The in-house trained camping equipment technician told The Zimbabwean that given on-going company closures, he realised he could only make a living out of dump sites, where he collects scrap metal and makes paraffin-fuelled cooking stoves and lamps.
With the persistent power outages and inhibitive gas prices, Nyabonde said his only way out of the crisis was to manufacture cheap paraffin cylinders to power stoves, as most households depended on them.
“As the economy is mainly informal, people have to survive on their individual capabilities and be innovative or else one will sink. For me, making these paraffin stove is the only way out,” Nyabonde said.
To assemble the cooking and lighting equipment, he collects dumped old gas cylinders and used lamps which he modifies into usable gadgets. As the majority of Zimbabweans are reeling under economic hardships and struggling to put meals on the table, Nyabonde said: “At least I am surviving and providing for my family.”
A cooking stove made up of a 5-kg paraffin cylinder, connecting pipes and stove is priced at $150 at formal retail outlets. On average, a full tank would last a family of five two weeks, if they are preparing three meals per day.It costs $5.30 to fill a five-litre cylinder with paraffin at a fuel station.
Nyabonde sells at least five cylinder-type stoves per month. Lamps sell at between $35 and $65 depending on size. “Before the economy took a sharp dive, I was making a killing out of the trade ,” said Nyabonde. But now he is “just surviving”.
He attributed the low business to the liquidity crunch gripping the country. To keep his legacy shining in the family, Nyabonde has taught five of his sons how to repair and service paraffin stoves, lamps and refrigerators.
Nyabonde observed that paraffin fuelled gadgets had been overtaken by those powered by gas. He hopes to reverse the trend as most households are struggling to maintain gas stoves. He was employed by a camping equipment company, Fereday and Sons, soon after completing his Cambridge Ordinary Level studies several decades ago – but he cannot remember exactly when. He only recalled that he was employed as a customer care clerk and later taught how to service paraffin powered equipment. His duties involved demonstrating to clients how the gadgets worked.
His services where terminated decades later when the economy began slowing down.
“I would like to urge technicians and other skilled people in my situation to earn a living out of the expertise they acquired when they were employed,” said Nyabonde.
Mirriam Muronzi, a Glenview housewife interviewed by The Zimbabwean at Nyabonde’s work place along Julius Nyerere Street, said she bought a paraffin powered stove from the technician three years ago and it has never let her down.
Five-kg gas cylinders cost an average $50, stoves $32 and the cylinder plate over $15.
The cylinder would be filled with $12.50 gas. The gas lasts fewer days than paraffin.
With rampant deforestation in Zimbabwe, the country’s urbanites have resorted to paraffin and gas powered cooking appliances over now scare fuel-wood and charcoal.
Post published in: News