Loan to make 50,000 eco-bricks for classrooms

Charles

Nairobi, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Charles

Member since

April 2014

On-time repayments

120 installments  •  58%

About Me

I am Charles Butiko, a Kenyan Development Consultant (and trainer), with a background in engineering, business management & entrepreneurship, and environmental management. I am a social chain entrepreneur with interests in chemical & food technology, agribusiness, renewable energy &environmental conservation, education, research, and cottage industrialization. I work through both business, and community development models, which enable me work with
several people, schools, government institutions, non-governmental
organizations, and private enterprise.I am an innovator, a thinker and enjoy providing solutions to people's challenges. I also serve as a motivational speaker
during community development forums. Through Integrated Development program, I launched a number of 'community development initiatives' including 'integrated sustainable development practical life skills program'. Through this, I am constantly getting opportunities to empower groups and individuals.

My hobbies are traveling, discussing issues, and meeting and making new friends. I am very passionate about our recent 'sustainable practical life skills program' for community. We started with training groups and individuals how to make, package and brand sanitation & beauty products like soap, hair shampoo, disinfectants, and organic home-made insecticides. We then source raw material for them and offer technical support during their project work. This has received an overwhelming response and I can see it grow wider since we plan to introduce other modules in food technology, renewable energy technology, water technology, and organic/herbal health solutions.

My Business

I work as a development consultant, researcher, social entrepreneur, and community development leader, and motivational speaker. Through Integrated Development Agency, I have teamed up with others to create a difference in people's lives by partnering with various organizations to initiate the integrated development program which works and proposes to continue working in various sectors.

Our most interesting programme is the 'integrated sustainable practical skills programme'. This program has modules premised on different sectors like: sanitation, beauty, food technology, renewable energy technology, organic/herbal health, and business improvement. Sample practical modules include: how to make & package soap, hair shampoo, disinfectants (under sanitation); glycerine, lotions, creams, beauty soaps, other (beauty); yoghurt, ice cream, jam, tomato sauce, chilli sauce (food technology); biogas, biodiesel, energy briquettes (renewable energy); herbal health solutions (health); business plans, project proposals, strategic plans( business improvement). We organize training forums and charge at least USD 3 per head. We can serve at least 50 attendants per session and hold at least 2 sessions per week. Thereafter we supply raw material to all interested in making the products from home. This program is picking up well and complements my income from selling products like: soap, shampoo, glycerine, disinfectants, honey, and from other talks. I have also partnered with a firm to supply secondary school students with scientific calculators at subsidized costs (the subsidy is a benefit on costing based on bulk order discounts) early 2016.

Loan Proposal

With Ksh. 100,000 (Ksh. 68,000 equity and Ksh. 32,000 loan ) I will purchase 100 bags of cement (50Kg per bag). Using a ratio of 1: 18 (cement: soil) I will manage my team to make 15,000 eco-bricks (at a rate of 150 eco-bricks per bag of cement), in one week and a day. That is at a working rate of 2,000 eco-bricks per day, with the additional 1,000 eco-bricks made on the 8th day of the project. I have already talked with my team at 'affordable housing programme' and they have agreed to work with me, and be paid at the end of the project, which will take 8-10 weeks. My contactor friend agreed to lease to our team two soil press machines, each with a capacity of 1,000 eco-bricks per day; that means collective capacity is 2,000 eco-bricks per day hence the 14,000 eco-bricks in 7 days.

I have been given this business from the network have created during our 'integrated education mentorship programme', partuclarly when I visited for mitivational talks. After describing our solution as one that will help lower the costs of construction, the head teachers of the schools talked to the school management committees and they agreed we supply each of the 5 schools, 10,000 eco-bricks for a start. Besides, I proposed to them one contractor (who is my friend) and with whom we will co-mange the very construction projects.

