A young man in Mbale town, in Vihiga county, is harnessing his skills in pottery to produce beautiful artifacts for sale.
The 23-year-old Edward Sandachi says pottery is a cultural heritage in the area, hence the need to preserve as well as commercialize it.
He specializes in flower pots and makes artificial flowers which he sells to customers at a good price.
“I ventured into this business as an assistant to somebody in the year 2020, but after learning the art from him, I decided to set up my own shop early last year,” he said.
To make the artifacts attractive, Sandachi, who is assisted in the business by his younger brother, decorates them with various colours and incisions.
The entrepreneur states that to make his commodities sell fast, he charges pocket-friendly prices ranging from Sh. 400 for the small one to Sh. 1,500 for a sizeable pot packed with flowers.
He states that the main challenge with pottery is that the products can easily break and hence maximum precaution has to be taken while handling the finished artifacts.
“The process begins with extracting the clay, kneading, molding the products, drying, curing, and ultimately decorating.
His workshop is located in the Ilesi area of Shinyalu Sub County in Kakamega County, where his brother gets the raw material and does the initial stages up to curing, then brings it to him to do the decoration.
“I am proud of my work as it enables my assistant and I to eke out a living in the face of the ever-shrinking job opportunities in the formal sector,” he says.
By Yvonne Nasambu and Sammy Mwibanda
