Joyce    Jul 11, 2016

This is from our son's wedding. Sam and his wife Phoebe help with the bakery. After this loan is paid, we want to buy local lobsters and sell them to the nice restaurants in Kilifi

Joyce    Jul 11, 2016

Dear Lenders. We give thanks for your patience with us as our payments have been delayed. My husband had a stroke in May so the medicine took the savings. He is much better and now we are able to pay this loan. We want to keep our good credit with you since we want to add a new business with the next loan. Thank you for your understanding . God bless you

Joyce    Sep 8, 2015

Good morning Zidisha,
We want to add this family photo. Phoebe, in the blue shirt is marrying our son Samuel later this year. Here is Sam with his brinjals, aubergine, on his growing shamba

Joyce    Aug 28, 2015

Good morning Zidisha lenders. Today I came to Kilifi town to bring scones which my son or husband usually carry. Also am increasing my weekly loan mpesa amount as business is blessed. Blessing to you as well form Joyce

Joyce    Jul 17, 2015

Dear Lenders from Zidisha
Last week my loan was received and I say thank you from me and my family. From this picture we have been helping school children learn about the business of baking. They are also starting a bakery to support their school and the children who need help. Now we will buy basins and other utensils to be selling along with the scones. May God bless all of you

Joyce    Jun 29, 2015

Asante, asante sana to the Zidisha lenders, this is a blessing for our business. We will be buying basins, bowls and other plastic items. Along with vegetables from our family shamba and scones from the JoyFo bakery we will have these to sell at the local market. This expands our small scale family business. The picture is our Sam on his garden plot
God bless you every lender

Joyce    Mar 6, 2015

Hello to all Joyce's lenders! My name is Jennifer and I have worked with the JoyFo Bakery since 2012. Am so proud of Joyce and her great record of repayment. She delivered scones and "roses" (rolls) to me yesterday and we took this picture. She is going to "take a rest" from borrowing for awhile. It is wonderful to be a part of this family. On their behalf, thank you

jan73    Jun 29, 2014

Congratulation for staying on time with your loan repayment, and for bringing such positive benefits to your family and your community! You are an inspiration!

TheresaSchneider    May 16, 2014

Hallo, my name is Theresa Schneider, Zidisha’s Kenya Client Relationship Manager. I am currently visiting Zidisha VM and borrowers all over Kenya.

I met Joyce Fondo Nyamawi yesterday and I really enjoyed my visit with her.
She was very warmhearted. Also her bakery is very nice and the scones super delicious. Also some other people of Kilifi I met commend her products.
for more information, you can take a look on my website:
2014hakunamatata.wordpress....

Joyce    May 16, 2014

Thank you to our lenders. We have been able to make some repairs to the bakery and the business is growing. Our son Sam has started a garden to bring extra money for the family. The flow of money is such that we we ask for your blessing to reduce the monthly payment to 4000 as the higher payment is bringing some hardship.
Yesterday we were visited my a representative from Zidisha Miss Theresa and we discussed this. We pray you will agree.
God bless you

Joyce    Nov 6, 2013

JoyFo Bakery Project Updated -
The oven jiko in the name of JoyFo was loaned/funded by Zidisha after a two months small scale business training through SCOPE initiative in Zowerani sublocation. The first loan was approved in August 2012, the first loan was 43,818/=. This was repaid promptly, two months earlier. This is a family project.
The oven jiko has a capacity to bake at a time some of the following:
Bread loaves – 48
Scones/rolls – 294
Cakes and later to biscuits and other small items

Nursery school has grown to 76 children in one year

During the first loan there were some things omitted such as power installation, mixer, trolley, work capital, extension of baking space. With this second loan, we will make the extension and bring power and add the trolley.
Finally, we have no cause not to express our deepest thanks to the entire Zidisha through the entire SCOPE. God bless from Joyce and Albert Fondo and Family

• evinpa    Nov 6, 2013

  Hello!
  
  Thank you for posting your update about your business and for sharing the wonderful photo of you and all the children!
  
  I look forward to reading more of your updates.
  
  Best wishes for happiness and success,
  Evinpa

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soniad    Oct 25, 2013

Dear Joyce, I look forward to hearing about the improvements to your bakery. Please let us know when the electricity comes on and when you get the new cart. Good luck growing your business. Warmest regards, Sonia.

hugh1    Oct 24, 2013

Dear Joyce: Warmest congratulations on having your new loan fully-funded so quickly. I'm so pleased for you. Very best wishes to you and your family, and for the ongoing success of your bakery and the nursery school.