The 10,000 of the 15,000 eco-bricks produced in the first week will be sold -in the third week since our eco-bricks take 14 days to cure - to the first school which will pay us Ksh. 170,000 cash on delivery (at a discounted rate of Ksh. 17 per eco-brick, down from the Ksh. 20 per brick market rate). with Ksh. 170,000 in the third week, we will reinvest by buying 170 bags of cement with which we will make a total of 25, 500 eco-bricks in the third and fourth weeks of the project. That will mean we deliver 10,000 eco-bricks to the second and third schools each in the 5th and 6th weeks respectively. In the 5th week, we will use part of the proceeds from the second school to make the remaining 13,500 eco-bricks (since we will have accumulated 5,000 bricks from the first batch, and 1,500 bricks from the second batch) to give a total of 20,000 eco-bricks to supply the fourth and the last schools in the 7th and 8th weeks respectively. That means, from the second school we will accumulate a gross income of Ksh. 70,000 since to make 13,500 we will have spend about Ksh. 100,000. Income from selling 20,000 eco-bricks to the last two schools will be Ksh. 340,000, giving the total cumulative income as Ksh. 410,000.

Our costs will be met at the end of the project and will involve Ksh. 10,000 for hiring the soil press machines, Ksh. 64,000 for labor, and a miscellaneous Ksh. 40,000 for other costs since soil is readily available. The total expenses amount to Ksh. 114,000 at the end of the project, except the loan expense which I will repay from my regular sources of income. That means. without including the loan expense, the net income will be Ksh. 296,000.

Meanwhile, before the sales income, I will repay this loan from my regular sources of income, just as I have been doing with previous Zidisha loans. Just to reinstate, I work as a development consultant, and do businesses through the integrated development program. For instance, through the 'honeywealthmakers program' we sell bee hives, honey, and construct bee apairies; though the sanitation programme we sell soap and other sanitation products; through the renewable energy programme we install biogas projects, and so on. Through the integrated education programme I work part time as a motivational speaker as well as sign up schools into this programme.

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$322.00

Date disbursed

Aug 27, 2015

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

3 months

Lenders

P

phangsang

Seattle, United States

G

guenter

Bremen, Germany

M

Mårten

Inden, Switzerland

T

tkromm

Agia Paraskevi, Greece

R

Rearden

STAVANGER, Norway

bconrad

Seattle, United States

G

guggl

Vienna, Austria

J

johnrmeier

United States

Johannes Duerk

Bochum, Germany

MW

Matt Willis

United States

Dayton

Vancouver, Canada

AG

Alexandre Genereux

Gatineau, Canada

NB

Neil Barnes

Molalla, United States

Alicia

United States

Taylor

Memphis, United States

D

Daniel

United States

Ask Charles 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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  • Charles    Jun 21, 2016

    Hi,Lenders i spoke to Charles he will update his Account Very soon he had few issue along the way but his looking for the Way forward .
    Thank you

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  • Emma    Mar 24, 2016

    Hi Charles :-)

    I'm a bit worried about Jones... Would you mind checking he is ok please?

    Hope you're well.
    Kind regards, Emma.

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  • andyfletcher    Feb 13, 2016

    Hello Charles,
    Do you know what has happened to Betty Adhiambo, a borrower you are mentoring? She has not made any payments on her loan so far.

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  • Charles    Jan 7, 2016

    I have invested the loan money in material for training and will increase the installment once the material sales pick well

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  • Charles    Dec 25, 2015

    I thank my lenders. Today I received my loan of Ksh. 64,069. It is Christmas day and we are not working today. As we celebrate, however, what's on my mind is our next business training sessions on December 29th and 30th next week. On 29th I will be facilitating a 'sanitation module I' session while on 30th I will introduce a 'sanitation module II' session at a different venue. I have just talked to the guy who does our publicity and he will work half a day!

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  • patrice83    Dec 23, 2015

    Go on :)

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  • Charles    Dec 9, 2015

    Thanks to all lenders. I managed to complete the project of making eco-bricks. I have also finished repaying the loan. The project succeeded despite some challenges. For instance, we experienced an unanticipated heavy rainy season which occasionally affected curing of the bricks. Despite all that, we sold the bricks in time and made profit which I have divested in another project.

