Buying new ladies clothes

Jane    May 11, 2015

Hi am aware have not made my payment due to financial constrains but i promise to settle it the soonest time possible.
Thank you

Kerry Tiedeman    Feb 21, 2015

My name is Kerry and I am a Client Relationship Intern in Nairobi, Kenya. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Wamuyu in Ongata Rongai at her clothing store and salon about 20 kilometers from Nairobi Central.

Jane has been a member for Zidisha for three years now. WIth loans from Zidisha lenders she purchased the shop in 2012, and uses loans now to stock the store's inventory. Jane has also employed a friend of her's, Nancy, who helps with washing and styling hair. When I met Jane, Nancy was also there and we sat down to talk about the store and their lives here in Nairobi.

Jane came to Nairobi in 2004 with her husband from Nyeri, a city in northern Kenya. Her husband sells building materials and also borrows from Zidisha. While he was working, she decided she wanted to open her own business. She had always braided her friends' hair when she was a young girl, and loved clothes, so logically it made sense to open a salon/clothing store. Now she has had the store for three years, and is very proud of it. Jane is also a great saleswomen. I almost left the store with three t-shirts and a pair of leggings. She says that trousers are her best selling item. She goes to the market downtown twice a week to buy clothes to stock her store. She is a great location, right on the main road of the neighborhood of Ongata Rongai, where many people pass by multiple times a day.

In her free time Jane likes to swim at Multimedia Unvierstiy of Kenya, just down the road. As a child she grew up with her six sisters swimming on the Tana River. Having six sisters also contributed to her love of clothes. THey had to share their clothes, but they were also able to pick from six wardrobes. Jane's parents are still in Nyeri where they own a coffee farm. Jane spent much of her child picking the red berries off the bushes during harvest. She had a very different life in Nairobi.

Jane hopes to expand the inventory of her store with help from Zidisha. She uses the profits to pay for her two daughters' schooling as well as monthly expenses. With a well kept store and an employee, she has really made something for herself as a transplant in Nairobi.

Jane    Feb 11, 2015

Thank you lender for loan surport.My business is doing well but challenges for january has affected me finacialy.The money you gave me i bought a business house in goodwill that's why i was affected so much.But now am recovering so be patient my lender i will pay all your money.Thank you God bless.

BClay    Feb 10, 2015

Hi Jane, how is your business doing?

Jane    Dec 2, 2014

Due to my increased cost of doing business ,i think i am comfortable paying in small installments that i can't fail.i have opened a new shop and its yet to stabilize and with weekly installments its hard work to maintain a balanced payments please understand.The loan i received on 15th Nov 2014 helped me start another shop besides where i had been operating .I now have a decent place of work and this loan has moved me a step i had only dream t of.

Jane    Nov 12, 2014

Hi lenders Thanks for answering my call I feel blessed having you here, I wish you happy holidays

Jane    Sep 16, 2014

Jane    Apr 21, 2014

Am having finance problems this month,please i will pay next month.But the business is doing well so the problems will came to end.

Jane    Mar 26, 2013

Lenders thank you for your support . I have been going on with my business and its doing well and i want to pay back the shortest time possible so that i can get a bigger loan to expand my business .
Thank you again lenders,know my business is good ,although i had problem in January but now it okey.

adventurerneil    Feb 17, 2013

Greetings lenders! My name is Neil DiMuccio, and I am a Client Relationship Manager with Zidisha in Kenya. I am currently visiting borrowers to learn more about them and support them with their Zidisha loans. It is my hope that this work will build bridges to better connection and understanding, and that Zidisha and its borrowers will increasingly grow, communicate, and support each other.

I was recently able to visit with Jane Wamuyu in Ongata Rongai, a small town adjacent to Nairobi. Since Jane is a newer borrower with Zidisha, I was able to sit down side-by-side with her at a local cyber café and do a New Borrower Orientation with her. This proved a very fruitful task, as we visited another Zidisha borrower to use his internet café, and we were able to sit down for over an hour and go through many details about the Zidisha site and her loan. Jane was introduced to Zidisha by fellow borrower James Mwangi, who is a taxi driver and volunteer Community Organizer for Ongata Rongai.

Jane has been living and working in Ongata Rongai for quite a number of years, and has made her living selling used women’s clothing. She normally goes into downtown Nairobi to buy the clothes in bulk, and then marks them up perhaps 100% to resell them in her local shop. Asked what she might do with a future Zidisha loan, she claimed she would increase her stock, so that she would have more available to sell. I want to thank Jane for warmly welcoming me to her community and for taking a few hours to exchange stories and information. Best wishes, Jane!