Increase operating capital for business of roasting peanuts

George

Muthwani, Kenya

100% paid forward

Entrepreneur

Name

George

Member since

November 2016

On-time repayments

294 installments  •  77%

About Me

My life has been interesting and full of hardships.On finishing my primary school my mum could not get fees to take me to secondary school and she tried her way best to get help. Certainly,she was able to find a school for me at Nairobi by name Aga Khan High. The principal agreed to sponsor my education because he could see my potential. Almost before the end of the year he was transferred and I had a fee balance of USD 240 for third term. Unfortunately I didn't seat for my end of year exam and had to travel in rural area having no more hope.I was then able to work as a heardsmen for a year to raise school fees.I worked for USD7 per month for 9 months.I prayed .Luckily as I was set to go back to school the government introduced free secondary school project but we catered for our food feeding program and development of the school. I then successfully enrolled in a rural secondary school in form two which I ended up finishing and got the government higher education sponsorship where its expected of you to pay a minimum total of USD 270 yearly for four years depending on degree program enrolled.The struggle continued on joining university where I paid school fees for myself by hawking roasted and fried peanuts both cooked from the school hostel. I also worked in a construction company paid USD 3 per day on my free days on class timetables and weekends.I learnt a lot from my hardships .I almost stayed for a year without buying clothes.I had occasions clothes and daily use clothes so that I could look decent.I was lucky enough to get supply contract in local supermarkets. I quited this business after finishing higher education and invested on a long term Retail Shop at a local area which has the capability of operating 24 hrs and have been able to employ two people who work on shifts. Am currently an employee in a cyber security company. It seems impossible until is done. I always feel I have a debt to pay. I need to find a way to be able to help those in need. By inviting trustworthy needy people to Zidisha I will have helped dozen and their families too.

My Business

I currently run different businesses . I have a retail stores dealing with food stuffs and fast food and recently opened a cereal stores and is doing very well. I also sell on both wholesale and retail roasted peanuts and peanut butter from my rental house. I am also working in an IT firm with capability of working 24 hrs on shifts. From my retail stores I can get around USD 30 after all deductions monthly. From my recently opened cereal stores I can get up to USD 40 after all deductions per month. From my peanuts business I get USD 7 profit Per sales day. If I don't roast that day then I get nothing. From my full employment I am paid senior staff salary which is averagely between USD 400 to USD 1000 per month. Tax is however taking it's lee way. I use my profits some times as savings, others I pay school fees for my daughters, sometimes pay salaries to my employees and support church activities including tithe and also helping the needy in the society. I now intend to pursue a master of cybersecurity in United States based university through taking a discover loan and graduate assistantships. Looking forward for a beautiful future after working in an IT consultant firm for over 6 years.

Project Proposal

Dear Lenders, thank you for funding my previous loan and for the moral support granted so far.

I am back requesting for your support in funding my dream company. My peanut roasting company. I would like to raise money to push my company further on higher hights after operating it as a side hustle for the last 10 years.

Please be part of this new company. I will be branding it and adding operating capital and employees.

Feedback

2

None

None

  • Isabella    Dec 7, 2017

    It all sounds very exciting, George!

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  • Mary    Nov 9, 2017

    George is an excellent Zidisha Borrower. I would recommend lending to any of his loans!

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Project Info

Project Type

Pay It Forward

Disbursed amount

$964.00

Date disbursed

Oct 10, 2021

Backers

RP

Randall Pate

Plymouth, United States

Ask George a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • George    Feb 11, 2024

    Adjusting repayment plan as I am held up. I look forward clearing the loan as soon as possible. My next loan would be a mega project. Stay tuned

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  • George    Jan 31, 2024

    Hi everyone,

    Here comes double celebrations. A pass on the most difficult exam I have ever seen before, and CEI accredited. I am now a Certified EC-COUNCIL Instructor on the following courses which I passed with great scores a while back; CEH, CHFI and CCISO. All my exams are taken from Person Vue or on online proctoring which proves authenticity.

    I am now on track to my further studies. I regret this has taken longer time than expected due to my work responsibilities and nature.

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    • (Comment deleted by author)

  • George    Jan 4, 2024

    I am trying to prepare for school selection and application process.I would like to apply to just 2 or 3. The main constraints were but not tied to: USA, Cybersecurity, relatively cheap, high employment rate, no racism, supports 8B or Mpower financing. Feel free to guide. The schools are currently ordered by their CoA

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  • George    Jan 4, 2024

    Happy new year everyone,

    I am minimally adjusting my repayment to be able to finish by the next installment. I rescheduled my exams to 31st of Jan 2023 and wanted to be stress free as I study for my exam. I am still pushing with my business. We are on holiday break till 8th but shifts still exist on our industry. I am however taking any free time to push business forward and as well study. Have a fruitful year and may all your plans for the year get met.

