By Betsy Ramser Jaime
Jared Mogendi was forced to become resilient at a young age. He is the sixth of eight children and unfortunately in 2012, his father passed away. Growing up in a large family, he found that there were always challenges in terms of education, food, and even providing for basic necessities. His parents were not employed and the family depended on subsistence farming for food and basic needs.
While his early childhood years were certainly not easy, he has blazed a trail in recent years and excelled in his education and as a leader today. As a student, he earned a diploma in Community Development and also a certificate in Computer Science. He also founded the Amazing Smile Children’s Centre which is a project that supports orphans and children from poor families. He notes that the reason for starting this organization is because, ‘ I passed through that and am seeing how many kids from poor families are wasted and orphans neglected in the community.’ Instead of wallowing or remaining stuck in his own pain, he has channeled his energy, passion, and personal experience into a cause that is both critically important and personally fulfilling for him.
In addition to running his center, he is also a Manager of Technologies and runs two cyber businesses in his town. Through his businesses, he is able to provide for his family and also contribute financially to his cause.
To sum up his business, Jared, says, ‘my business is entirely on giving internet services to my clients and other computer related services e.g photo printing, printing, scanning, online services etc.’ He started the business with a combination of both borrowed money and personal savings. With his profits he is able to help support a charity project in his community which supports orphans and vulnerable children by providing education, shelter, food, and clothing. In addition, his profits also allow him to feed his family and educate his children.
So far, Jared has successfully raised seven Zidisha funded loans. With his first loan in October 2016, he requested $6 and purchased three Epson inks which would allow him to provide more services to his customers. With his following three loans in January, February, and April of 2017, he requested $6 for each loan and purchased photo printing papers, envelopes, and laminating films.
Shortly thereafter he was ready for his next three loans in May, July, and August of 2017. In May he raised $14 which he used to purchase more photocopying paper. Then, by July he requested $33 to purchase additional photocopy paper, photo papers as well as 6 Epson printer ink cartridges. Most recently, in August, he raised $71 which he put towards a binding machine which cost $55 and the remaining sum was used to keep up with the demand for printing paper.
On October 24, 2017, Jared excitedly shared on his discussion page, ‘This has boosted my sales between 200-300 dollars. The profits I use to cater for my family needs eg paying school fees for my daughter, rent to my business and my house, utilities and other needs. I also support orphans where I purchase food, clothes, schools items etc to ensure they also have a better future.’
Jared is an ideal example of what it means to love and support your community whether you are able to contribute $1 or $1 million dollars. He knows that it’s not the amount of money, but the heart behind the cause. He succinctly shares, ‘I love doing charity despite the fact I have little resources to support them but it’s the best thing one will ever do for mankind.’
If Jared’s story resonated with you, make sure to head on over to our Lend page to learn more about Zidisha and our amazing borrowers all over the world.
good business