Joyce    Oct 14, 2013

asante sana Mr Hugh1 for the comment. It has been one year today since the beginning of the bakery with the new oven. By God's grace the next loan will allow for a dough mixer at 87,000 kenyan shillings, to turn on electricity to the shamba at 35,000 shillings and 7500 to buy a cart to take the rolls and scones around the market.
Last month there was a problem with air quality in the bakery. Some bakers were sick. With the remaining shillings we will add extra windows to improve air quality inside.
This is the nursery school now with 70 children
Asante to all the lenders and blessings to Zidisha to help JoyFo Bakery to grow

hugh1    Oct 13, 2013

Dear Joyce: I'm concerned that this application for a second loan doesn't tell lenders as much about your splendid baking business as it could. If this application runs out of time, and you wish to re-submit it, might I suggest that you update it. For example, in "About My Business" you are still speaking about a new oven, but I believe that was the purpose of the first loan? Why not tell lenders about the impact that had on your business, as well as how you hope that the new mixer will help you expand further with the hotel contract, etc. And by the way, are you really baking 'roses'?? Anyhow, I wish you the very best of luck. I can almost smell the freshly-baked bread from here!!

traciyoshiyama    Sep 19, 2013

Dear Fondo family,

I am so happy to see that you are requesting another loan! I hope your bakery is doing well. From personal experience I know how delicious your bread is. I miss Kenya so much and wish you are your family all the best. I think of you all often. Your hospitality and kindness will never be forgotten. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Siku njema,
Traci

AWeber    Feb 11, 2013

Hello Lenders,

My name is Andrew Weber and I recently served as a Zidisha Client Relationship Manger in Kenya. There I paid a visit to Joyce to check on the status of the oven he recently purchased with his Zidisha loan. The oven is up and running, and it looks absolutely fantastic. It is a state-of the art oven that would not be out of place in any bakery around the world. Business has improved since she started using the new oven because Joyce can more efficiently bake a far greater quantity than before. She is currently baking scones and rolls, which are not surprisingly the best in town based on my experience.

With the help of her husband and son, she makes about 100 pastries per day and delivers them by bicycle to schools and kiosks. With a future Zidisha loan she hopes to buy a cart to more efficiently deliver a greater quantity of her product around town.

Joyce    Nov 5, 2012

As you know from Traci's (from Zidisha) visit to our home, the oven was delayed in getting finished. We did not start baking until 20th of last month. We are requesting grace for one more month to get to more stable sales. We bake five days a week and selling has been a success. Thank you and blessings to everyone. Thank you to Traci for the nice story and pictures

traciyoshiyama    Oct 18, 2012

October 11, 2012

Hello, my name is Traci Yoshiyama, Zidisha’s Kenya Client Relationship Manager. I am currently visiting Zidisha borrowers in and around Nairobi, but I have spent the past two weeks on the coast. I have had the opportunity to meet with current and prospective borrowers in Kaloleni, Mtwapa, Kilifi, Watamu, Tezo and Mombasa.

A blur of inconspicuous villages hug the main road as I make my way by matatu to Tezo, anxiously awaiting my visit with Joyce Fondo Nyamawi. With word about Zidisha only recently reaching the many towns along the coast of Kenya, Joyce is one of the first borrowers from this region. As I enter the Fondo compound, a petite woman with a gentle smile greets me with a warm embrace, one of those usually set-aside for old friends. Her husband, Albert, does the same. I feel instantly at home. A community within a community, the Fondo’s residence could be a small neighborhood, for their compound is made up of several houses, a nursery school, and a newly built kitchen. Generations upon generation live here.

I happily accepted a tour around the Fondo neighborhood, our first stop being the nursery school. Just recently opened, the school began with no more than two students, one chalkboard, and a piece of wood sitting atop a couple of rocks acting as a bench. After only a few months, this school of two quickly grew to thirty-one. Being former teachers, it seemed a natural progression for Joyce and Albert to offer a place of education to the community of Tezo. The widespread disease, HIV/AIDS, has caused many children in Tezo to become orphans, leaving them with little or no educational options. Most of the student body consisting of orphans, the Fondo’s school has now provided new beginnings and opportunities.

