With the high rate of unemployment in Kenya, the lucky few who secure jobs cling to them with all they have.
The fear of losing a white collar job blur many people's minds and bar them from exploiting their entrepreneurial skills.
But primary school teacher Mike Mwiti took a leap of faith and left a low paying teaching job to start a business, and finally started making glasses from liquor bottles.
The 35-year-old father of one child said from a tender age he felt a need to make good use of spirits, wine and beer bottles that were poorly disposed of and posed a threat to the environment.
He came up with a solution that would help him kill two birds with one stone.
“After teaching for only three months at Chogoria Academy, I felt it was time I put my imaginations into practice. I put aside the teaching skills that I had acquired at Egoji Teachers Training College and moved from one employer to another to raise capital with which I started a pub business,” Mwiti said.
He said he encountered a problem of disposing of liquor bottles.
Mwiti said this was a time when bottles were not reusable and were discarded all over town.
After operating the pub for five years, Mwiti started recycling liquor bottles and turning them into glasses. His glasses soon became a hit in Chuka town and its environs.
“The first glasses that I made were a success because most bar tenders and clubs were surprised about my good work. I sold all the 50 glasses that I made that day,” says the soft-spoken entrepreneur.
Mwiti together with his team of five make an average of 50-70 glasses per day. A glass sells for an average of Sh100 and a set of three at Sh200. However, the price of each glass depends on the quality and type of the bottle used.
He explained how he turns the bottles into a set of drinking glasses. “I collect various bottles of wine, beer and spirits, clean them with soap and water to remove the paper labels and logos and using a simple machine I score them to a convenient length,” he says. Mwiti said he has gloves and eye protectors for safety.
He puts them in hot water to separate the sections he has scored. Mwiti said the sudden change in temperature will cause the bottles to separate perfectly. Mwiti submerges them vertically, open side down into the hot water. He then files the rough edges using a sandpaper for a smooth texture. After about five minutes, he has nice a beautiful glass for drinking water or alcohol.
Speaking in Mesako building, Chuka town, Mwiti said his work does not require huge capital because he uses items that are easily found in most households.
He said he collects the bottles from bars, clubs and dumpsites. Others come from friends, households and restaurants. He said collecting the bottles is not a difficult task, because he has hired some people to do the job.
In the process of making the glasses, he realised the bottleneck could be turned into candle a stick. He also makes flower vases and bulb holders from these bottles.
This work of art has enabled him to hire five youth. The project is a breakthrough since it is cheap, fast, and with a ready market.
It has been two years since he started this business, and he said it pays handsomely, enabling him to sustain himself and his family. He said he has no regrets after leaving his teaching career to a more colourful and creative job.
However, Mwiti faces problems of slow and tedious personnel, tiresome cutting because of lack of a good bottle cutter, transporting of the bottles from different bars and dumping sites and fragility of the bottles.
He urged the county government to help him acquire a good cutting machine.
Mwiti said if he gets such a machine many youths will benefit.
It would also be a solution to illicit alcohol consumption besides contributing to the Big Four agenda.
His advised the youth not to sit back and wait for white collar jobs and instead create jobs.
