The inspiring story of Eunice Atieno who hawks fruits in Nakuru city from her wheelchair
Eunice Atieno sells bananas across Nakuru city centre on October 24, 2023.
As the world marks World Polio Day, Mtaa Wangu caught up with Eunice Atieno to hear her story and celebrate the polio survivor.
In case you walk around Nakuru CBD as often as I do, then you have most likely spotted Eunice Atieno.
A resilient Eunice can be spotted on a daily, braving her way through various roads across the city zigzagging her way through automobiles with a bunch of fruits on her lap, mostly bananas.
Bound to her wheelchair as a result of polio and with sweat dripping down her forehead, a smiling Eunice makes her way through the city's busy roads to where I await her.
She hands me the bunch of bananas I had pre-ordered and from the first glance, you notice her scars marking her victory over the fight with polio.
As I bite into a banana, Eunice begins sharing, "I was left paralyzed as a result of polio when I was only three years old. That's when everything took a turn in my life."
The Kisumu-born 38-year-old shares that she came from a family with a very humble background.
"My parents were not able to afford a wheelchair which made me have to use the next best thing; crutches, which I had to rely on for close to twenty years," she narrates.
She only got to acquire a wheelchair much later, in 2009 to be exact, out of a donation by a well-wisher.
Eunice Atieno during an interview on October 24, 2023.
Orphaned at the age of 15, Eunice experienced teen years filled with challenges and upon turning 21, she opted to move to Nakuru in search of greener pastures.
Albeit short-lived, her move brought with it some good fortune.
She shares, "Shortly after my move from Kisumu, I met a man and fell in love. We decided to start a family."
Unfortunately, her world was shattered once more when her husband decided to walk out of her life after the birth of their third child.
Left with the heavy burden of not only her disability but having to provide for her three children, she opted to take the 'easier' route to earn; begging.
" I never imagined I would have to depend on begging to put food on the table but, I ended up begging on the street for eight long years," she recalls painfully.
One day, something snapped in her and she decided that she couldn't keep begging for money.
Using the 50 shillings a well-wisher had given her, she decided to go to Nakuru's renown soko and purchase some bananas.
" I only purchased the bananas as an act of faith and prayed for God to go before me. To my surprise, I sold the entire bunch and even had to restock," she shares beaming with a smile.
Two years later after her leap of faith, she has grown her business citing that she even has loyal customers that call her for fruit deliveries in various locations in Nakuru ranging from Moi road, to Kenyatta Avenue and further down to Market road.
The business-lady that is quite known along Kenyatta Avenue has since branched from selling only bananas into selling other fruits such as oranges and mangoes a growth she cites is a doing of God's favour.
In her closing remarks, she notes, "Begging is the easiest route I would have taken but I choose to wake up every day and hustle. I hope my story gets to inspire other persons with disabilities to follow suit."