Gladys Kwamboka – A Maker of Reed Mats
September 10, 2010
Hello, I am Gladys Kwamboka – 24 years of age and married with two children. My homeland is in Kisi, but I am doing business in Kisumu town. I completed my Primary level (8th grade) of study.
I began my mat business in early 2007, after my husband was sacked from Kenton Chemistry where he was employed as pharmacist. We could not stop living, so I joined a friend of mine who was already engaged in producing papyrus reed mats. The requirements were not much: a panga [machete] for cutting the papyrus reeds, sisal for the string, a small wire that acts as a needle, and a special wooden stick to help in joining the dried reeds. With these simple items one can produce a full and complete mat.
In a day, depending on my speed, I can manage to make four large mats. In a week, I can make up to 24 large and 10 medium mats. A large mat costs 150/= (1.80 USD) and medium mat cost 100/= each (1.20 USD). Therefore, in one week I usually make round 2,000/= (25.00 USD) profit.
Before I joined the mat business, I owned a small grocery back in Kisi. Here in Kisumu the grocery business was very competitive and I couldn’t make it because I was new to the environment. The only person I knew in Kisumu, apart from my husband, was a friend who was engaged in reed mat making. With her help, it was natural that the mat business be the one I joined. Reed mats are in high demand because they are very important to our community. Hence, we had a ready market. Beginning the work requires little to no capital and only two weeks of practical training – both of which are very appealing.
[editor: The reed mats described (An organic, carbon negative, biodegradable product) are one of the most ubiquitous and versatile household products available in Kisumu and throughout the region. Common uses are as inside room dividers, ceiling material, wall covering, sleeping surfaces, roofing of temporary structures (often kiosks), "grates" in fish smokers, and as a portable surface for sun drying maize or small fish. Any trip to a market or conversation can provide some new use]
I feel proud in this business because it has allowed me to purchase land back at my village, my children are going to school, my family can access proper medication, and I am able to pay rent despite the fact that my husband is jobless. My largest investment [money spent to improve the business] from my profits is that I have managed to buy a tractor, by bank loan, which people hire. I get paid a portion of the profits after their farming.
Overall, the benefits that I can now count on from the business are: I have purchased a tractor for farming, I have begun to buy land in my rural area, my children are not sent away from school (as they were before due to inability to pay school fees), and I have obtained two dairy cattle for “zero grazing”.
Some of the challenges that I face are: transporting the product to the market over a long distance, and a lack of papyrus reeds during the dry season.
My advice to other women is that they should not sit back and wait for refuge or be dependant on other people who also have their own problems to sort out. With some effort most can engage themselves in a simple business which needs little capital to start. From that, poverty can be eradicated without government aid.
-Dan Odhiambo
