Paulus Kasera spends his days transforming old tyres into valuable items such as thatch roof fastenings, fishing nets, thread to stitch shoes, chairs and tables.
A group of young men surround Kasera and his younger brother in Windhoek’s Okahandja Park informal settlement where they live.
The men observe as they reduce the tyres to smaller pieces and extract ropes from them.
Kasera, who hails from Kehemu location at Rundu, says he learnt how to recycle tyres from his father when he was 12 years old.
Nine years later, it became his profession. The brothers’ day starts at 07h00 and ends at 18h00.
Kasera (32) failed Grade 10 in 2013 and didn’t feel the need to go back to school.
He moved to Windhoek in 2014 in search of a job. “I had a job in a local store but the income was extremely low to sustain my parents back home,” Kasera says.
“I left the job the same year and started [recycling] tyres. I am a breadwinner to 12 people, including my parents, siblings and children,” he says.
“I prefer working for myself and not depending on a job that can end anytime based on a contract. I am focused on working for myself and on my business.”
Kasera says he manages to put bread on the table, has bought a car and employs two people at Rundu, where the final products are sent for sale. A driving licence, he says, is a qualification, and he encourages young people to work towards obtaining one as it is often a requirement for various jobs.
Kasera wishes to own a workshop and create employment opportunities in the future.
He currently works with his younger brother, and says they have both been focused on the same goal.
Frans Kasera (29), Paulus’ brother, says he mastered the skill within three days of receiving training from his brother. “I saw the progress and profit my brother made, so I joined him in 2019,” he says.
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