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Sospeter Mganga Njenga and his wife Ruth Mwihaki Mganga live on the Githuguri coffee plantation in Kenya's Central Province. The roads are of brick-red dirt and more suited for a Humvee than the sedan in which we're traveling. Cell phone reception is so "spotty" in this area that we tried for almost an hour to reach Sospeter on his mobile in order to get directions to his home. We were about to turn back to Nairobi when we finally made contact.
Sospeter and Ruth live on a small plot of land planted with banana trees and a small garden. Sospeter, who is 6th out of 8 children was asked to live here and care for his grandmother, who owns the land.
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Sospeter's specialty is jewelry out of cow horn. Ironically, while his production costs are quite low (primarily kerosene and dye), he has to purchase the horns from the slaughterhouses in Nairobi. Of course, getting on a matatu (mini-bus) with a large sack of "fresh" horns doesn't always make him very popular!
Once the horns are home, they are washed and cleaned. The inner soft tissue is removed and once the horns are dry, they can be processed. Flat pieces such as the disk shown are made by boiling the horn in oil until is softens, then flattening it and weighting it until it dries. Hoops can be cut from the large end and solid beads from the area near the point.
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Once the pieces are cut, cleaned, and smoothed, they are boiled in oil over a kerosene burner. If the end product is one of nine colors, the dye is added to the oil and penetrates the horn. Otherwise, the oil accentuates the natural variations in the horn.
Sospeter was reluctant to reveal a name for his business because he is not an "official" business. We could sense, however, that he DID have a name in his heart.
Sospeter has a number of goals for the business:
- He would like to have a shop where he could both display his jewelry as well as make it.
- He wants to be able to provide for his family, his grandmother, and assist in providing for his parents as they get older.
- To ensure his two children get a good education (even public education is not free in Kenya)
- To see the business grow to the point that it can employ others.
Pictures of Sospeter and Ruth |
