Julia Kurnia    Apr 4, 2014

This is a test. Please ignore.

AchintyaRai    Apr 7, 2012

Hello Lenders,

I recently talked to Mr. Napais on phone and here's what he told me-
His sisted was hospitalized and he had to pay for her treatment. He still owes the hospital 60,000 shillings so he had to give them the title deed of his shamba (farm).
He also had to pay the school/exam fees for one of his children.
He requested for more time before beginning his payment. He assured me he would be able to start making small payments from May 2012

Achintya
Kenya

Julia Kurnia    Mar 5, 2012

Dear lenders,

We received this message today from Mr Napais:

This is john jambo we are fine i could make to pay my loan the date i promise my sister got road axdance he is at tenwek hospital his leg is cutting off i need prayer and forgives for more dealy to pay the loan pass this for zidisha members thanks@

John Mopel    Jan 5, 2012

Jambo all zidisha members iapologie for much delay for the paiment the reason is i face more trable this season i look forward to pay end of january now i tray to pay school fees for 3children i request to pay 2000 a month i bague for givens thanks
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Julia Kurnia    Sep 30, 2011

Dear lenders,

I spoke with Mr Napais today. His brother's wife had been in the hospital due to birthing difficulties, which ended in surgery. Mr Napais' sister-in-law is recovering well, but I am sorry to say that she lost the baby.

Mr Napais reports that his business activities have come to a standstill, following the loss of most of his working capital to a fraudulent supplier and to family medical bills. He attempted to sell a cow last week in order to repay his Zidisha loan, but reports that the market was not good, and he will try again next week.

Best,

Julia Kurnia, Director

John Mopel    Sep 27, 2011

Hallo.zidisha.members.this.is.john.i.apolgy.for.the.dealy.of.the.payment.the.reason.is.iface.more.problems.1.ibuy.maize.at.t.z.and.peole.coning.me.50.000ksh.2.i.got.injering.my.hand.and.i.use.aloat.of.money.3.on.july i sale 1 cow of 20.000ksh.last week wen iprepare to pay my younger brother become sick and my brother dont have anything to pay the hospital bill for the oparashion which cos 35.000ksh my prayer is my the lord door for to pay loan my plan now is to sale 1cow to get capital to start new bisners iapolog forgivenes thanks

Julia Kurnia    Sep 15, 2011

Dear lenders,

I spoke today with Mr Napais. He is in the hospital at the moment, attending to his brother's wife who is seriously ill and needs surgery. Mr Napais tells me that he has not yet been able to raise the funds needed to catch up on his loan repayments, and that he is working with his neighbors to schedule a fundraising event next month. If successful, he will use the funds to catch up on his loan repayments.

In the meantime, Mr Napais is facing pressing financial needs in his own family, due to his sister-in-law's hospital bills and his house rental payment which comes due shortly.

Best regards,

Julia Kurnia, Director

Julia Kurnia    Aug 13, 2011

Dear lenders,

I spoke today with Mr Napais regarding his loan. This is his second Zidisha loan, which he received after fully repaying his first loan in November last year. He used the loan to purchase a large stock of maize for his mill from a trader in Tanzania. Unfortunately, the trader did not deliver the maize and absconded with Mr Napais' payment. Since then, Mr Napais has been working to build up his earnings in the face of the severe drought which has impacted the entire region of Somalia and Kenya this year. Yesterday for the first time it rained in Mr Napais' area of the Masai Mara. He is optimistic that he will be in a position to begin making repayments again by the end of the month.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

Best,

Julia Kurnia, Director

[email protected]

John Mopel    Mar 23, 2011

Hallo Leaders !
This is John i apologize for not posting any comments, i have passed difficult time this round .
I bought maize from Tanzania they corned me money but i didn't get maize.
I didn't buy anything because i didn't get any maize this round. This round the money i got didn't help my business but the rest of money about twenty thousand i paid for my child school fees. But after experiencing that problem i sold one of cow my cow at ksh 20,000 /= and i started a new business.
The amount of money you gave unto me assisted me a lot because i build a house of four big rooms.
Here in Kenya will are fine doing well. Write now we are enjoying rain in Kenya . Here in Maasai Mara cows are okey .

Thank you.

Regards.

John

Lauren Rosenbaum    Dec 24, 2010

Tuesday is market day in Oloolamitia, Masai Mara. Because market day draws people from neighboring areas, Mr. Napais' businesses are busiest and generate the most profit on market day. Individuals doing business in the livestock "soko" (market) or clothing/foodstuff soko stop by his shop for some maize meal to satisfy their weekly needs or recharge in his tearoom with some "chai" (Kenyan tea with milk and sugar) and "mandazi" (fried dough).

(foodstuff soko, morning-before the craziness starts)
www.overstream.net/view.php...

(foodstuff soko, afternoon-very busy!)
www.overstream.net/view.php...

(livestock soko, also morning)
www.overstream.net/view.php...

John Mopel    Dec 13, 2010

Lots of greetings to all my lenders and the entire Zidisha family. Am doing well & my business is good. Now i have plenty of stock that meets my customers demand this was not possible without your help. I welcome you all to the Mara Mbuzi italala. from the profit generated in the last one month I'm ploughing three acre of maize to feed my poshomill. My family enjoy my festive season because i have something to cater for what they may require. Enjoy your christmas

John Mopel    Sep 17, 2010

I was just recently from Trans-Mara buying maize.This is the place where farming is done in large cultivating. I have bought ten sucks of maize sack was bought at Ksh 3000 that cost up to 30,000 ksh and i have also sold my bulls up to Ksh 60,000.I have divided to four portion i have expanded my business and paid my school fees and also paid the loan from zidisha.I hope to make the last installment coming the end of this month after making profit and loss accounts.

