Mike Obongo alias Balozi, 62, is a man celebrating the fruits of having the ability to write in diverse forms. Calligraphy is what most people refer it by. This art of skilful writing has been his source of livelihood.

In the busy streets of Kanu Street, opposite Bondeni post office, from a shared space, Balozi, has a corner to himself where he works from, while the rest is occupied by his friend who is a carpenter.

"I used to be a very bright student, in fact, this is where I got the name ‘Balozi’. I was representing my school in various academic competitions in which I topped in. They ended up calling me ‘Ambassador of the school’ which translated in Swahili to Balozi,” he says as he throws in a little laughter as he reminisces his primary school days in Kisumu.

Some of the calligraphy works done by Balozi.

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

According to him, he set off his calligraphy work in 1986 while living in Mombasa before relocating to Nakuru in 1999.

Read: The man who tends to graves at Nakuru north cemetery

When he got to Mombasa in 1984, he says, he had jumped from one casual job to the next. Mostly working at the beach writing and painting signage, before he found his fun found art.

“One day as I was walking in the streets of Mombasa, I saw a man selling handwritten messages on papers. They were spread on the ground and he was calling out for people to come check out his work. This caught my attention and I immediately engaged him on how he was going about it,” he recalls.

From there he would learn how to perfect the art of calligraphy and 37 years on this has been his source of livelihood.

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Asked how long it takes him to make an article, he says one copy would take at least two weeks to complete. This long he says, because at times he juggles between other jobs and his artwork.

“I start by buying manilla papers and cutting them into an A4 size. From there I would choose the information I would want to put down from my exercise book where I write all my creative thoughts.

Balozi explains the process of his calligraphy work at his shop in Kanu street.

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

Once settled on the message, Balozi says he stars to write on the paper with a pencil factoring in the style that resonate best with the reader, depending on whether they are a teen, married couple, office set up.

To finish, Balozi colours each letter with the desired coloured pen before rubbing the pencil marks.

Framed copies of his work, range from Sh 700 to Sh 3,000 depending on the quality of frame one needs.

Balozi says he is a man who has created a legacy for himself adding that not even missing out on furthering his education beyond grade 7, has limited him from being the man whose pieces are read by scholars and many people across the world.

Other than calligraphy writing, Balozi is also a rhumba singer with a love for the guitar which he plays in a band and also draws signage for business owners.

Balozi plays his favourite Rhumba song at his calligraphy shop in Kanu street.

Photo credit: PURITY KINUTHIA/MTAA WANGU

His dream now is to open branches across the country where he could teach more people this form of art and have them earn from it as he does.

He also wants to meet Kenya leaders, like the President and Nakuru’s Governor whom he would want to engage in talks on how this form of art can be incorporated in the curriculum.

Related: Meet Nakuru woman creating art pieces from old newspapers

As he concludes sharing his story, all I could reflect on was the number of times I was hit by a 30 cm ruler by my English teacher just to get my handwriting to be better. To date it is still wanting.

Truly there are a million ways to monetize one’s craft.

Wanjirukinuthia20@gmail.com

Balozi: Nakuru man writing his way to the bank

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