Sick and jobless, man bakes his way to success

40 year old chef Callistus Oketch who runs his own baking company at Dunga estate in Kisumu county. (Collins Oduor, Standard)

Seven years ago, Callistus Oketch nearly lost hope in life after falling sick and was laid off from his workplace over health complications. News that he had been sacked came just after he had recovered. It was a blow that could have broken a less-determined person. Not so for Mr Oketch, who decided to rise from the ashes to start a successful mandazi business. With just a kilo of wheat flour, Oketch, 40, started making mandazis at a small container shop in Dunga estate in Kisumu Central sub-county.

Today, he owns Summer Mini Bakery where he prepares mandazis and supplies them across the country. Oketch, who was working as a chef at a renowned hotel in Dunga, started experiencing back pains which could not allow him to stand for long. In May 2014, the pain became persistent and resisted all pain killers. After visiting a private hospital, the father of seven learnt he had a crack in his spinal cord, with further diagnosis revealing he had spinal tuberculosis.