from the Kakamega county bosses to partner with them in making the Kakamega town clean.