By Betsy Ramser Jaime
Gideon Agyare Nkansah is a family man through and through. He has a lovely wife, named Mercy, and three children, 2 daughters and 1 son. His daughters names are Celine and Rhoda, and his son, the youngest, is Gerrit.
As a father, he believes so strongly in providing his children with a better education than he himself received. While he was able to make it to secondary school, the death of his father meant that he was no longer able to continue attending school. He shares, ‘I needed to work with building contractors to enable me to get some money to continue my education. I then continued my education in a technical school called Tema Technical Institute where I was offered a course in welding. After school, I wanted to open a welding shop on my own, but there was no support.’
Unable to find the support to get started on his own, he was able to find a job working with a company called, Ghacem Limited.
While Gideon may have been a salaried worker, it didn’t mean that he was without worries or financial concerns. While he was able to use his income from his job to support his family, he found that the additional burden of paying school fees on time for his children was a struggle.
Before partnering with Zidisha, Gideon was often stressed and worried about paying for his children’s education.
When Gideon discovered Zidisha, he said, ‘With the help of a loan from Zidisha, this will help me pay my children’s school fees on time and they will never be sacked from school anymore and help them to get a better future, and it will also help me to achieve my goals in the future. Some of my goals are to build my own house, and set up a business on my own in the future.’
Since 2015, Gideon has been able to successfully use the Zidisha lending platform to make sure that his children are never forced to quit school, due to a lack of fees. Since his first loan in 2015, he has completed a total of five Zidisha funded loans ranging from $100 to $1,564. In 2015, upon receiving his first loan from Zidisha, his elder daughter, Celina, was in class 3, and his younger daughter, Rhoda, was in class 1.
The early academic years are critical for students in setting a good foundation that will allow them to flourish later on. When children are taken in and out of school, it’s often very difficult for them to catch up.
With his second Zidisha funded loan, of $292 in July 2015, Gideon used $100 for Celine’s school fees, and $90 for Rhoda’s school fees, with $51 used for their textbooks. In order to successfully repay his Zidisha loan, Gideon planned to reduct $20.50 from his monthly income to repay the loan.
By May 2017, Gideon had raised 3 additional loans, providing his children with a stable education. Gideon shares, ‘Since I started taking loans from Zidisha, it has in fact helped me a lot by paying my children’s fees on time and they are never sacked from school. This loan is going to help improve my children’s education.’
Here is how Gideon was able to use his most recent loan, in May 2017:
1) Celine’s school fees: $400
2) Rhoda’s school fees: $380
3) Textbooks for both children: $200
4) Education accessories for both children: $150
5) Notebooks for both children: $200
6) Exercise books for both children: $150
7)Study fees for both children: $100
As a father, Gideon is proud to be able to partner with Zidisha to make sure that he can consistently pay the high school fees that allow his children to continue their education. He proudly shares, ‘My children’s education has improved, and I hope it will improve more since the loan helped me to pay their school fees and other education needs on time.’
Would you like to help another parent like Gideon support their family or education? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to read about our other inspiring Zidisha borrowers!
