GITHURAI, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Now onto his third job since finishing high school a decade ago, Festus Chege is hoping his latest venture as a water vendor in Githurai, a growing suburb to the south of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, will pay off. Like many young people from poor families, the 30-year-old passed his high-school exams but lacked the funds to pursue his studies, confining him to work in the city’s fast-expanding informal sector. Kenya’s current drought, which is affecting some 3 million people across the East African country, has led to a drop in water volumes in reservoirs serving Nairobi residents. The city authorities have been forced to ration water services, giving priority to critical facilities like hospitals, as well as manufacturers. Taps in poor households are now empty of piped water most of the time, and they have little choice but to buy their water from vendors like Chege. “The water business is good,” said Chege, who has been selling water for the past four months. “People call me to supply them with water as early as 4 am.” Chege, who uses a rickshaw to transport the water, sells 20-litre drums of water for 50 shillings ($0.49) each. In a day, he can supply as many as 40 drums, earning him 2,000 shillings – more than double a government clerk’s wage. It’s five times more than what he was making last year hawking secondhand clothes. “There were days when I would find myself idle because of a lack of customers,” said Chege. That’s when he would join his friends to smoke bhang, a form of cannabis – a common pastime among young slum-dwellers who take the drug in secret dens. Now, Chege says he no longer has time to mess around with drugs because he is busy from dawn to dusk selling water. In January…