Jua Kali FAQ: The Workshops Named for the Fierce Sun — Epoche B1
Ordering from this workshop: questions customers ask Q: The sign says "jua kali". What does that mean? Fierce sun. It is the Swahili name for Kenya's open-air workshops, and it is literal: the trade grew up outdoors, on open ground rather than in rented buildings, and the sun that beats on the work named the whole sector. Kamukunji, where this yard stands, has been Nairobi's metalwork ground for generations. The name has stretched - Kenyans now say "jua kali" about anything improvised that works. The yard takes it as half a compliment. Q: Why is my storage box cheaper than the supermarket one? No rent for a hall, no electricity bill for machines that hand shears replace, and the metal itself has usually lived one life already. Sheet is cut from old drums and roofing off-cuts, flattened and folded cold. Open your finished box and you may find its previous life inside - the printed paint of an oil drum. The box is new; the steel is experienced. Q: What do you actually make? Most things in sheet metal, to order and to measure: the boxes boarding-school students carry, cooking pots, charcoal stoves, water tanks, wheelbarrows. Bring measurements on paper. Three days for a box; a week for a tank. Q: What happens when it rains? Honestly: the hammering pauses and tarpaulins cover the benches. The sun named the trade; the rain sets its holidays. In the wet months, collect one day late. Q: Is jua kali just this one yard? No - it is most of working Kenya. The great majority of the country's new jobs each year are made in open-air trades, not offices: metalwork at Kamukunji, furniture along Ngong Road, tailoring, repair of everything repairable. Something in your house was made under the fierce sun. References Mbiti, J. S. (1970). African Religions and Philosophy. Heinemann. Njoroge, R. (2000). African Proverbs and Wisdom: A Collection for Everyday Use. East African Educational Publishers.