Just like Nairobi, Rio teems with hundreds of hawkers

One thing Nairobi shares with Rio-de-Janeiro is hundreds of hawkers using every imaginable means trick in the book to attract clients to their wares.

Despite global headlines depicting the Brazilian commercial capital as a failed city, hawking is a viable option for many Rio residents struggling to gain formal employment.

It is rare to find hawkers on the streets. You mainly find them at locations where many people are congregated and in Rio this is usually at train stations.

These hawkers use all manner of creative ways to catch your attention. One lady traversed the length of the train that had stopped singing in a high-pitched voice while holding up some nondescript product.

Another also walked up and down the train pretending to talk to an imaginary person on his blue-tooth earpiece.

He also had a speaker attached to his body, which he used to amplify his voice when necessary.

He reminded me of those Nairobi’s hawkers who sing and shout all manner of creative tunes to catch your attention with cries such as ‘Mbao yote, yote Mbao’ (everything goes at Ksh20) and tempt you to take a look at their products.

You can easily conduct basic shopping on your way home with hawkers selling everything from electronic equipment to food and even soft drinks.

One friendly gentleman stepped up to me with a flier and handed it over with a smile.

I could not make out the Portuguese text but I saw two Bible scriptures. Exodo (Exodus) 14:14 which reads, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still,” and 1st Joao (John) 3:17 which reads, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”

I laughed loudly as I realised that this was a street preacher asking commuters to attend his church led by three pastors whose names were on the flier.

Nairobi preachers could borrow a leaf from him as his booming voice reverberated up and down the compartments of the train. He knew two English sentences and was happy to tell me, “ thank you very much, and “good afternoon,” over and over again.

The most creative gentleman was the one who hang slabs of packaged salami (processed meat) on the railings of the train almost like a butcher who hangs meat in his shop.

To grab your attention he hangs his goods directly above your head and you cannot ignore him. Unfortunately, a time came when 10 hawkers were shouting at the same time in our compartment.

The level of noise was simply unbearable. I certainly hope Kenya’s Standard Gauge railway will not suffer the same fate.

Rio De Janeiro has a well-connected train and subway network. The only challenge is that most of the signage is in Portuguese so finding your way around can be quite a challenge.

For example my cameraman Brian and I were headed to the Olympic Aquatic Stadium in an area called Barra de Tijuica.

We made our way to the nearest train station and spent almost 10minutes deciding on the right train and another 20 waiting for it to pull up to the station.

Once inside the we settled down confident that we were going the correct way but we decided to double-check just in case.

Luckily the lady next to us understood basic English and she pointed out to us that we were headed in the opposite direction from Barra and we had no choice but to get out at the next stop and wait for 30 minutes for the next train heading back to where our journey begun.