Lauren Rosenbaum    Jul 13, 2010

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6g...
Mr. Napais' mill (warning: this video is LOUD)

Lauren Rosenbaum    Jul 13, 2010

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXY...
Mr. Napais talks about his business

John Mopel    Jul 11, 2010

i delay for the paiyment of last month because i was sick with malaria and the money i have i use to go to hospital. Ad try to sale acow at our market and the price is not good and i cent to the big mayket and so i able to paid. Thank you

Lauren Rosenbaum    Jun 25, 2010

On Tuesday I visited Mr. Napais and he showed me his business. He is an extremely friendly and enthusiastic man (a common trait among people here). He is also articulate and speaks English quite well. His milling equipment was quite impressive. From my experience working with Kenyan entrepreneurs involved in small-scale value addition with groundnuts (peanuts), I understand the large investment that such an apparatus involves, especially in a remote village like Oloolamutia where all power comes from generators, which require fuel to operate. Nevertheless, it is much more profitable to mill maize for sale than to simply buy and sell it, as milling adds value to the product. This should allow Mr. Napais’ business to earn him a good profit in the long run.
Mr. Napais’ business was deeply affected by the drought that swept Kenya from October to January this year, shortly after he received his loan from Zidisha. Many of his customers did not have money to pay him for maize during this time, yet Mr. Napais was too kind-hearted to refuse them and gave them maize anyway. Now that the drought has passed, people are paying Mr. Napais the money they owed him months ago and can afford to buy more maize and maize flour. Tuesday is the market day in Oloolamutia, when people come from surrounding villages to buy and sell livestock and many other goods. This is the busiest day for business owners in the town, and Mr. Napais was constantly moving to make sure that his shop was running smoothly.
As is common in Kenya, Mr. Napais supports not only his wife and five children with his income, but also members of his extended family who have fallen upon difficult times. His sister’s husband passed away and now he pays for the school fees of her two daughters. He has also supports his mother since his own father passed away.
Now that his maize business is once again earning profits, Mr. Napais’ dream is to expand to open a convenience store, as well. He would sell a variety of goods such as sugar, salt, soda, cooking oil, laundry detergent, and Masai blankets.

Lauren Rosenbaum    Jun 24, 2010

Hello, lenders.

My name is Lauren Rosenbaum and I will be Zidisha’s Client Relations Manager for Kenya over the next two months. I am currently stationed in Oloolamutia, a small town near the Masai Mara game reserve. Zisisha currently has four borrowers in Oloolamutia and surrounding villages and hopes to expand loans to more qualified applicants. 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.

John Mopel    Jun 22, 2010

Hi Lenders,My business is running smoothly after serious drought that really swept all the stock[Cattle].My shop is know back,i am planning to equip more on Maize,50 number of bags.The price per bag is Ksh 1500.The selling price per bag is Ksh 1800.Making a profit of Ksh 15,000.I will pay the loan and would want to expand my business have a shop for food staffs at Meguarre center.I promise to be update in re-payment.I apologies for late re-payment.The loan assisted me to pay two of my kids and two of my sister who attend Siana boarding school.My two are attending Mara Shinners Academy.After having my small shop near home it will enable me to carter for my kids and my family at large.

John Mopel    May 19, 2010

Hi my dear suporters i am doing good in my business but i have delayed my re-payment due to much harvest of my trading products.Which lowered the prices of this products{Maize}Most of some community around maasai mara are doing some agriculture of cultivating.I am applogiesing for this month delay.The re-payment i will make since the money that i do have are less than the required amount.Also we do have a problem of browesing equipment and a camera.An other problem that we have is sending money through M-PESA system. By this i mean the only possible M-PESA that we do have in our regieon have little amoumt of units.Otherwise we will try our level to make.

• Julia Kurnia    May 19, 2010

  Dear lenders, I'd just like to add some further explanation to Mr Napais' posting based on my experience in Kenya. He mentions difficulty in accessing a computer (browsing equipment) and digital camera. When I visited his settlement last year, there was only one laptop computer that was turned on occasionally and used to access the internet with the help of a small generator and mobile modem.
  
  M-PESA is a money transfer service which Zidisha uses to disburse loans and accept repayments in Kenya. It allows Kenyan residents to transfer money with their cell phones via secure SMS message, which can then be exchanged for cash at mobile phone card retail shops. The difficulty Mr Napais cites here is that the M-PESA agents in his area are short of working cash, which results in delays in their ability to send repayment installments for Zidisha borrowers. I am told that the cash shortage at the local M-PESA outlet has become more acute in recent months, so that Zidisha borrowers must often go to a nearby town about a day's journey from their settlement in order to send their repayments.
  
  Best,
  
  Julia

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Julia Kurnia    Jan 19, 2010

Hi, thanks for the update. What do kids there learn in school? How do they spend their free time?
Best,
Julia

• John Mopel    Jan 19, 2010

  They learn how to write & read in Kiswahili and English. Kenya primary education syllabus cover other subjects science, mathematics, geograph, history, agriculture, home/science, business education etc. After school and on weekends boys go and herd calves, sheep & cattle. Girls help their mothers in general house cleannes, taking care of the young kids fetching water & firewood. At the age of 18 and above boys start helping their fathers in fencing bomas, cattle brading & ear notching while girls engage in house construction and beadwork.
  
  
  When the kids finish school, they are expected to live a different life of living in modern homes, they have acquired skills for earning a living other than depending entirely on cattle and will be able to plan & manage what they do in a more professional way. (response provided by Johnson Kuyioni on Mr Napais\' behalf)

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