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Uganda: She Has Succeeded Where No Woman Would Venture
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New Vision (Kampala)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Titus Serunjogi
Kampala
SHE has always been considered more than just a woman. She broke all boundaries and ventured into a business that is considered a strictly man's domain.
Five years ago, Mary Wangari Kamau set up a grave construction and engraving company in Rubaga, Kampala, which has attracted big business. Today, she has set up Uganda's pioneer engraving school at Kasenge off Nakawuka Road in Wakiso District.
The Heka School will offer vocational training in not only foundation stone and gravestone engraving, but also terrazzo building, welding, glass cutting and brick-laying. The school will soon kick off with about 20 jobless adults who will study for free while working in Kamau's firm.
"I have worked as an engraver in Uganda and Kenya for the past 20 years. Jobs in this field are inexhaustible. Since 2003 when I came to Uganda, I have trained 14 men. But these cannot handle all the work we get. So I have decided to set up a boarding vocational school, where students can have practical lessons and earn while studying," says Kamau, who is also the proprietor of Heka Enterprises, an engraving company with branches in Kampala, Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya and Arusha and Dar-es-salaam in Tanzania.
Kamau's previous students from Rubaga Division were formerly jobless Primary Seven dropouts.
But with their newly-acquired skills in engraving, welding and glass cutting, they now earn sh250,000 a month. Many are employed by Heka Enterprises.
Recalling the days of his apprenticeship with Kamau, Samuel Kiyiingi, an engraver says: "Kamau is a rare woman. She taught us to work like the Nairobi matatus (Kenya taxis) -always up and about. There was never a time when she left us to ourselves. We studied and worked all the time, but it was worth it. We now have jobs to sustain our families."
"I tell whoever I employ to work hard, while paying attention to detail," Wangari says.
Asked how she handles students-cum-employees, who believe in the superstition that one cannot build a grave before drinking booze, Kamau says: "I have also encountered such beliefs in Kenya. My rule is that one should not drink while handling expensive gravestones. They can drink and dance once the work is complete."
Ruth Nansereko, one of Kamau's clients says: "Neither does she paint her nails or wear stilettos. She says those things make her reluctant to handle sand and cement. Many times, she does the construction herself.
A daughter of Kamau Karanja, a famous engraver in Muranga District, central Kenya, Kamau studied at Wanjere Primary School in central Kenya, before joining Nyagatugu Secondary School, where she studied up to Form Four (this is the highest secondary school level in the Kenyan system of education).
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In Kampala, Wangari has led men in the construction of the late Elly Wamala's grave, Majid Musisi (RIP) as well as for some departed members of Gordon Wavamunno and Maj. Katumba Wamala's family. She is also contracted by the Uganda Funeral services and A+ Funeral Services. Her charges range from sh25,000 to sh5m.
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