Many sexagenarians are in their homes enjoying their retirement or running their businesses but this is not the case for Sande.
He is 61 years old with no job or home. He lives in a makeshift polythene house in a heap of garbage in Parklands, a suburb within Nairobi.
He had lived in Parklands all his life. His father was a watchman in a house not too far from where he lies on a heap of garbage daily.
Parklands is a sad reminder for him because he sees a tree where his father died while resting.
“Alikufa, he left me with my brother,” he told TV47.
Sadly, his brother also died years back after eating contaminated garbage food. Rats had contaminated the food.
Sande was traumatized and he moved to Molo where he secured a job as a cattle herder but his brother’s death haunted him every time he went to the forest to graze the cattle.
He saved enough and came back to Nairobi and rented a small house in Kangemi. He lived together with his girlfriend.
Sande got another job as a shopkeeper and prepared mandazi for sale every day to substitute his income.
Months later, he moved to Michigwi where the rain started beating him. One day, his house was set on fire while he was asleep. By the time he realized, the fire has spread and an angry mob was waiting for him outside for a beating.
A major setback it was! He moved to the defunct Uchumi Supermarket where he secured a sweeper’s job but it did not last.
This sent him back to the streets. Parklands was his home since childhood so he returned to the shanty.
He lives off collecting plastics and selling them to get money for buying food.
He has become a drug addict as he tries to cope with the hardships of life.