Surviving on selling poles

PAULUS Vilho of Kuvukiland location at Tsumeb has a unique way of making a living – he sells wooden poles in Kuvukiland.

People use the poles for the construction of shacks in the copper mining town.

met Vilho (41), who was hard at work at his shack on Friday last week.

“This is how I make a living. What I get from selling these poles is somehow enough to help me survive here and send some money to my family in the north,” said Vilho who hails from Eenhana in Ohangwena region.

The father of four explained that he came to Tsumeb in 1995 and initially worked as a security guard for 15 years until 2010 before leaving the job because of low pay.

“I decided to leave the job because it was not paying well enough despite me working long hours and at dangerous sites,” he said.

Vilho said he turned to cutting wooden poles on farms around Tsumeb for sale to the community.

“It is somehow a good business considering that people are setting up shacks all the time and they need the poles to use for fencing and construction,” he said.

Vilho ties the poles together in bundles of between six and eight.

He sells a bundle for only N$20, because, he says people in the location cannot afford to pay more than that.

His customers are mainly new arrivals who want to set up shacks or old residents intending to extend their shacks.

“As you might be aware, many people here are unemployed or earn meagre salaries. They cannot afford expensive materials. That is why I sell the poles for only N$20 a bundle,” he explained.

Vilho said cutting, carrying and finishing the poles into finished products is demanding though.

“Two years ago, I used to go just beyond that road, and I would get as many poles as I wanted.

“But now there is nothing. I have to go deeper to the farms to get the poles,” he said.

He, however, stated that not all farm owners allow him to cut down poles and that he had to carry the poles for a distance of up to seven kilometres to Kuvukiland.

Vilho, who is single and lives with two other men from the north, further said although the work is physically demanding, he has accumulated a good client base though.

“Most people know me, and when they want poles, they do not look far. Some buy on credit and pay me at month end.

“I know by the end of the month the money would come,” he noted.

He explained that in a good month, he made anything between N$1 500 and N$2 000.

Neighbour Fillemon Natangwe applauded Vilho for the work he is doing.

“Others are robbing people in town and the bush, but he is working for himself. The man is doing a great job. The unemployed youth should emulate his example,” he stated.

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