Mårten    Feb 12, 2015

Dear Pastor Joseph,
are you experiencing trouble at the moment (no payment since Dec.)? Would another rescheduling help?

Please advise,
Mårten

nguyenlapq    Nov 11, 2014

Hi Pastor Joseph,

I hope all is well with you and your family. Can you give us an update on the business?

Thanks,
Lap

Pst.joseph    Oct 2, 2014

I have not managed to reach her but still on track

Sputnik    Sep 25, 2014

Hi Joseph. You're Lydia Achieng's VM. She has made no payment so far and does not communicate, could you please check what's the problem? Thank you very much.

• Sputnik    Sep 30, 2014

  Do you have any news of Lydia Achieng?

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Pst.joseph    Aug 22, 2014

Sorry for the delay I have been having in my payments but as I said earlier that my business was affected a little but I have started repaying now and I have seen it will be a burden of paying the figure at once so I have decided to reschedule that I can catch up well. I will try to pay now as usual for I know I will get money to finish the loan like other loans.

Pst.joseph    Aug 8, 2014

HI LENDERS,
I AM HAPPY NOW BECAUSE I WILL BE BACK NEXT WEEK IN REPAYING MY LOAN ALTHOUGH I WONT PAY THE DUES ONCE BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

Kitty    Jul 10, 2014

Thanks for keeping us informed

Pst.joseph    Jul 10, 2014

Hi Lenders. I have been my loan well although sometimes i do miss a day or two due to the weekly payment. I am sorry for not sending my last week money and this was affected by so called SABA SABA and making our business go down. I will be in a position of paying by the end of next week

TheresaSchneider    Jun 4, 2014

I am a client relationship manager in Kenya at the moment. Mr. PST.JOSEPH NDUNGU is not only friendly and funny, but also very intelligent.
I spent a great time with him in his office.
He introduced me to many people and intesively talked with me about his job, ZIDISHA and his engagement as a VM.
I wish you all the best.

Pst.joseph    May 21, 2014

Dear Lenders,
Greetings.
Sorry for not paying the loan on 3rd May but I paid it on 5th May although it is not appearing on my loan page. This is just forgetting for I used to pay on monthly bases. As per today I have no debt.

Ismael    May 19, 2014

goodmorning pst joseph am a new member,please recomend me so that i can get this loan,i promise not to let you down in repaying.

Pst.joseph    Apr 11, 2014

To my Lenders,
I am very sorry for not paying my loan on the right time as agreed but this is because of weekly payment of which I am not used. I am planning how I will be paying four weeks in advance to avoid this delay. please bear with me. I am following others who delays to pay their loans and I don't want to be like them. Thanks.

CZC    Apr 4, 2014

Pst. Ndungu,

I saw your posting where you mentioned you were trying to reach Mr. Gabriel Mwamburi. By that I'm assuming you're attempting to call him. Is there anything else you or Zidisha can do to make sure Mr. Mwamburi lives up to his commitments? Should the police get involved? Will it even help?

Thanks,
Cris

Pst.joseph    Feb 7, 2014

I am very sorry for the information that I gave out concerning Mr. Mwamburi for it has raised a lot of questions but I would like to tell our dear Lenders that out of 100 people that are given loans through Zidisha may be 98% are good but 2% are bringing problem but let this not disturb you because we have more machinery to reach him as my fellow VM has already said. You are doing a very recommended job and please don't pull yourself out of this wonderful work and a blessing one.
Thanks.

Pst.joseph    Jan 31, 2014

Hi Thilo and Crissr,
Sorry for the delay as far as Mr. Gabriel is concern. I tries to reach him but no where to be reached and when I tried to reach him through the Community leader I found that even he is not known by her and only to find that Gabriel lives at the Coast and CL lives at Nakuru.

• C

  CZC    Feb 3, 2014

  Pastor Ndungu,
  
  Thank you for attempting to reach Gabriel, however, I am disappointed and concerned. My belief when I make these loans is that the VM's know their mentees personally, trust them and can vouch for them. From your response it seems that you don't even know Gabriel at all.
  
  I am becoming increasingly concerned with Zidisha's vetting of borrowers - or lack thereof. To me it seems that Gabriel duped everyone - including yourself - and that he will not repay one cent of his loan. Could you clarify as to how you ended up as his mentor? What made you decide to mentor him?
  
  As with Gabriel I have a couple more borrowers that appear to have done the same, that is, take the lenders money and disappeared. Because of what I feel has become a lack of oversight, I am seriously thinking of pulling out of Zidisha once the loans I have already made are repaid. It has become way too risky.
  