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  • George    Dec 3, 2023

    Dear Lenders and Well wishers,

    Here is a quick update on my GMAT journey. It's with must regret that my GMAT exam was cancelled a few days to the exam date and the money refunded. The center was no longer available and I was thrown to amaze for a while. At this point I chose to use the funds for a different course called Certified Cybersecurity Technician by EC Council. The course was being on offer.
    I am now happy to inform you we now have a new Pearson Vue center in Kenya and I have booked the exam for 31st January 2024, the last day to take the old GMAT version as per GMAC announcement. Please continue wishing me well.

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  • George    Nov 5, 2023

    Adjusting repayment plan to cater for my other bills as things are tougher

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  • George    Nov 2, 2023

    Hello, I am making a small repayment adjustment to be able to cater my other monthly expenses

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  • George    Jul 26, 2023

    Proof of mobile payment. I got a 25% discount on the normal $250 exam fee. It helps though our dollar rate is just too high. I chose to pay for myself as opposed being paid by KAP(Kenya airlift program) as I still have a 500$ balance on the program contribution. This proved to be too much for me to raise at this time. Wishing myself best of lack as GMAT is not a test of how smart you are but how well/fast you can make decisions. Please share with me any relevant materials in your possession about GMAT. Links, Google Drive and so on. You are also welcomed to provide study vouchers :). I am currently using the official mba.com study materials for practice.

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  • George    Jul 26, 2023

    Hey lenders and well wishers,

    Today I am happy to have booked my GMAT exam date.
    Ready for the challenge. I managed to use the funds provided for the purpose. Attached is the receipt and proof of payment

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  • George    Jul 9, 2023

    Hey, I am adjusting repayment as business income is low. Planning to pay in the next 2 days

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  • George    Apr 15, 2023

    Hello friends and backers,

    I am happy to have joined KAP in persuing my masters studies dream. I have already made the program contribution fees $1531. Pending amount is $500. I am also actively studying for GMAT.
    Note: Experiencing a problem when I try to add a photo.

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    • Lotus Flower    Jun 26, 2023

      Hi, George. Wishing you well in your studies, as always. I thought of you and other Zidisha members pursuing I.T., too, when I came across this website while looking for more information after having heard about yet another recent cybersecurity breach that affected multiple businesses, agencies, etc.: www.sentinelone.com/blog/ev... "...The cybersecurity skills shortage is a pressing concern for businesses, with the current shortfall estimated to be [millions of] unfilled positions..." Job security seems assured. Best wishes! :-)

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  • George    Mar 15, 2023

    I am glad my project is now fully funded. I am going to use the funds as earlier stated. I thank all of you for standing up for me. The ball is on my court to study and pass GMAT. I am much motivated despite the much anticipated ground breaking changes to this exam.
    I also pledge to keep 100% on time repayment for all installments.

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  • George    Mar 13, 2023

    I am adding photos for a small impromptu holiday. I will add the story later. Enjoy the view.

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  • George    Mar 12, 2023

    Happy Weekend everyone,

    I spend part of my weekend writing about investigation learning material about a famous test hacking site -Tryhackme.com. Here is the Medium link - medium.com/@olooerik/tryhac...

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  • George    Mar 9, 2023

    Hello well wishers,
    I am still in the process of sourcing funds for my Masters studies.
    Detailed below are the choices, advantages and disadvantages, feel free to advise.

    1. KAP ( www.kenyaairliftprogram.com...). This is an initiative to fund masters student to universities in USA and Canada. The students get to enroll to a Sacco , The Airlift Sacco (TAS) and pay some contribution in hope to get a relocation loan. They are also required to take GMAT exam and also assisted to apply for mpower and discover loans to fund their masters program. They can also apply for GAs with merit. The program can take longer(1yr+) to succeed getting a school, student loan and relocation visa.

