Zidisha | Project Updates

Project Updates

The latest updates from projects made possible by our global community.

Yvonne · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 19, 2014

Thank you so much lenders for funding my loan. This will go a long way in boosting my business. I received the money yesterday and my heart was overjoyed, i am now ready for the shoot next week.

Esther · Mombasa, Kenya

Dec 19, 2014

I am planning to move to a bigger space due to rapid business expansion. There is a next-door neighbor who has decided to retire at the end of this year and I am hoping to take up his space as part of my business-expansion plans. I need more cash to undertake this transition. For this reason, I have decided to use my savings to clear this loan so that I can take a bigger one to enable me acquire the new place. Time is of the essence, hence the decision to clear the loan sooner because I am afraid the space will be taken by another investor if I don't act fast.

Humphrey · Gakobu Village, Kenya

Dec 18, 2014

photos of the new machine, and me in the cyber comment image

Humphrey · Gakobu Village, Kenya

Dec 18, 2014

I managed to purchase a new faster machine Pentium 4, 1gb rum, the computer has brought changed in that customers want to use the machine, and that the computer can accommodate complicated and heavy software. thus it has increased my earnings by 6% , i am saving my earning to purchase new machines to join in the pool of the new machine, so as customers can have a variety of computer to browse on. last week my son was baptised. my neighborhood has very closed up people who only join other in time of community activities.

Mardiana · Sungguminasa, Gowa, Indonesia

Dec 18, 2014

On this occasion, allow me to say a big thank accepted the funders and zidisha. It had been much help to the turnaround and growth of our business. Had at one time there funders and zidisha team who came to Indonesia we would be very pleased if taking the time to visit our efforts in South Sulawesi. In January 2015 we plan to develop to increase production in view of the market demand is quite high, so we will submit a proposal again to need more funds to assist in the construction of a new mushroom house and the cost of making mushroom growing media. Thank you very much comment image

Daniel · Sunyani, Ghana

Dec 18, 2014

Thanks for the support of Zidisha, my business has been growing. Your loan facility was timely. I was able to buy materials for my typesetting business. This has also increased my income level and I know with your help I will be able to grow the business. Thank you all. comment image

Michael · Langa-langa Estate, Kenya

Dec 18, 2014

i have already sold all of the first purchase and made a profit of 1300ksh. 500ksh i repaid my loan . bought a big hen which was eaten on jamuhuri day celebrations for 600ksh. the remaining 200ksh is in my capital. thanks alot

Michael · Langa-langa Estate, Kenya

Dec 18, 2014

hae guys. dont know what to say. but God is good all the time. i purchased earphones , laptop and phone casings. keyboards and replaced a broken display window glass.infact those little things i used to broker from other shops am selling them at my own counter now. big salute to zidisha family. thanks big

Ndeye · Diourbel, Senegal

Dec 18, 2014

merci encore une fois les prêteurs c'est grâce a vous que je puisse obtenir mon champion de rêve voir il est mignon comment image

Edward · Abura Dunkwa C/r, Ghana

Dec 18, 2014

Hi to the entire family at Zidisha..., i have just received my loan disbursement. I am but so happy . words alone cant even describe my gratitude. all i will say is that i am so grateful for such kind gesture. i am going for my inventory right away. From today onwards , i will be able to serve more people in my community. it is said that close to creating a life is to help save one and as i am in the health sector ,i am so happy that through my little effort i am been able to help and contribute towards providing health care in my community and country at large.....I am young and my dream is to be able to reach out to more people in the near future by opening more shops and branches nationwide and later continent wide. however, i see myself learning my small beginnings. To all the lenders on this platform and to those that lent to me in particular, i want to say thank u and i am very grateful. however, you are staring at one of the greatest social entrepreneur to evolve from Africa in the near future . starting point was yesterday but today, your help and loan has giving me grounds to dream big. thank you and God bless you so much.Ones again, i have receive the loan that all of you lenders funded for me......

swendl · Iowa, United States

Dec 17, 2014

Hey Edward, I see you received your loan today - just in time for Christmas, eh? :) I'm glad, and hope that things work out well for you. No, not hope - I KNOW things will work out well for you. Go make it happen. Merry Christmas, Steve

Joshua · Kisii County, Kenya

Dec 17, 2014

Hi lender. I did attend a wedding on 6th Dec and attached find a photo taken by the Camera i bought from the loan received. Thanks for the smile. Regards Joshua comment image

Judith · Mtwapa, Kenya

Dec 17, 2014

Dear lenders, i am so happy, thrilled and well I have no words. You have funded my loan within a day, I still don't believe this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. God bless you all. I promise to repay the loan in time as I have always done. I wish you all a merry merry xmas and a happy new year. May God grant you all the desires of your heart. Thank you Zidisha - you are great and keep up the good work.

