Kenyatta market has been Rosemary Wadenya’s life force for nearly half of her life.
Truly, it is the thing and the place that’s kept her alive. It is the thing and the place that’s brought food to the table for her and her four children. It is the thing and the place that’s dragged her out of the depression and grief spurred by losing her life partner. It is the thing and the place that’s given her friends and community. On most days, Rosemary simply doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
In many ways, Rosemary and Kenyatta have a relationship based on commensalism – a type of symbiotic relationship. When Kenyatta thrives, Rosemary thrives. But when Rosemary falters, Kenyatta feels nothing. Because while Kenyatta is Rosemary’s life force, Kenyatta can exist without Rosemary. If Rosemary fails, another braider will take her place. The market will beat once more.
In other words, Kenyatta can leave people behind, people who need it. Since Covid shutdowns in 2020, Rosemary’s salon “Rovy hair salon” has sufferred in waves.
“Business is sometimes good, sometimes bad,” said Rosemary, eying a customer as she walks from her car and into Kenyatta’s gate. Rosemary waves a bunch of sample braids in silent invitation – the potential client avoids eye contact and walks into the depth of the market. Rosemary sighs.
“You never know.”
But braiding is something Rosemary has done her whole life. Before it was monetized and became a life force of sorts, it was just a “hobby”. Something she did for her friends, her children, and herself. Braiding, and subsequently Kenyatta, became something she needed after her husband died and left her a single mother to four children. Despite this shift, she doesn’t resent braiding. If anything, she applauds it. Braiding allows her to be a boss – her own boss. What she resents at times is Kenyatta. The commensalism relationship she has found herself in.
So how can she hold onto braiding but begin work outside of Kenyatta? Her first step is joining “Braiding Nairobi.” At the moment, Rosemary “just knows here.”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
Through Braiding Nairobi, she hopes to diversify her customer pool, put her work and story on a national platform, and prove to herself and others that she is more than Kenyatta. We’re so pleased to have her on the platform – check out her profile on the Braiding Nairobi app. We launch May 11th!
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