    2. The EC-Council university. ECCU announced a 50% scholarship for marginalized countries where Kenyan are eligible. (www.eccu.edu/landing/schola... the mode of delivery is online and flexible I thought this was a good deal. I believe opportunities come and go. ECCU has capped the scholarship application date as 15th March 2023 with a requirement to pay $65 as application fee and $115 as transcript evaluation fee. I am not in a position to raise this fee at the moment. I have however been given a "flexible" monthly payment plan for a 2 years self sponsored MSc in Digital forensics. Despite the fact that I love traveling and exploring, the online masters program seems better as I have credits to transfer and I can continue working as I source to fund my studies as opposed to physical studies in a new country. I am therefore requesting for funding otherwise I will have to forego this better choice and continue my struggle with choice 1.

    I have attached images of my KAP profile and ECCU self sponsored payment plan assuming I get the scholarship.

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    • Admin    Mar 10, 2023

      Hi George,

      I did some research and would suggest being careful with these offers. Here are some things I found:

      Kenya Airlift Program: "Applicants are expected to pay at least USD 1110 upfront ( $10 application, $1100 Sacco deposit) just to be accepted into the program. USD 600 is non refundable. From there applicants are then required to pass a GMAT/GRE exam and from there they can begin their college application.
      NOTE: This is not a scholarship but a loan from MPOWER finance which the student is required to pay back!

      The caveat is that, if you cannot pass the GMAT/GRE or are unable to get a study visa from the US embassy or if you want out, then your $600 is gone, up in flames. They will only refund 500dollars.

      I have seen the program featured even on local news outlets like NTV & Citizen and a lot of activities on Facebook. Doing some research on the 'successful applicants' , I found many fake names and fake profiles. Other than that I admit haven't found anything substantial." www.kenyatalk.com/index.php...

      EC-Council: "EC Council and their certs are terrible. ECCU is not a real school and anyone considering it would be better off going to pretty much any other institution in the world." www.reddit.com/r/AskNetsec/...

      Unfortunately, many degree programs that advertise to international students are scams. See www.usnews.com/higher-educa...

      The above article covers US programs only. A list of international accreditation organizations can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_....

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      • George    Mar 11, 2023

        Hi Julia, thanks for insights.

        I cannot protect any of the institutions. For KAP the telegram link is open for anyone and currently has over 10,000 users. For active members we have over 1000 and several who have already graduated since operation. I believe the research is outdated and again every thing has advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is unable to secure a visa. I heard they are considering Canada schools to close this disadvantage.
        For ECCU, the domain ends with .edu. I didn't seem to get them in any on the accreditation organization they claim to be. The research also seems to be outdated although I would wonder why the last comments on Reddit are being deleted/removed. Having no single graduate known also sounds suspicious. I can comfortably ignore this one. Maybe if someone knows more information and can guide us to the right direction, it would be pleasure.

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  • George    Mar 8, 2023

    Hello Lenders,

    Thanks for the current progress in lending me. I am looking for exact move in to a immediate enrollment. I am also considering an online masters program as opposed to physical due to visa approval/denial rate/delays in our Kenyan embassy. Please see attached inquiry offer with a 50% scholarship if one qualifies.

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  • Moses    Mar 6, 2023

    Hope this will help you

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  • Elpinah    Mar 4, 2023

    Hello George, your story has touched my heart. I pray that you live with this spirit of not giving up. God has been with you and will always support you. I wish you blessings in your studies. I encourage you. Remain blessed.

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  • George    Mar 1, 2023

    Hello lenders and backers, I am here to thank each and everyone of you for successfully funding and supporting my last project. I am glad you helped and supported me until I completed all payments. I am back for a study project. Here are the details:

    I am planning to enroll for a Masters in Cybersecurity studies in US. Note I am an Applied Maths major at University of Nairobi, Kenya but after 6 years + working at an IT consultant firm I am convinced only IT is my way out of poverty.
    I am planning to enroll at Kenya Airlift Program(KAP) which partners with The Airlift Sacco(TAS) to take bright students for Masters studies. As a regular student which I qualify I am required to contribute $1200 which will help me secure a relocation loan and secure a chance to take GMAT exam administered by GMAC. I will still continue on this journey which takes a maximum of a year as I continue to gather extra funds for my expenditure abroad. Feel free to fund me and I will never let you down

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  • George    Dec 17, 2022

    And finally it is over. What sort of joy staying without a loan! I am taking a healthy break and will be back with a project if time allows. Good Luck Zidisha community! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2023! I am still around to ensure we Keep the Internet safe from Cyber criminals!

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    • Lotus Flower    Dec 19, 2022

      Congratulations on completing the loan repayments, George!

      Glad to hear you're still around, helping to make the Internet safer!

      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2023 to you, too. :)

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