Name
Gertrude
Member since
May 2015
On-time repayments
168 installments • 53%
My name is Gertrude Masiga, born on the west most county of Kenya - Busia. Busia is on the border of Kenya and Uganda and there is a lot of cross border trade between the two countries. It is an an area endowed with natural forests and rivers but sadly some have disappeared due to human activities occasioned by rapid population growth. In spite of all those issues, it is a nice place and I hope to return and settle there some time.
I lost my both parents at an early age and I went to live with my aunt in Mombasa town which is on extreme south of Kenya. This is where I did my primary and secondary education and I will forever remain grateful to my guardian who paid for my education and upkeep.
My aunt is not a person of means and that is the far she could afford to educate me. Without any other formal training, I resorted to using my hobby - hair dressing to make money. I am talented as a hair dresser and I do plaiting effortlessly and this has earned me many clients across my area.
I am a freelance hair dresser and I walk from house to house while attending my clients. I normally communicate with them using my mobile phone and I go to them since I do not have my own business premises. Plaiting is very common in our region and over 50% of women and young girls have braids or cornrows at any given time.
My charges range from $5 to $10 per head. I can do 1 or 2 heads per day depending on the complexity of the job to be done. This is what brings food on the table and I am glad that I due to my good work, I now have many clients due to referrals.
In spite of my relative success, moving from house to house is very inefficient because of the time lost while moving around. Ideally, this work should be done in a salon but I am yet to get funds to enable me rent a saloon, For this reason, I have come to Zidisha to ask for credit which will enable me take my business to the next level by opening a hair salon.
With this new year my desire is to expand my business by moving to a bigger space. I want to move to a nearby premises which is more spacious and it will enable me to serve my clients better.
The money will go towards paying for rent deposit and branding. This will definitely increase my income since I will be able to attend to more clients.
Thank you.
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Project Type
Classic Loan
Disbursed amount
$192.00
Date disbursed
Jan 30, 2017
Repayment status
On Time
Projected term
22 months
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