Joggele · Austria, Austria

Dec 17, 2014

Hi Leonhard, do you use organic fertilizer from your cow or industrial fertilizers? All the best Ronald

Moses · Eldoret, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

the business is growing steadily day by day having increased my stock from 10 rabbits to 20 within a short period.Again i must say thank you lenders for this worthy course.

Antony · Nairobi Umoja Estate, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

Hello jane! Let me assure you that you are at the right place. in my life, I have never me human beings with such kindness as I have seen here at zindisha. Am sure you wish shall be fulfilled in time so that you can invest the funds and repay back in time. All the best.

Paul · Kasarani, Nairobi, Kenya, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

Dear Lenders, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for trusting me with your money. I have managed to improve the stoke of goods in my shop by introducing varieties of goods. This is slowly attracting more customer to my shop as well as boosting my income. If things continues this way i can surely predict a brighter future for my business, and my family. Please continue with the same spirit. God bless you! Kind regards, Paul Mutie

Francisca · Nakuru,mwariki, Sewage, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

my kids mellisa and spencer comment image

Daniel · Muthithi, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

New capsicum plants have not yet installed a complete drip system. comment image

Daniel · Muthithi, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

Hi guys thank you for the loan i secured from you.It has pushed me a step further.I was able to install a drip system for my farm which cut my labor expense by half from $43.76 to$25.68 and also increased production from my crops due to continuous supply water . comment image

Joseph · Nakuru, Kenya

Dec 16, 2014

Thank you so much the Zidisha Team. I am elated to have fully paid the third loan today. This has been enabled by the sustainable rates that you give us. Increased earnings from the investment has continued helping me with my farming and BPO processes. I have also gone back to school for my PhD in Project Management. I am contributing positively to my poor neighborhood as a beacon of hope and a motivator to the young generation. I have been able to hold informal sessions with the youths where we discuss various matters of life and how they can positively channel their energy. Finding Zidisha was one of my engagements in the past few years. May you keep the good work up!!! I will be filling in a form for the fourth loan once the last installment for this one has been credited.

Awudu · Berekum, Ghana

Dec 16, 2014

Thanks for your support! :) comment image

Peter Gray · United States

Dec 15, 2014

A neighbor stops by to shop during the evening. Ismail is helping her: comment image

Peter Gray · United States

Dec 15, 2014

Here is a view of the corridor where Ismail's family lives, and a view of his home business from the outside: comment image

Samuel · Mazeras, Kenya, Kenya

Dec 15, 2014

Happy Holidays!!! comment image

Peter Gray · United States

Dec 15, 2014

I’m Peter, an intern with Zidisha currently working in Indonesia. This month I made a trip to Surabaya, East Java, to visit our borrowers. Surabaya is a city of over 2.5 million people, but thankfully it’s much easier to navigate than Jakarta. While I was there I got to meet Rachmat Ismail (he goes by “Ismail”), who is one of Zidisha’s earliest clients in Surabaya. He found us independently through online research, and soon began recommending Zidisha to his friends after his own positive experience. Ismail lives with his relatives in a traditional Indonesian semi-enclosed neighborhood (“kampung”) in the Petemon area of Surabaya. For the past year, Ismail has been working as a dental technician. For seven years before this, however, he worked as a photocopy machine technician, gaining valuable experience that allowed him to start a side business as a photocopy machine salesman and repairman. Ismail used Zidisha loans to support this business, and even named his shop after Zidisha! Ismail is shopping for a new location for his photocopy machine business – one that is closer to his home than the previous space. Although his shop is currently closed, he continues to service and sell photocopy machines on his own – sometimes even delivering machines to other cities in Java. Like many Indonesians, Ismail also helps with a family enterprise. He and his mother run a shop out of their house that supplies the neighborhood with snacks, water, toiletries, and other daily goods. Neighbors stroll by throughout the day, stopping at the door to make purchases. It’s much easier to visit a neighbor than to venture out of the kampung in search of a grocery store. The income from this business is supporting Ismail’s mother, and also helping Ismail save money in anticipation of reopening his photocopy machine shop. Visiting Ismail’s family was a great experience. While eating snacks generously provided by his mother, we watched Indonesian soap operas and talked about his business and experience with Zidisha. Ismail is very knowledgeable about Zidisha, and gives his time as a Volunteer Mentor to help other borrowers use the service and recruit responsible new borrowers. He is a wonderful resource for the borrowers around him, and a model Zidisha client. comment image