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  • Charles    Nov 25, 2015

    I received my project payment that was pending

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  • Charles    Nov 4, 2015

    My payment has been delayed.

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  • Charles    Oct 23, 2015

    Our eco-bricks project is ongoing and we are meeting our targets as planned. Meanwhile I have just introduced a new brand of honey, 'Top Western Honey'! for our 'Bees for wealth and health project'. I am also working on innovative products like medicinal beewax-aloe cream, lotion, and honey-handwash for the 'bees for wealth and health project'. Our new brand 'top western honey' has been appreciated by many consumers since it is 'pure and natural' in a market dominated with adulterated honey from suppliers who mix honey with several other cheaper ingredients.

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  • Dorothy    Sep 10, 2015

    Hi charles ,my name is Dorothy I choose you as my mentor ,I wanted to ask you a few things if you a where I applied my third loan which is expiring in one hour time ,it was not completely funded not at all what might be wrong,might be disqualified from Zidisha ,please as my mentor my some inquiries and let me know the way forward thanks charles

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  • Charles    Aug 28, 2015

    I confirm receiving a loan of Ksh. 32,000 from Zidisha Inc. and I have committed it to the first batch of our bags of cement for the eco-bricks project. I thank all lenders who made this possible.

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  • Taylor    Aug 26, 2015

    Charles
    Congratulations! I have just arrived home from Kenya! I was lucky enough to travel to Kenya as a young guy! 15 years old to be honest. I'm 34 today and I will honestly tell you that trip/the people changed the direction of my life! I wish you the best of luck and feel free to contact me if you like!

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  • Charles    Aug 26, 2015

    I thank all my lenders for making it possible for our 'affordable housing programme' to progress. As stated in the proposal, we will use the loan fund, together with own contributions, to buy 100 bags of cement which we will use to continue making the pressed soil bricks for the classrooms. More updates as the project progresses!

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  • Alexandre Genereux    Aug 18, 2015

    Fantastic news!!

    Congratulation on for all your accomplishements! I'm glad to have been able to contribute in a small way. Good luck for your future endeavors.

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  • Charles    Aug 18, 2015

    I thank my lenders through Zidisha for enabling me complete my recently concluded research project on organic pesticide. I am planning to go to the next phase after my manuscript is published by the Journal of Health and Pollution. This has made a difference in my career. I will get an opportunity to partner with my former lecturers (of Chemical Engineering) and together we will work on the product's commercialization. This will entail further research on the product development (final formulation, preservation, patenting, packaging, pilot plant production, other) and projecting the commercial model for industrial scale partnerships.

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  • Charles    Aug 15, 2015

    Honey programme....
    Apart from the research project, we have a 'honey wealthmakers programme' under the 'integrated development programme' and it is our fastest growing programme. Several farmers are expressing interest to acquire our bee hive kits, harvesting equipment and protective clothing. Others are selling honey to us which we repackage and resell. We are building bee apiary houses for others. This honey programme is pretty interesting.

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  • Charles    Aug 15, 2015

    I also create time to work with others. In our 'affordable housing programme' we champion production of more affordable bricks that not fired to save on environment and cost of housing. We partner with architects to design houses that conform to these more affordable construction materials.

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  • Charles    Aug 15, 2015

    I do more than just chemicals! In this photo I had created time to address excellent students of my former primary school. I had been invited as an old boy of the school and also as a founder of the 'integrated education programme' , a concept I will soon be making a presentation on in a forthcoming national conference for science and maths teachers.

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  • Charles    Aug 15, 2015

    I completed my loan repayment today. I thank my lenders for enabling complete the research project. i am looking forward for its second phase - its commercialization and to join the Kenya organic agriculture network to spearhead an additional product, the organic fertilizer. Besides this, I am also in bee keeping value-chain, a project we are doing with farmers. Affordable housing programme is another project we are starting out with my colleagues. My lenders through Zidisha has contributed to this success and look forward to working with them more in future.

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