When he used to wake up from 6am every day to dig a road across hill, Nicholas Muchami did not know his voluntary efforts would earn him a name.
In April, the Kaganda villager took two weeks to open up a road to give local residents a shorter route to access churches, school and area market.
Muchami, 45, saw suffering of his fellow villagers to access market area and churches, especially struggles by young children to get to their school, forcing him to dig a 1.5 kilometer road across a hill.
His fellow villagers at Kagaa Sub location have hailed Muchami’s selfless efforts of giving them a shorter route claiming that initially they were forced to walk for more than four kilometres to access social facilities.
Meanwhile, after his work was highlighted on social media platforms, individuals and groups have been trooping to the home of Muchami to appreciate his efforts.
Last month, the casual labourer who also doubles as a night watchman, was rewarded with a dairy cow from a group of well-wishers from Nairobi.
The recent guest to fete Muchami was ABC Bank from Nairobi that rewarded the middle aged man with another dairy cow worth Sh100, 000.
The Banks General Manager Mr. Philip Wambua on Tuesday led workers of the bank to hand over Muchami the cow at his rural home.
Wambua said as part of social responsibility, his Bank opted to turn the social welfare of Muchami for the work he has done to the local community.
He noted that there are few people in the contemporary society who think and do something which may touch lives of many people.
“After we saw the story of Muchami, we decided to reward him with a high grade dairy cow which will start giving him income within a short period,” added Wambua saying that they will also supply him with animal feeds for more than six month to ensure he is stable to handle the cow.
The cow, Wambua noted is insured, adding that they have trained Muchami on entrepreneurship skills to help him take full advantage of the dairy cow.
“Dairy farming is quite profitable if it is done in the right way. The cow is expected to give Muchami’s family a sufficient income to cater for their expenses” added the Bank manager.
Wambua asked local leadership to support efforts of Muchami by improving status of the road so as to make it useful during all seasons.
A community leader Stephen Ng’ang’a said local residents are enjoying works of Muchami by giving them a shorter route.
“As residents we are happy with the work of the village hero, who opted to open up the road even without asking for help from fellow villagers,” said Ng’ang’a.
On his part, Muchami appreciated the Bank for honouring him with a cow, saying he could not imagine what he did could earn him several rewards and support.
He said the county government can come in and improve the road by gravelling it to ensure it can be used during rainy season.
By Bernard Munyao
