By Betsy Ramser Jaime
‘I am really grateful to Zidisha and all the investors because I have knocked on a lot of doors without success,’ shares Aisha Musah. As a child, Aisha learned a lot about resilience and overcoming challenges, as she lost both of her parents at a young age. Aisha says that later on, ‘I finished secondary school with lot’s of difficulties from family to family and couldn’t go to university because of school fees.’
Aisha eventually got married and had two beautiful children, but sadly, her husband couldn’t help with the children and he ended up leaving the family. While she certainly has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, Aisha is determined to create a better life for her children, sharing, ‘I don’t want my children to face the same suffering I faced.’ As Aisha dove into entrepreneurship, and the support of the Zidisha community, she found a way to provide an education and better future for her herself and her children.
With the backing of Zidisha lenders, Aisha has been able to raise 8 Zidisha funded loans since she joined the community in 2017. Within her business, Aisha operates a shop in the Medina market where she sells a variety of goods such as, ‘disposable chairs, plates, cups, and other items like liquid soap and antiseptic.’ As a new Zidisha borrower, she raised $115 in September 2017 and was able to grow her supply of tables and chairs for her business.
With each following loan in 2017-2020, Aisha continued to purchase additional stock, continually expanding her business. As she grew her business, Aisha found that plastic chairs have become her biggest seller and now that is the product that she is best know for and that she focuses on most in her business.
Throughout her time with Zidisha, Aisha is proud that she is now able to feed her children, and send them to school. Plus, she can also clearly see the personal transformation in her own life as well, as she continues to grow into a new version of herself.
Recently, on February 5, 2020, Aisha took to her discussion page and shared this update with her lenders, ‘With this loan I am going to fulfill all the orders I have taken. It will help me a lot make some profit. I thank you all for your generosity. And putting smiles onto our faces.’
Would you like to help an entrepreneur like Aisha reach her dreams? Make sure to head on over to the Browse Projects page to read about other Zidisha business owners all around the world.