Pius · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 15, 2014

with my students comment image

JimVandegriff · Trinidad, California, United States

Dec 15, 2014

Siaka, I'm very glad there was a solution. I certainly hope that your life goes more smoothly from this point on. Hoping all is well for you and your family, Jim Vandegriff

Samuel · Mazeras, Kenya, Kenya

Dec 15, 2014

Helps a lot, Wiredfox! I will reduce the Mpesa float and invest the difference in new phones. I have been asked for some phone models for too long now. The nearby EPZ ( a Wal-Mart garment making supplier) has over 2,000 employees at any given time. Since the EPZ pay is poor, most workers come join straight once they leave their parents households ( mostly after high school). Once they have enough households and belongings to sustain an independent life( bed mattress, a phone, some clothes, cooking utensils ) and some pocket money they abandon their per-piece-rate jobs and go in search of better jobs elsewhere. Therefore, there is an endless new crop of employees (customers) each time. The EPZ will always recruit some few new employees on every Monday ( to replace those who have left in past week ). I know this because i prepare most of their tax IDs (a pre-requisite for formal employment here http://itax.kra.go.ke/KRA-Portal/ ) for KES 200 each. Especially January, I expect some 500 or so new faces to join Mazeras township. Most people would return, after Christmas holiday in their ancestral rural homes, with a renewed ambition for better jobs. Some may meet some long time friends over the holidays and return to totally different towns where the same friend would support them to secure a better job there. It's the pursuit of happiness. No onewill rest till they achieve it. Shehi.

Siaka · Banfora, Burkina Faso

Dec 15, 2014

Dear Zidisha Members I thank GOD for giving me idea to overcome my problem in my village. I was too discourage when people in my village exceptionally my uncle hate me because I did not give him chance to control my business. I thing and I’m sure that there is not a problem without solution. I started to work with 3 women with my 2 wives making 5 women before my problem with my uncle started hating me for nothing. Being g in this situation, I decide to stop the 3 women left me with my 2 wives go on with my business. The 3 women have suffering for money business to put their children in the school. Now they run to my uncle apology him and ask him to order me to continue with my job so that they will continue their job getting money to put their children in the school. My uncle was too discouraged in from of these women and tells me: let them continue their job all the problem is finish. That is how I overcome to my problem. Since the day that my uncle decided that the women should continue their job, I decided to repair the house for ATTIEKE. I started to repair it but the own lesson I got is that I should not trust to anybody in this world. Yours SIAKA for ever……..

Silas · Morop, Kenya

Dec 15, 2014

dear lenders,its my grate pleasure to wish all of you merry christmas and a very beautiful new year.am okey with my family, and the loan you gave me has boosted my business with a very big impact.my retail shop has grown big with so many customers. am serving almost 300 customers per day.its grate to me that my business is doing so well.i hope to start anew project which is dairy farming.i hope this will do good since i have already started. thanks so much

Violet · Sanga'alo Village, Kenya

Dec 15, 2014

Managed to pay my first installment of the loan.It is almost christmas day and customers are stocking up,buying groceries or asking me for raw sweet potatoes to prepare.I have added more stock in my shop and even got an offer on kale seedlings which i put in a seed bed,hope to move them into the field by the end of December.Its hot but at least i have water buckets i can use to water the seedlings until their transplant.Thank you everyone,will keep you posted.

