Kenya T HE bicycle reigns supreme in this rural town in south-western Kenya, performing much the same functions as cars and trucks in larger cities. Youths carry passengers and goods on bikes. Boys as young as eight can be seen riding through the streets with two or three 20-litre jerrycans of water hanging to their bicycles. The mayor and town clerk cycle to work.
Old women pedal along in the hot sun.
And sometimes coffins are ferried from the district mortuary to burial grounds on bicycles. The feeder roads, all made of earth, are rough and, in the wet season, muddy. But on bicycle, I now pay 40 Kshs daily to and fro and they are readily available. Or compare it to a trained primary school teacher who spends two years at a teacher training college only to end up taking home Kshs 3,000 per month.'' About 200 'border-border' riders are members of the Siaya Bicycle Transporters Association, which is registered with the Department of Culture and Social Services. But the job has its risks, too.