As a Class 7 dropout, one might feel that life has gotten ugly, notwithstanding the constant humiliations from society, its the limitations of jobs, among different situations of misery.
In any case, this reality didn’t put down Peter Chang’ari who kept going spite of his modest formal education. In a media interview, he portrayed his journey that started when he dropped out in Class 7 after he couldn’t pay school fees.
Brought up in a poverty stricken foundation, he described how he had to buckle down to fight for himself. Through determination and hard work, he got employed as a mechanic. Afterward, he picked the lessons and started welding vehicles – an expertise he gained from his manager at the garage.
”I watched the old man repair cars and learnt from him. I started working on old bikes until I finally got my own welding equipment. I continued until I began welding cars,” he narrated.
He said that his enthusiasm for innovation drove him to build a cart, at an exceptionally young age which thusly inspired him to built a car.
Nonetheless, his breakthrough stemmed from a severe bit of events where he had requested help from an outsider only to be looked downward on.
”When I was in Narok, I requested someone to help me transport Maize using his car, instead, he despised me and jeered off leaving a cloud of dust behind, this turn of events motivated me to build my own car.” he stated
He noted that his advancement journey had not been an easy one, stating that the first vehicle which was a three wheeled was generally welcomed however local people preferred a four wheeled vehicle thus inciting him to manufacture a second one.
Talking in one of the vehicles he constructed, Chang’ari expressed that he started with a capital of Ksh 150,000 that he acquired from the mechanical job he was doing, adding that the materials he used for the vehicle were locally sourced from Jua Kali while the clutch he used was sourced from an old motorbike.
Talking about his fulfilling his dreams, the youthful innovator shared that all he needs to extrapolate his dream is a place to assemble cars, the capacity to employ more people, and financial support from interested investors. He further disclosed that with the help of able personnel and financial assistance, he can build a car within a month.
The mechanic further revealed that he had made a trip to better places, such as, Nairobi, Embu using the vehicle and it cost him 250 shillings, he added that the vehicle moves at a speed of 80km/hr.
The one of a kind vehicle has a conveying capacity of upto 7 tons for each trip – an advancement that makes him one of the first Kenyans to own a vehicle from locally obtained materials.
