The untold story of mzungu hawker turning heads in Kisumu

American-born Sylvia Bichanga makes her way through the busy and noisy K-City Business Park in Kisumu hawking snacks while causing quite a stir among residents.

Armed with a bucket full of mandazi, sausage rolls, apple and mango pies, she occasionally stops by a shop, greets her customers and asks about their well-being before proceeding.

Just like hundreds of other hawkers who have flooded the lakeside city markets, Mrs Bichanga ensures she wins the trust of her customers by talking to them softly.

This is an art she mastered growing up back in the United States.

“The cheapest snack I sell goes for Sh20 while the most expensive goes for Sh80. I also hawk spiced tea at Sh40 a cup,” she says.

Since she began hawking in September 2021, Mrs Bichanga has acquired many loyal customers in the low and upper classes.

One of them, Mr Phelix Juma, confirms that the sweet aroma from her special spiced tea and well-cooked pies has kept him coming back for more. 

“I also enjoy the fact that we get to experience the feeling of taking American street foods from Kisumu,” he says.

Unlike local traders who often skimp in their cooking due to the high cost of living, the ‘wazungu’ have made it their business to ensure total customer satisfaction, says Mr Frank Juma.

“The spiced tea, which I hear has a pinch of salt as an ingredient, is well cooked with enough water and tea, quite different from our local eateries,” he says, adding that he is now contemplating marrying a foreigner.

Mrs Bichanga says that while some customers often turn down her offers politely, a few others find it difficult to believe that a white woman is hawking goods in the streets.

“The reception towards my commodity has taught me to welcome a ‘No’ as a door opening for the next opportunity,” says a jolly Mrs Bichanga.

Hawking on the streets, she says, offers her an opportunity to make use of her marketing and selling skills.

Before she came to Kenya in 2016, she ran most of her father’s businesses back in the US, having only studied up to grade eight.

Her mastery of Swahili and Dholuo explains her adaptive skills, which have enabled her to interact easily with locals.

David Ochieng, a hawker at K-City, can only admire her prowess as a business lady. 

“It takes confidence, a high level of convincing powers and customer service to match up to her standards,” Mr Ochieng says.

In two hours, Mrs Bichanga is done making over 20 deliveries. She makes her way back to her shop in the busy Car Wash estate in Kisumu on a motorcycle.

Here, her longtime friend and business partner Eve Ochieng, also an American, is busy preparing deliveries, which will also be made on the streets later in the afternoon.

Ms Ochieng often does most of the cooking while Mrs Bichanga ensures that all the snacks are sold by the end of the day.

Hawking pastries, Mrs Bichanga explains, did not occur to her until her business partner suggested they try it out.

“We had been away from the US for long and my friend, who had missed the street food, suggested that we should try them out,” she says.

They studied recipes on Pinterest and tried some cooking before deciding to try locals with the foreign foods after consulting their spouses.

“On the first day, we prepared the snacks using four kilogrammes of wheat flour (and hawked them) along the streets of Car Wash, and to our amazement, all the products sold within three hours.

On the second day, they prepared another six kilogrammes, which locals scrambled over and wiped out, leaving them with nothing to sell for the next three hours.

The two friends saw the potential of a booming business and with the support of their spouses, they rented a shop, now called Mzungu Pretzels, at Car Wash with their savings.

“As long as one has mastered the skill of saving, a potential business person does not require to have a luxurious place to establish their business," says Mrs Bichanga’s spouse, Kelvin Bichanga.

He adds that the most important thing is having the business up and running and everything else can fall in place.

“I believe there is a bright future for our business. My hope is that one day we will be able to expand our shop and employ as many youths as possible to help in running our services,” adds Mr Bichanga.

Despite the good fortunes that came with their young business, Mrs Bichanga says there have been some setbacks, including employing sellers who fail to submit the cash from sales.

“Some of the youths we employ sometimes report late for duties, fail to sell the snacks or even sell and fail to bring back money from their sales,” she says.

Mrs Bichanga, the firstborn in her family of three siblings, and her parents came to Kenya in 2016 on a mission to spread the gospel at a church in Kisumu.

A few days after they arrived, their house was broken into by thieves who made away with electronic appliances.

Her father’s laptop was also destroyed in the process. She would later be sent out to find an expert to repair it.

“I met my husband at the first electronic shop I visited and it was love at first sight; I thought he was the most handsome man I ever met,” says the 28-year-old.

The couple dated for a while before they finally agreed to settle down as husband and wife earlier this year.

“He has been a supportive man. Many times people would think he is mistreating me, thus the reason why I am hawking in the streets instead of staying comfortable at home,” says Mrs Bichanga.

Marriage, she says, should not be a reason to burden one partner with all the responsibilities.

“It is my responsibility to ensure the comfort of my husband by offering a helping hand where possible. That is the only way to ensure he is not strained financially, emotionally or physically,” she adds.