Next on our tour was the freshly constructed kitchen. Although currently empty, an oven, bought with Joyce’s first Zidisha loan, will soon be moving in. A family-run bakery (Joyce’s son is a trained baker), this new addition will completely revolutionize their business, allowing them to make hundreds of baked goods at once. Prior to the oven, Joyce used a simple pot heated with coconut husks to bake bread, only allowing one loaf to be made at a time. When the oven is installed, one loaf will multiply to one hundred. Planning on receiving the oven on Monday, Joyce’s bakery already has orders from the nearby town of Kilifi, calling for one hundred loaves of bread every Wednesday and Friday. They also plan on selling their baked goods in the Tezo market on Mondays. Exhibiting the common Kenyan hospitality, the Fondo’s prepared lunch and dessert, the latter being a freshly baked loaf of bread. Not stopping at seconds or thirds, my gluttonous appetite is evidence of the quality of Joyce’s bread.

We end the afternoon with a photo shoot to remember our time together. Nairobi being many hours away from Tezo, I am unsure of when I will see Joyce and Albert again, but I leave their home with confidence that their path leads to continued success. Having big plans for future Zidisha loans, I look forward to seeing their businesses grow, both the school and bakery. Thank you Fondo family for welcoming me to your home and I wish you all the best.

To view more pictures of Joyce and her family, go to talkingstory.posterous.com

traciyoshiyama    Oct 18, 2012

October 11, 2012

Hello, my name is Traci Yoshiyama, Zidisha’s Kenya Client Relationship Manager. I am currently visiting Zidisha borrowers in and around Nairobi, but I have spent the past two weeks on the coast. I have had the opportunity to meet with current and prospective borrowers in Kaloleni, Mtwapa, Kilifi, Watamu, Tezo and Mombasa.

A blur of inconspicuous villages hug the main road as I make my way by matatu to Tezo, anxiously awaiting my visit with Joyce Fondo Nyamawi. With word about Zidisha only recently reaching the many towns along the coast of Kenya, Joyce is one of the first borrowers from this region. As I enter the Fondo compound, a petite woman with a gentle smile greets me with a warm embrace, one of those usually set-aside for old friends. Her husband, Albert, does the same. I feel instantly at home. A community within a community, the Fondo’s residence could be a small neighborhood, for their compound is made up of several houses, a nursery school, and a newly built kitchen. Generations upon generation live here.

I happily accepted a tour around the Fondo neighborhood, our first stop being the nursery school. Just recently opened, the school began with no more than two students, one chalkboard, and a piece of wood sitting atop a couple of rocks acting as a bench. After only a few months, this school of two quickly grew to thirty-one. Being former teachers, it seemed a natural progression for Joyce and Albert to offer a place of education to the community of Tezo. The widespread disease, HIV/AIDS, has caused many children in Tezo to become orphans, leaving them with little or no educational options. Most of the student body consisting of orphans, the Fondo’s school has now provided new beginnings and opportunities.

Next on our tour was the freshly constructed kitchen. Although currently empty, an oven, bought with Joyce’s first Zidisha loan, will soon be moving in. A family-run bakery (Joyce’s son is a trained baker), this new addition will completely revolutionize their business, allowing them to make hundreds of baked goods at once. Prior to the oven, Joyce used a simple pot heated with coconut husks to bake bread, only allowing one loaf to be made at a time. When the oven is installed, one loaf will multiply to one hundred. Planning on receiving the oven on Monday, Joyce’s bakery already has orders from the nearby town of Kilifi, calling for one hundred loaves of bread every Wednesday and Friday. They also plan on selling their baked goods in the Tezo market on Mondays. Exhibiting the common Kenyan hospitality, the Fondo’s prepared lunch and dessert, the latter being a freshly baked loaf of bread. Not stopping at seconds or thirds, my gluttonous appetite is evidence of the quality of Joyce’s bread.

We end the afternoon with a photo shoot to remember our time together. Nairobi being many hours away from Tezo, I am unsure of when I will see Joyce and Albert again, but I leave their home with confidence that their path leads to continued success. Having big plans for future Zidisha loans, I look forward to seeing their businesses grow, both the school and bakery. Thank you Fondo family for welcoming me to your home and I wish you all the best.

To view more pictures of Joyce and her family, go to talkingstory.posterous.com