Tyre Repair Business: “Don’t watch the clock, do what it does. Keep going,” so goes an adage that seems to aptly describe Ms Dorcas Moraa, a woman in Kisii County who has watched her fortunes grow from a simple tyre repair business.
Ms Moraa has not only bought a matatu from her business that has been shunned by many women, but also a piece of land from which she feeds her family.
She claims to be the only woman in the county engaged in the tyre repair business, a trade she acknowledges is male dominated.
“We were running a food café at the Ololung’a junction in Narok County, when my inspiration to this job was born,” she says.
She recalls observing a man from Ukambani repairing tyre punctures outside her café and noticed how he raked in ‘lots of money’ from the venture.
The mother of four says that, out of curiosity, she developed interest and could occasionally visit the workshop to try her hand in the repairs.
TRAINED IN TYRE REPAIRS
“I remember one Monday morning in 2001 (when) I approached Fundi as he was commonly referred to by his customers, and asked him if he could train me on how to do the repairs.
“I couldn’t believe when he obliged,” remembers Ms Moraa with nostalgia.
She says it took her a few months to become an expert in the trade which she still holds to 17 years down the line, only that she changed location to Kisii Town.
We met her in her workshop and after a short negotiation she accepted to give an interview but with the condition that it would not interrupt her work.
The agile lady seemed at ease, as she delicately balanced her attention on the interview and attending to her clients.
“I wake up at five in the morning every day, prepare myself before setting out for work. I travel from in Keroka daily,” she said.
“I love my job because I have been able to juggle between it and my family role as a mother of children who are now grown-ups,” narrates Ms Moraa.
She says she started off by repairing bicycle tyres at Ololung’a in Ngong before she relocated at the height of political violence in 2007.
“By then I had employed more than five people to help me in my business,” she says.
LUCKY TO ESCAPE UNSCATHED
She recalls how her neighbours lost property. She was among the lucky few who escaped unscathed from the turmoil.
The mother of four said that her business has enabled her to buy a piece of land in Nyanturago, Masaba North Sub-County where she is doing dairy farming.
“I have also bought a matatu (which is) plying the Kisii-Nakuru route,” she says.
John Mantundura, a taxi driver in Kisii Town, says he has known Moraa for some time now and frequents her workshop for tyre repairs.
“I prefer this lady because she never lies like others who will repair a puncture haphazardly to make you seek their services sooner,” he said.
Ms Moraa says that her business has helped her raise her four children aged between 17 and 25 without any problems.
Mr Martin Momanyi lauds Moraa for her work saying she is simply the best in the business.
“There are other fundis who are just cons. They repair your tyre and in a short while it is flat again.
“That is why I always prefer Moraa,” says Mr Momanyi.
Ms Moraa says that in a good month she goes home with up to 70,000 shillings from her repair business.
She says she has employed six people including her eldest son to help her with her work.
Tyre Repair Business: This profile was first published on Nation Africa.
