A Kenyan street boy emerged $5 000 richer this week after stumbling across a local radio station’s top treasure-hunt prize while relieving himself in a Nairobi park.
And if it wasn’t for the honesty of a passer-by student, the homeless and barely literate Evans Kamande (17) would have thought his windfall was limited to the small gold-coloured box — perfect for keeping stuff in — he found nestled between the forks of a cactus, and the mysterious sheet of paper inside.
The document, the unnamed student explained to Kamande, declared the bearer to be the winner of 400 000 shillings (about $5 000), a cash prize that had been frantically sought by Nairobi residents for weeks.
”When he brought the voucher, we believed him. He was excited and shocked,” Kiss 100 FM official Amar Vipyarthi said.
”We will definitely give him his prize and it’s up to him to choose how best to spend the money,” Vipyarthi added.
Kamande’s first thoughts were for his mother, who works as a house cleaner in Nairobi.
”I want my mother to have a good life, buy a piece of land and build rental houses,” Kamande told The Standard. — Sapa-AFP