  Thanks,
  Cris

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  • Admin    Feb 3, 2014

    Dear Cris,
    
    Thanks for the comments. Due to the number of VMs we have verses the number of borrowers, VMs do not always know the borrowers they are assigned. Often, they are assigned borrowers by the Zidisha team. We try to assign them borrowers based on geographic location, but this is not always possible. So, each VM is assigned a mix of borrowers who they may know and have referred to Zidisha, and others assigned to them as needed.
    
    Thanks,
    Bayle, Zidisha Team

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  • bconrad    Feb 3, 2014

    Dear Cris,
    
    Thanks for the comments. Due to the number of VMs we have verses the number of borrowers, VMs do not always know the borrowers they are assigned. Often, they are assigned borrowers by the Zidisha team. We try to assign them borrowers based on geographic location, but this is not always possible. So, each VM is assigned a mix of borrowers who they may know and have referred to Zidisha, and others assigned to them as needed.
    
    Thanks,
    Bayle, Zidisha Team

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    • C

      CZC    Feb 4, 2014

      OK, I now understand the role of the VMs, but how can someone like Gabriel Mwamburi be allowed to apply and get a loan when even the Community Leader he has listed does not know him. What form of vetting is there to give us lenders some assurance that we are lending to reliable, trustworthy people? I know that lending through Zidisha entails some risk, but Gabriel M. doesn't appear to be known by anyone. Does he really have the business he said he had? What criteria do borrowers have to meet to be allowed to post a loan request?
      
      Thanks,
      Cris

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      • bconrad    Feb 4, 2014

        Hi Cris,
        
        We keep our application review confidential, but each application goes through several levels of 'checks' in order to ensure they are able to join Zidisha. We are also constantly reviewing our application procedure and making changes in order to respond to any issues we see. I know that is not incredibly helpful because I cannot disclose anything specific, but please know these checks are occurring.
        
        Thanks,
        Bayle

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  • Eric    Feb 4, 2014

    Hi Cris,
    You are one of my lenders and any matter affecting you affect me too!!It's true Zidisha do sreen all application thoroughly before membership may be granted.Have seen some application that don't meet standard declined.It's just few borrowers like in this case Gabriell who doesn't want to take responsibility to pay back whatever they owe to lenders!But i am also a VM we will try to combine effort to see how we can bring Gabriell to payment.
    
    Thank you

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    • C

      CZC    Feb 4, 2014

      Eric,
      
      Thank you. You, yourself, are a very responsible borrower and active VM. I truly appreciate your concern.
      
      I am from Brazil originally so I understand that things work differently overseas and many times, due to cultural differences, we in the US (that's where I live now) expect things to go more smoothly. As mewestern has stated in one of his posts - I think it might have on the open forum - I don't mind borrower's rescheduling, what I really get upset about is their falling off the face of the earth. What has really bothered me about this particular case (Gabriel) is that nobody seems to know him which to me raises a flag as to the reliability of whatever little vetting is done by Zidisha.
      
      As lenders we incur lending costs - 3.5% through Paypal, currency exchange losses and defaults. Therefore, in my particular case I stay away from loans that offer less than 7% interest rate. My hope was to at least break even, in other words, taking all these costs into account, I would end up with pretty much the same amount as I put in to keep on lending. If I get any more lenders like Gabriel (and I think I have at least 2 more like him), I will not be able to continue lending. That would be a real pity since the concept behind Zidisha is wonderful.
      
      Thanks,
      Cris

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Pst.joseph    Jan 31, 2014

Thanks to all who participated in raising my loan which right now has been put in my business. I was surprised to see that there was no any grace period as before and now i will not in a position of paying as agreed for this will affect my business and that is why i decided to reschedule. I will be very much comfortable by the amount and I do promise to pay as before and if possible to complete earlier in order to move to the other level. Please bear with me. Thank you for your support.

CZC    Jan 23, 2014

Pst. Joseph, I am also concerned about Gabriel Mwamburi. We have had no communication from him. We'd like to know how he is doing and if his business has encountered any major setbacks. Please check up on him and let us know what is going on.

Thank you,
Crissr

Thilo    Jan 5, 2014

Hello Pst Joseph
You are the VM for Mr Gabriel Mwamburi.
Do you know any updates on him ? Or his business?
Two monthly repayments are late.
Please contact him, perhaps rescheduling his loan?
Thanks, God bless you. Thilo

Hope2012    Dec 21, 2013

Hello Pastor Joseph
I understand you are the mentor for florence wangu do you have any information on her? Is she ok? Could you ask her to post an update on her loan?
Thanks very much and have a good Christmas

Pst.joseph    Oct 29, 2013

Hi Hildek,
I managed to reach Mr. Benson and he told me because of the sickness he has not met his expectation but I hope he will do something after our discussion.
Thanks for giving us moral of making the follow-up although its not all that easy.