Lekatoo has returned to Maralal, his village, in Samburu territory. Years ago, when he was younger, he had to leave those lands following a dream. He had finished high school and his parents, pastors, did not have money for university. He went to Nairobi in search of a job that would allow him to achieve his desire to be a lawyer. He didn’t get it. He chained jobs as an assistant in stores. He did everything: clean the store, organize shelves, take orders and carry out his bosses’ orders. At night he slept in the establishment to make sure no one came in to steal. All this for a tiny salary. He soon got fed up with it.
It was an acquaintance from the town who recommended a barber friend to him. He entered the small hair salon as an apprentice and worked his way up as he learned the trade. But he also got tired of that job that did not provide him with the means to go to university. That’s why he migrated to South Africa. He had heard that a lot of money was made in the mines of that country. He joined a group of young people who were also looking in that El Dorado for an opportunity to improve their lives and help their families.
The years in the mine were hard, he confesses. Long hours underground, without seeing the light and always exposed to the danger of a collapse. Some of the countrymen he traveled with died buried under tons of rock. He acknowledges that he was lucky. The salary was good, but life in the mining camp was very expensive. Paying for accommodation and food left little room to save.
Time passed, savings were few and the hardness of the work invited them to spend them on the weekend in the bars in the area. Lekatoo assumed his dream of going to college would never come true. A strong feeling of defeat, added to the loneliness in which he lived, took over him. Furthermore, he saw his health deteriorate: poor working conditions, inhaled gases and the harshness of life in the camp contributed to this.
Finally, he gathered his courage and, against the advice of his companions, decided to return to his country. He saved for a few months until he obtained the amount that would allow him to pay for the trip and settle back in his town.
He arrived first in Nairobi, where he bought everything he needed to set up a hair salon in Maralal. He continued on his way. When he arrived home, many of his neighbors and acquaintances thought that he had returned rich. They soon realized that this was not the case and some laughed at him. He didn’t care. With a few zinc panels used to roof houses, he built a place that he decorated with a large mirror and many posters showing different haircut styles and some religious quotes. Lekatoo assures that he is happy now. He is married, has a child and earns a good living.
