Man turns love for wood carving into thriving curio shops venture

Mr David Mwaura, second right, of Rift Valley Collectors Den gallery attends to customers at his Lanet shop in Nakuru. Photo/Suleiman Mbatiah 

By Magdalene Wanja

As a child, David Mwaura loved moulding mud into various shapes. Later in life the hobby blossomed into wood carving. Today Mr Mwaura is the owner of four curio shops and employs over 100 workers.

He started the business in a small shop in Nakuru town in 2000 with only two workers. He invested Sh30,000 in the business and later pumped in Sh70,000 to expand his shop as tourists streamed in. Mr Mwaura later opened more curio shops along routes popular with tourists.

The father of three recalls that some of his early carvings elicited interest from his peers who befriended him in the hope of landing collectors’ items.

“I tried making some carvings when I was young, I cannot forget one of a Maasai moran I made when I was very young,” he said.

His business mostly relies on tourists who buy animal carvings after seeing them in local national parks. He now has workshops in Nakuru, Mombasa, Nairobi and Machakos.

The tourists buy the carvings to remember their visit to Kenya and the animals they saw. Most of the tourists make stop-overs at his curio shops to buy carvings and other artifacts.

“If there are no animals in the parks to attract tourists we will be left with no customers,” he aid. Mr Mwaura urged the government to market local artifacts through exhibitions.

Mr Mwaura has faced a number of challenges, ranging from lack of trees from which carvings are made to low customer turnout due to politics. Some of the trees he uses to make carvings include Ebony, jacaranda and rosewood most of which are found in Meru and Eastern region.

“I rely on international tourists and issues like terrorism have a great impact on my business,” he said.

Most local tourists, he said, tend to shy away from his shops.

He urged Kenyans to get involved in forest conservation, adding that deforestation has forced them to use endangered trees for carving.

Apart from tree carvings, Mr Mwaura also employs a number of people who work on Batiks, oil paintings and soft stone carvings.