Gunny bags to smooth Eldoret’s bumpy ride

By Kevin Tunoi

A drive on the bumpy feeder roads in Langas area in Eldoret, leave many commuters wondering why they did not opt to walk.

The roads, or more appropriately cattle tracts, have been eroded over time by heavy rains and poor drainage system in the densely populated estate.

After years of suffering and being on the verge of giving up using the roads at all, a group of estate youths decided to reclaim the roads’ lost glory.

With a burning dream to make a difference, the 125 young men and women from the area came together under a local organisation, Community Roads Empowerment, which focuses on improvement of roads and the environment.

The road makers are trained on how to make the roads using a Japanese technology, Do Nou, which means gunny bags in Japanese.

The bags are filled with sand or clay soil then laid on bad sections of the roads before being compacted and covered with murram and further compacted.

Kiyoshi Kita, the organisation’s chief executive officer, says the project has been successful and has been able to achieve its vision because of substantial funding by the International Labour Organisation through the Government of Japan.

“After receiving the money we embarked on training the youths by incorporating or forming groups then training them on the Do Nou technology. We allocate sections of the roads for repair,” says Kita.

Not the cream

The road workers earn some Sh260 per day for their work.

Kita says the daily payment is not the cream of the project saying that a select few of the group members will be chosen after the project and will be given an opportunity to study at the Gusii Technical School in Kisii County.

After training at the institute, the youths will be conferred with government recognised certificates in Class F.

“This certificate allows the person or group to bid for contracts up to a ceiling of Sh5 million which creates self-employment. It will give them a chance to succeed in this field,” he stated.

Kita, a Japanese who has been working in Kenya since the early 1980’s, however, urged the youth to formally register their groups with the relevant government wings as companies for them to be recognised and get tenders easily.

Mary Wanjiku, 19, is one of the youths who have benefitted from the project. She says she does not need to depend on her parents for petty cash for buying personal stuff any more.

“I even afford to shop for my parents from my daily allowance,” she says. Wanjiku added that the project not only pays but also motivates them to do their work properly since the main goal for most of them is to clinch the scholarships and land the Class F certificate.

Criteria for selection

“The criteria for the selection for training is based on how good one is at the repairs we do on the roads here,” she said.

Joseph Muiruri, another member, says working on the road has given him an opportunity to start his own business empire from scratch.

“My parents could not afford fees to enable me clear high school. I can’t let go this scholarship opportunity being floated in front of our eyes. I have to grab it,” he says. Muiruri says the problem with young people is that they want formal jobs and yet the economy does not allow this.

“Most of us youths would not want to be associated with menial jobs while office jobs require a lot of experience that we do not meet,” he said of the dilemma of young people.

Once the youths finish the road-making job, all the tools they use will remain in their hands, giving them a chance to do another job without necessarily buying tools. These include wheelbarrows, compacting and measuring tools.

Muiruri added that apart from earning from the project, the group members have developed a close bond regardless of ethnic backgrounds.

The project that ends in December aims to design, create and develop viable Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) owned by young men and women who will be trained and engaged on labour intensive infrastructure sector.

The youth owned MSEs will mainly take part in the rehabilitation and maintenance of rural and urban roads, walkways, private and public parking areas, access roads in parks, as well as the construction of rural markets using the labour-based approach.

The MSEs in turn will create thousands of jobs.

Although critics of the Do Nou technology call it an outdated method, residents of the North Rift have adopted it and will not just sit back crying for government’s assistance to repair their feeder roads.

“The Government is unresponsive; the more you ask for assistance the longer you suffer. Now with our young people working on this project, we are assured our backs will not break any more by the rough roads,” a jovial local resident says adding that once the roads are passing their farming will be boosted.

For the youths working on the road, they have suddenly found a solid career.