Enterprise

One man’s trash is Kilifi artist’s lifeline

MENZA

Harry Menza (left) and his friend turned- marketer Kelly Banda display some of the products Menza makes at Ngala Estate in Kilifi town. PHOTO | KAZUNGU SAMUEL | NMG

Have you ever thought that coconut shells, waste bones, used glasses and bottles that form part of the garbage menace in major towns can be turned into beautiful jewellery?

Well, 39-year-old artist Henry Menza, a resident of Kilifi town, is doing just exactly that.

We find him busy decorating used coconut shells into valuables like buttons, hair clips, bangles, bracelets and other assorted items in one of the houses at Ngala Estate.

For nearly two decades now, he has perfected the art of making artifacts using this “waste” material, so much so that it now comfortably provides his daily upkeep.

“Life is not a bed of roses, you have to work hard, do everything you can and use your God-given talent to make ends meet,” he said as he clutched his engraving machine to decorate a hair clip.

Although he says this business pays at some point, getting raw materials has been one of his major challenges.

He has to wake up very early in the morning, rummage through dustbins and other garbage collection points in the town to get them before retreating to his house which doubles as his operating office.

“I have done this job for 16 years . People sometimes mistake me for a mad person because I am always at the dumpsite. They do not know I am in a money-making venture and happy about it,” he said.

He said most of his clients are women who buy his bangles, hair clips, bracelets and chains, adding that in a day, he is able to make two hair clips which he sells at Sh400 each.

“My market is not restricted to the local consumers, but includes tourist hotels. If I decide to sell the same clips to a tourist, they go for more than Sh1,500 and in a good day I can sell up to three pieces. It is a business which has kept me going,” he said.

But the journey for this aggressive artist has not been easy. When he started, he had limited resources and depended on his bare hands to do all the work.

From washing his collections, wrapping and designing, Mr Menza had grown accustomed to this laborious and time-consuming task. But the artist has now bought an engraving machine which he uses to paint and decorate his products.

“I started this job in 2001 and since then it has been up and down with a myriad of challenges.

However, having loyal customers has kept him going. I later got an engraving machine which enabled me to up my game and the decorations I make now are quite different from the ones I started with,” he said.

But Mr Menza says the dwindling tourism sector in the county has affected his business because he sometimes stays even for a week without a single sale.

He also asked the county government to come up with a programme to assist poor youths start businesses. He said without government interventions, it would be hard to make any significant progress in empowering the youth.

“In 2008, I managed to get a contract to sell my products at Pirates Beach Hotel in Mombasa and within an hour, I had sold all my items and pocketed Sh9,000 in cash. Then the tourism sector was booming, but it has now nosedived,” he said.

Kelly Banda, who is a close associate and a marketer for Mr Menza’s products, said he noted his aggressiveness and decided to help him look for market for his products.

“When I met him seven years ago, I discovered that he was artistic and loved his job although he did not know the targeted market for the items.

“I have been very close to him, equipping him with more skills to make sure that he benefits from this trade,” said Mr Banda.

Mr Menza urged youths to desist from engaging in drug use but use their talents to do something useful for a living.

He said he was, however, banking on the implementation of the newly established Kilifi County Fund commonly known as Mbegu Fund to bolster his business.

“Once the county rolls out the Sh100 million programme, I will be among the first people to apply for the funds.

“The Kilifi county government has set aside a Sh100 million kitty to give loans to youths and women so that they can start their businesses.

The disbursement of the money was delayed last year after Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi rejected the bill following a lapse in some of the clauses. He however assented to the bill early this year, paving the way for the establishment of the kitty.