Francis Kamau dropped out of school and drifted onto the streets of Naivasha in 2007. The youngest of six children, his family was very poor and his decision was driven by the poverty he experienced at home.
On the streets he spent his time ferrying loads for a few shillings, and collecting scrap metal to sell.
In January 2008 he was rescued by Sunshine staff and admitted to the Centre for care and support. When he had settled, he joined class 8 of Karai Primary School, before moving on to train as a welder at Naivasha Polytechnic.
He qualified well, and was employed at several different welding workshops in Naivasha before taking the ambitious step of setting up his own business in the Mwiki area of Nairobi in 2012.
In 2014, Footsteps trustees visited Francis to see how his new business was going. We were pleased to find he had lots of customers, but he told us that his welding machine kept breaking down, causing a delay to the completion of their orders. We immediately decided to invest in a new machine to help him.
He has continued to work with great skill and passion, building up his Unique Welding Workshop business, and now has a wife and young son.
But Francis has an ambition to build more than a successful business. He wants to repay the support he received from Sunshine by employing former street boys.
In August 2018, Joseph Thiong’o and Peter Gathoga joined his business, even before they had graduated as welders in May 2019 (photo right).
When we visited Francis in October, we were delighted to hear him describe his dream of repaying the investment we made in him in this unique way!
