From eating ‘mukombero’ to hotel manager

Michael Madaga during interview with Standard, being an orphan he struggled with life and he's financially stable. PHOTO: BENJAMIN SAKWA

When my father Hezron Madaga died in 1989, I was only two-years-old. His death condemned our family to hard life. My eldest brother, who was in Form Two then, dropped out of school due to lack of fees. My mother became sickly, complicating matters for our young family. Three of my elder sisters, trying to escape the hard life at home, eloped in their late teens.

We lived one day at a time and there seemed to be no way to fill the gap left by my father, who was the family’s sole breadwinner, having worked as a messenger at Kaimosi Teachers Training College.

There were times I and my siblings would fight for wild fruits (tsimbalakaya) with monkeys in Kakamega Forest. We dug out wild roots (vihama) for food. For us, mukombero, famous for its alleged medicinal root, was food.

My eldest brother left for Nairobi to seek casual jobs, only to disappear for over 15 years. My mother, a house wife and peasant farmer, could not feed us, also bearing in mind she was sickly. I was forced to occasionally move from one homestead to another, asking for a chance to help them fetch water from a river two kilometres away so that they could give us a meal for the day.

At four, I would do casual jobs on people’s farms to earn Sh5 per day to cater for my family. In 1992, I joined school at Ndorobo Primary School.

Dressed in my elder brother’s torn pair of khaki short trousers, and his white shirt, I got admitted in nursery school. I stayed in nursery for four years due to lack of Sh50 interview fee. At nine, I started selling sugarcane to get money to pay school fees and take care of my sick mother. I would buy three pieces of sugarcane, cut them into pieces, which I sold for Sh1 each.

In 1997, something, which ended up turning my life around, happened in our village. A neighbour’s chick fell into his pit latrine. Because it was still alive, I volunteered to remove it from the latrine. The neighbour allowed me to own it. The chick became a hen and ultimately hatched between eight and 13 chicks.

After sometime, I sold some of them to raise school fees and meet other basic needs. I bought a sheep from the proceeds of the chicken. My venture collapsed in 2003 when my niece died and there was no money to cater for funeral expenses. I went back to begging. Luckily, I had already registered for my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams. After the results came out, I was called to join Ebunangwe Secondary School, but I didn’t because of lack of fees. I was forced to repeat, scoring 390 marks out of 500.

I was offered an opportunity at Kakamega High School but I still didn’t have school fees. I sought for help from the well-to-do without any success. My former teachers at Wagevi Primary School contributed money to buy some of the school items and also offered me Sh150 fare to school and pocket money.

At the school’s gate, I was almost locked out by the watchman who demanded that I go back home to get my parent. When he finally allowed me in, I walked straight to the principal’s office, told him my story and he allowed me to stay in school.

Two months after my admission, my mother got information from a family friend about education sponsorship by USAID for orphans and vulnerable children. She got application forms which she sent to me at school. I prayed over them and wrote two essays as was required: One on my life as an orphan and the other on the effects of HIV and Aids in Africa. I got Sh151,600 for scholarship. I finally sat for my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams and got B (plain). I went on to study a degree course in tourism management.

After joining campus, I became a refugee, a beggar and went without food. I survived on ugali and cabbage. The university later learnt of my plight and allocated me a room.

To survive on campus, I decided to do photography, but the business did not survive for long as our class was moved to town. However, I used the savings from the business to buy a motorbike. I did boda boda business after class between 7pm and 1am to raise fees and money for other basic needs.

After graduation, I enrolled for a master’s degree at Moi University. I was offered a part-time lecturing job for diploma courses at University of Eldoret, Moi University and the University of Nairobi.

I was later hired as a receptionist at Kamadep Hotel in Kakamega, then promoted to supervisor and later general manager until April 2016.

In September 2016, I joined Malava (K) Hotel as the general manager and I have also ventured into matatu business.

I got married while still in campus and I have a three-year-old son, own my dream home and I expect to start Voice for orphans, which is a long distance walk to raise funds to start Madaga Educational Centre for Orphans and Vulnerable Children.