When Joshua Awili’s father passed
away after a short illness in 2005, his
world crumbled.
Awili’s dream of becoming a journalist was shattered and he had to
quickly grow up and take his father’s
place as the head of the house.
“I had just finished high school. My
hopes of getting a university education faded away. I started looking for
a job to at least sustain myself and
my three siblings and sickly mother,”
he says.
His sister, who was in high school,
dropped out in Form 3 due to lack
of school fees.
His younger brother, who was in
Standard 8, had to repeat three times
as Awili figured out how he would
educate him.
As life continued, he had to make
the tough decision of moving to
Mombasa.
After staying with his uncle for
some time, he secured a job with
Connerstone Security as a security
guard in Tudor. Awili manned the
KPA houses.
“I was on night shift and we were
paid Sh100 a day, cumulating to
Sh3,000 a month. The take away after
deductions was between Sh2,400 and
Sh2,600 a month,” he says.
The money was not enough to take
care of his sickly mother and three
siblings, so he had to quit.
His job-hunt would land him in
the hotel industry.
He secured a casual job at Sarova
Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa as
an entry point cleaner.
Here, he would impress his bosses
with his dedication and save enough
for a diploma course in business management at the Technical University
of Mombasa.
“I divided my 24 hours into four
quarters. I would work at Whitesands during morning hours and go
to TUM at 4pm as a part-time student.
I would later head straight to Travellers hotel where I worked as a kitchen
steward till around 6am,” Awili says.
He would then go home freshen up
and head to Whitesands again.
“It was hectic. I barely slept. I used
to sleep for two hours only and my
body started acting up. I was fatigued
and fell sick frequently. I did that for
three months and decided it was unsustainable. I had to quit the Travellers Hotel job,” Awili says.
By this time he had moved out of
his uncle’s house and had rented a
Sh1,800-per-month house.
BREAKTHROUGH
With the little he was making he ensured his sister went back to school.
She had to start from Form 1 after
staying at home for almost three years.
“She went up to college and is
now working and has her own family. My brother finally went to high
school, completed, went to college
and is a family man too,” Awili says.
Meanwhile, his dedication to his
work saw him promoted several times
and ended up being the sales assistant
at Whitesands, a position he says laid
the ground for his breakthrough.
With the support of his bosses, Awili’s ambition grew.
He moved to the Sarova Hotels’
head office in Nairobi, then to PrideInn Hotels where he was the reservations manager, before heading back
to Sarova as a sales account manager
focusing on the leisure and the MICE
(Meetings, Incentives, Conferences
and Exhibitions) business segments.
When Covid-19 struck, Awili got
an opportunity as a sales manager at
the Taita Hills and Salt Lick, whose
management contract with Sarova
Hotels had ended.
He works there to date and is currently writing a book to inspire youth
who have dreams.
“The book is especially for those
who come from humble backgrounds
and have to work it out from scratch,”
the manager says.
“If you have somebody who can support you, then
it’s good. But if you have to do it
by yourself, then don’t give up. Do
not only put your focus on the white
collar jobs.”
According to Awili, the secret is in
hard work and focus.
“Have a positive attitude, stay focused, remind yourself every day that
you can do it,” he says.
You have the same blood, same energy, same strength, you were born
and raised a strong Kenyan and African.”
“You eat ugali like the others and
you can work. Actually, we are stronger than we think. You have 24 hours
to work yourself out,” he says.
Awili said most young people spend
a lot of time on things that make the
body weak instead of focusing on
things than can develop one as a
person.
“I am advising young people not to
spend a lot of time sleeping. Sleeping
is good. In fact, I sleep for eight hours
straight and I enjoy it. But don’t oversleep and don’t spend a lot of time
during the day on activities that are
not useful,” he says.
Had he lost hope, he would not
have been able to uplift his family.
“Take up any job that comes your
way and make sure you save money
to get an education. There are very
many opportunities out here for well-educated people.”
