Under the modest shelter of a veranda in Kericho town, surrounded by brushes, recycled materials, and bursts of vibrant color, 51-year-old artist Polycarp Otieno Ochieng is quietly transforming lives, one at a time.
Born in 1973 in Kenya's Nyanza region, Ochieng has dedicated nearly three decades to perfecting the art of creative recycling and since 1996, he has built a thriving career in painting, design, face painting, and crafting customized stamps and stickers s proudly displayed at his open-air jua kali workshop in the heart of Kericho.
He revealed that his journey began with almost nothing, collecting and selling scrap metal to for a meagre pay that barely sustained him.
However, after years of hardship and persistence, he discovered the potential to turn the very materials he once sold into creative, marketable products, ultimately building a sustainable livelihood from what others had discarded.
