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Entrepreneurship
picking up the pieces
W
e at Esteemed were not left untouched by the chaos that hit the country. We were pulled to
empathize with our brothers and sisters that were affected and we just could not sit back and
watch it on TV or read the papers.
Esteemed is about making all of us feel esteemed. That’s exactly what we tried to do in our own
small way.
Joseph wonders what happened and how can he find
the strength to move on
They may have shattered
my dreams but they didn’t
kill my spirit. If anything,
they just fuelled it.
In one of our encounters with the IDPs (Internally Displaced
Persons) we met Joseph. A young man in his late thirties. By
the time he was through with his story, our entire team was wondering. In his shoes, could we have kept up the fighting spirit?
As you see the situation through Joseph’s eyes as brought out
by Esteemed, say a prayer and thank Jehovah God that he kept
you from this nightmare.
Our one question to Joseph was - What is
your story?
Joseph’s answer
It is amazing that this is
what my life has been reduced
to - a story. (He smiles before
the next statement)
I am businessman. Before
the elections I had three shuttle matatus on the Nakuru Kisumu route, 3 acres of land
in Kitale and I had just finished
paying for a 10 tonnes truck
from the showroom. My house
stood on a five acre piece of
land. I did all the landscaping
and design. It took me years to
come up with a design and this
was to be the first time we
spent Christmas and enter into
a new year in the house. But I
guess that was not meant to
be.
My wife was operating a
salon in Eldoret town as well
as a grocery shop. Today, I am
a house guest in a friend’s
The truck was insured, so
once we are able to get back to
sanity in this country, I will go
to Kisumu and recollect.
The land in Kitale is for my
children’s future. They may
have burnt the maize but the
land is still productive so God
willing, I will go and recover.
As for my house, God will
renew my architectural mind. I
will call you guys to come and
see the finished product.
rented house.
What pains me the most is knowing that
all my dreams, went up in flames, and
what was not in my compound at that time
was either vandalized or forcefully taken
away. The maize in Kitale was all burnt
down, the truck is a mere shell after all the
important gadgets were removed as it was
in transit from Uganda; and the house - an
empty shell. I did not owe anyone anything. I have never raised a hand at anyone. All I did was work a little extra hard
and extra smart to make sure my family
did not know the poverty I grew up in.
I was employed in an architectural firm
when I graduated from campus and I
knew that I wanted to be independent so I
saved quite some bit of my salary. Then I
put one matatu on the road in the city. It
was blessed and it paid itself back. The
gains I made formed a bigger capital base
and soon they were three. It took discipline and constant watchful spending.
I accumulated the wealth I have and I
Starting over
Joseph’s house completed after building for 3years. It
cost Kshs. 3 million to build but it took less than a litre
of paraffin and one match stick to bring it all down
thank God that He gave me wisdom to save up and
so I am not rebuilding my life from nothing. I am don’t
have much of a choice about getting back up. My wife
and children still need me to be successful. I am responsible for their well being. If our lives as a family
were preserved then there has to be a way to rise
back up.
Have I learnt lessons that if given a million years I
wouldn’t put myself through that class? Yes.
You will have plenty of friends as long as you have
the money, but as soon as you hit a down turn, they
disappear - fast. I have also learnt that they who
laugh with you may not necessarily be laughing;
rather they just might be showing their teeth yet hating your guts and plotting your downfall.
In business, you have to spend money to make
money. I love my mother for many reasons. One being that she taught me the culture of saving and frugal
spending. I know what living poor and living rich is
about. In business, you should not put all your eggs in
one basket and remember this - when you harvest,
some seed is replanted, some is kept aside for a
rainy day and some is offered as thanks giving to
God. Your future depends on your present. I know I
will rise again and not to the same levels. Higher
This is what I know about starting over after something like this. It has to
start from inside my heart and mind. I need to forgive all those who destroyed
the fruits of my labor. Some of them are my own employees. Some of them are
business partners or rivals. Bottom-line is, they are all people I will work with
again. But granted, I will not turn my back or let them stand anywhere behind
me. Lest they plunge another knife. I wish I could say to my wife that I will restock her shop and operationalize her salons. It cannot all be done at once. It
needs time to build and effort.
I know God is not so unfair as to make me spend another twenty years to
rebuild our lives. My story is similar to that of Job in the Bible. The man suffered greatly, his children, his cattle, his businesses, his property, his health and It is a long road to reeven his wife’s love. When it was all over, God replenished everything one
covery. Difficult but we
hundred times more such that he had 200% of his initial worth. Why not me?
can make it