More Kenyans working past 65 to keep off old age poverty

Elderly people will continue to work in order to afford their basic needs.

Ms Rosemary Wanja, 71, juggles between weaving and selling baskets, planning for weekly weaving training for a group of women, and seeking driving tasks every once in a while.

An elderly woman who has also been battling arthritis over the past eight years, age is fast catching up with her, weighing down her expertise in driving- a career she has depended on since 1971- which has cut her chances of getting driving tasks.

But the responsibility to take care of her grandchildren, with whom she lives with at a rental house in Dagoretti, Nairobi, keeps her on toes, always striving to feed them. Ms Wanja has, thus, had to increase her focus on weaving over the past four years, creating a niche in weaving baskets, furniture and door mats, all in the search for the money to pay her bills.

“I meet with a group of women in Nairobi’s Adams once a week whom I train weaving of different items and get compensated for the services. I teach two teams, so I arrive at 8 in the morning. My first class begins at half past 8 and runs until noon. My second session runs from quarter to 2 pm, and I train them until 4.30pm,” she says.

DBWorking past 65