Before the sound of running water ever meant income, Paul Kiperus was known around Kiwanja as the guy you’d find at the riverbeds, loading sand onto lorries. Today, he’s the one people call when their tanks are leaking or when they finally decide to install indoor plumbing.
He was in Form 1 when everything changed. An elephant attacked his father while he was running errands. The injuries were serious, such that both legs were broken, and just like that, Paul had to stop school. The money that would have been allocated for his school fees was redirected to cover hospital bills and other medical expenses. As the eldest child, he stepped up, and school had to wait as he stayed back to take care of his siblings.
To make ends meet, Paul worked at sand harvesting sites. He’d get Ksh. 300 for every lorry he helped load. Most of the time, he was forced to work in the dead of night; it was cold, tiring, and risky. The riverbeds could flood without warning, and on more than one occasion, he feared for his life. But he kept going because staying idle was not an option.
While working as a sand harvester, Paul still found time to help around his community. He had volunteered for two years to monitor water pipes in a nearby Community Land Management Committee (CLMC) project, even though he didn’t know how to fix them. Whenever there was a leak, someone else had to be called in. The board saw his dedication, and when Ujuzi Manyattani came, they suggested he take it a step further by enrolling in a plumbing course under the vocational training program. It was something he had quietly been working toward all along.
At first, upon joining, he was nervous. He had never been to a classroom since dropping out of school. Some of the skills he was taught included pipe fitting, water supply, drainage systems, and plumbing fixtures, among others. They even had practical sessions in nearby schools.
After completing training, Paul didn’t sit still. He took on small jobs, such as fixing tanks, repairing leaks, and connecting homes to the water supply. His phone started ringing more often. For the first time in years, he had regular work and income he could count on. “I’d leave the house in the morning and come back in the evening with something for the family,” he says.
With his nationally recognized certificate in hand, Paul applied for a job under the Makurian Osirua Water Project with Laikipia County. He was accepted as a casual and has now been on the payroll for nine months, earning around Ksh. 9,000 monthly. For bigger jobs, he links his classmates from the program.
He’s also been involved by the Mayianat Conservancy management in repairing pipelines that elephants have destroyed.
Their area had always struggled with access to water. When a storage tank was finally built to help the community, many families wanted water piped directly to their homes. Paul took it upon himself to lend a hand. The demand grew so rapidly that he decided to open a small plumbing workshop, stocking fittings and connectors that people used to travel as far as Nanyuki to buy.
With support from Rangelands SACCO through FFI-Darwin, he got a Ksh. 50,000 loan to expand. Paul dreams of further growing his shop, adding things beyond plumbing and other hardware materials.
