Lauren Rosenbaum    Dec 24, 2010

www.overstream.net/view.php...

This market in Oloolamutia is similar to the one in Ngosuani where Salei sells his cattle. Typically business begins in the morning, but the market is busiest around mid-day.

Salei    Nov 15, 2010

Alots of greeting to Julia, Lauren and all my lenders. My business is good the money i received boosted me. I've bought 6 bulls additional to 5 i normally buy. An average profit of ksh. 11000 per week. With the profit already again i have bought 5 goats & pay loan two months. I tried to sent on 13th but Mpesa was experiencing some delays that's why i've delayed for one and i'm sorry for that. Thanks

Salei    Oct 16, 2010

I would like to say a big thank you to Zidisha and the lenders that have sacrifice to have my loan funded. Receive abundant blessing to enable Zidisha assist more people. I promise i will not let you down.I pray God to give me ability to always make my repayments in time Ashe oleng

Lauren Rosenbaum    Sep 7, 2010

Hello, lenders.

My name is Lauren Rosenbaum and I am one of Zidisha’s communications interns. I recently returned from working in the field as Zidisha’s Client Relations Manager in Kenya for two and a half months. was first stationed in Oloolamutia, a small town near the Masai Mara game reserve in Narok district. Zidisha has four currently funded borrowers in Oloolamutia and surrounding villages as well as three individuals in the fundraising process. Because this is a remote region, opportunities for microcredit are scarce and many people are excited that Zidisha offers a new credit option.

I have worked in Kenya once before, as a communications intern for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Nairobi. Through this work I met food processors and grain traders in the city as well as farmers, grain traders, and small-scale entrepreneurs in the rural areas of Western Kenya. What has always struck me about this country is the keen instinct for business that exists among residents of both rural and urban areas. Kenyans are very good at identifying demands for certain products and services within their communities. In Oloolamutia, the local economy once depended mostly on money generated from tourists through the sale of locally made crafts in maniatas (Masai cultural villages). While the Masai continue to sell their goods to tourists, most of their income is now made through the sale of goods and services to other residents of the region. Entrepreneurs engage in a wide variety of activities, from shuttling residents to different areas or the region to selling livestock drugs to pastoral Masai, for whom the care of cows, goats, and other animals is their main livelihood.

The Masai in this region seem quite open to business opportunities such as Zidisha that rely on technology. There are three pubs in town that have satellite dishes for televisions, and the owners of these pubs charge visitors to watch football games. As in many other parts of the country, most people own cell phones. M-pesa mobile money is also a very important part of people’s lives here, as it allows individuals to deposit and withdraw money through their phones rather than traveling long distances to reach a bank.

Business relationships in Oloolamutia and other places in the country are built on mutual respect and friendship and depend just as much on this dynamic as they do on price. It is for this reason that I believe Zidisha to be a good model for the area. Zidisha allows borrowers to have one-on-one interactions with lenders, without relying on intermediaries. I encourage lenders to take advantage of this unique system and comment on your borrowers’ profiles regularly.