School fees for my daughter

Michael

Kitengela, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Michael

Member since

April 2015

On-time repayments

225 installments  •  44%

About Me

I was born in 1981 in Kenya to parents who were business people. The were Christians staunch and before I began nursery school they became priests in one of the Pentecostal churches in Kenya. Immediately we moved from our urban residence to a remote town in Norther Kenya - Maralal Samburu. This place is so remote that to date there are some people who don't wear clothes. They wrap robes.

This is where I began school and did my 0-level. Due to the town's remote state, education is not taken with much seriousness. My parent's financial strength was also a challenge which made me go to not good schools, and being sent home periodically for school fees. This affected my education in the negative way.

After high school I went to college and did my certificate in human resource management but it became difficult to continue with higher education due to finances. This prompted me to venture into business.

I have tried my hands in various businesses. In those small businesses, I did my savings and managed to buy a Suzuki Maruti Omni minibus.

I work in the transport sector using my Suzuki Maruti Omni minibus. This business is a commuter transport.

In my current locality, the most common mode of transport is motorbike - taking people from the town center to their respective homes in the estates. The other not so common mode of transport is 'tuk-tuk' (forgive me, I can't remember the official name to this 3 wheeled motorbikes. The above two modes of transport encounter several challenges.

The motorbikes for instance, clients/commuters fear for their safety since most riders don't driving licences and therefore not qualified to ride. A lot of accidents occur in this town due to the rogue riders all over the place.

The three wheeled motorbikes also experience the same challenges. Commuters feel very much unsafe riding in these 'tuk-tuks' as well.

After observing the above challenges, I came up with a more comfortable vehicle to take people to their destined places. I was the first person to come up with this idea in this town and with time it has become so popular and accepted by the society.

My Business

I have had a taxi business for a while now. The business has been experiencing a lot of challenges including friction with the 'conventional' modes of transport. These include motorbikes and bigger vans. They have been viewing our type of vehicles as a threat that has come to eliminate them from the market. With this perception in their minds, they have been waging war and fighting us from all fronts. They have been using unorthodox ways to get us out of the market and this has made the business become unprofitable. I get very little from the business. And the little I get is from hand to mouth, coupled with unending repairs of the vehicle having in mind that it is quite old.

This made me think of venturing in another activity that will be income generating to keep my young family going. In a bad day, I don't get clients/commuters to ferry. This strains me financially a lot.

I recently got introduced by a friend of mine to the on-line working business. I went ahead and opened an account with some websites so that I start working on transcription, web design, graphic design and other fields that I am skilled on.

I feel ecstatic that my skills will finally be put to good use and generate me some income. Getting white collar jobs in Kenya is quite an uphill task. But this is a golden opportunity to put my skills into good use.

Much regards,
Mike

Loan Proposal

In the area where I live, there are only two government schools and the town has a very large population. The government provides free primary education to government schools. Due to the high population in my locality, only a few can access the free primary education. This makes room for the coming up of private schools which are very expensive. Since one must educate their children, we spend a lot in paying of school fees.

This term, I have paid some amount and there is a balance I need to clear. The total fees is $170. I have managed to pay $75. I therefore require a total of $95 to clear the balance before they send my daughter home for school fees.

This application is therefore towards this goal. I had interruptions during my schooling for lack of fees; it will give me great joy to see my child learn without such interruptions.

Thanks in advance!
Mike

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$94.00

Date disbursed

Mar 9, 2017

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

21 months

Lenders

MarktheMormon

Sandy, Utah, United States

Laurie

Sry, Canada

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

Flipmore

Vancouver, Canada

JA

Jorge Alagon

Munich, Germany

A

Aurelija

United Kingdom

Matt B

Stratford Upon Avon, United Kingdom

PG

Paul Graham

United States

Craig Newmark

United States

Humble Bundle Community

San Francisco, United States

L

Lillian

United States

A

Anonymous

United States

A

Anonymous

United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

CN

Craig Newmark

United States

JG

Jake Gibson and Beverly Picardo

San Francisco, United States

A

Anonymous

United States

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