My Hustle: There is no such thing as a man’s job

Rebecca Asiye a mother of three, toils her days away on a quarry site near River Kathita about half a kilometre from the Embu Level Five Hospital.

I earn a living cracking rocks to produce kokoto (ballast) and building bricks from a quarry site near River Kathita, about half a kilometre from the Embu Level Five Hospital. I started this seven years ago, after working as a casual in factories in Nairobi and at construction sites. I bought stone hammers at Sh300 and started working on rocks in the neighbourhood.

Despite this being seen as a man’s work, I have found success in it and even employ two or three men everyday to help me. Using the stone hammer, I produce 10 wheelbarrows of ballast every day. Jointly, we produce about 40 wheelbarrows and sell a tonne of ballast at Sh1,000.