She would work 18 hours daily without any stipend. She started her shift at 6.30am and would work, waiting tables and attending to clients’ orders, until midnight so that she could get transport home. Leaving earlier meant that she would have to spend money on transport and meals, money she did not have.
In April 2002, her internship ended and she was informed that since she did not have suitable academic credentials, she could not graduate to full-time employment. Her mother wanted her to go back home, but she refused, telling her that she would find her own way in the city.
She was without a job for a couple months, spending most of her time at a friend’s tailoring shop in Maringo. She was lucky because her friend was kind enough to give her food. Occasionally, she would take a matatu ride into the city to look for work at restaurants, with no success.
One Sunday, while going to church, she struck a conversation with a man she was seated next to. He happened to own a bar, as well as a small fast-food stall selling chips, in BuruBuru Estate, Nairobi. The man offered her a job — for Sh2,500 a month —preparing and selling chips to the customers who frequented the bar.
The pay was not much, but she was glad to have work. And work she did, from 9am to midnight seven days a week. Her hard work was unappreciated, though, because her boss would pay her intermittently, and after three months, owed her Sh5,000 in salary arrears.
Her diligence drew the attention of her boss’s wife, who also ran a business in the city centre. She hired her to prepare and hawk tea and bread along River Road between 6am and 8pm.
LATE NIGHT FIASCOS
Sitah thought that her pay would be prompt, but she was wrong.
“She rarely had money to pay me.”
Her payment was in food — the bread and tea that was left over. The Sh2,500 per month that she was promised was rare, and seven months later, her employer owed her Sh10, 000. Sitah began to question her life’s direction.
“One day, I just didn’t turn up at work.”
Around that time, her siblings moved to Nairobi from Siaya to seek work opportunities.
“We were all struggling together, so we encouraged and supported each other.”