Anthony · Kanja, Embu, Kenya

Dec 14, 2014

I am able to pay more because I am getting more income from tea sales. Some of the young stems have matured and productivity has increased after supplementing with the appropriate fertilizer during the rainy season. I added the money you lent me to purchase bags of government-subsidized fertilizer on time and farming is good. I foresee good things and will soon increase further my instalments . I am very grateful Zidisha and all my lenders. Special thanks to JimVandegriff for his encouragement and contribution.

Wiredfox · Macclesfield, United Kingdom

Dec 14, 2014

Dear Samuel Thanks for this insight into your business challenges. It sounds as if you are taking a sensible, level-headed approach. Sometimes a delay to one's plans can provide an opportunity to reassess the business plan and consider other alternatives. But sometimes it's just annoying...!

George · Kato, Ghana

Dec 13, 2014

Samples of my work comment image

Duke · Nakuru, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

Dear my lenders, i am happy to let you know that am okey and that my motorbike taxi business is doing fine. please note that i am able to submit my weekly payments very comfortably since my job is doing well. am now thinking about owning a brandy new motor bike come next year. Note that my business involves hiring motorbikes to qualified drivers who do not own one. in return one pays kes 1800 Kenya shillings per week. this amountis even excess by 1800-1485=315 of the total amount i pay on my loan. this is why through your help i want to own atleast two motorbikes come next year. Thank you my lenders . merry chrismass and happy new year. from Duke ombagi Nyangau.

Ian · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

Mureithi the electrician. He worked on the project till really late at night. An amazing guy and loves his work. I'm glad he worked on the project. comment image

Ian · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

We're almost there. With a pal Denis asking him what he thinks of the place. comment image

Ian · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

The classroom setup comment image

Ian · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

Branding of premise comment image

Ian · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

Computers arrived on time. comment image

Ian · Nairobi, Kenya

Dec 13, 2014

Designers hard at work. comment image

Moussa · Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Dec 13, 2014

J'ai fait un tours au bosquet comment image

Moussa · Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Dec 13, 2014

J'ai fait un tours au bosquet comment image

Moussa · Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Dec 13, 2014

J'ai fait un tours au bosquet comment image

Moussa · Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Dec 13, 2014

J'ai fait un tours au bosquet comment image

Edward · Abura Dunkwa C/r, Ghana

Dec 13, 2014

First of all i will want to express my gratitude to Zidisha for such a platform. and to Swendl i am grateful for the help in terms of the funding. i am so elated. i could not believe it when i received the message that you have funded 100% of my loan. words alone would not be enough to convey my gratitude but surely God bless you. i am hitting the grounds running right away and i will do all i can to maintain my financial integrity. ones again ,i am grateful....

Franmiguel · Perth, Australia

Dec 13, 2014

Hi Antony, And a merry Xmas to yourself, your wife and newborns. Well done. I am happy to hear that having access to funds is making life a little easier. All the best. Michael

Samuel · Makuyu, Kenya

Dec 12, 2014

Dear lenders, I am delighted to let all know of how I have benefited from the loan that I have just completed repaying. As an online worker, I always wanted to own a personal computer and thanks to Zidisha and the lenders I was able to see it happen. Working from cyber cafes was always hectic since the costs were quite high as well as inconveniencing. Since purchasing the personal comp with help from zidisha lenders, I have enjoyed better profits as well as convenience in that I can work from my residence at any time including the night. I have also been of help to aspiring online workers who have often enquired what online working is all about, all thanks to the P.C I purchased with Zidisha's assistance. Unemployment in Kenya, being a developing country is real, but with online jobs which include transcription and writing, I have been able to rise above the menace into self reliance. I don't have enough words to thank the lenders who risk their hard earned money to assist people in the third world venture into business, without forgetting the affordably low interest rates. Going forward, I have been saving some little money monthly, with which I anticipate to venture wider in online work by purchasing more P.Cs, and above all create employment for more. I look forward to it and I believe lenders will chip in to assist, and in turn I'll faithfully repay. Thanks.

Beryl · Utawala M.c Shopping Center, Kenya

Dec 11, 2014

Hi people,My name is Zoey Akinyi Ochieng, Akinyi means being born during wee hours in the morning, a male would be called Okinyi. Ochieng is my Dad"s name meaning being born at around sunrise in the morning,the female would be called Achieng(check out my Mums second name)In my Luo tribe culture demanded that children were named according to the time of the day,seasons(be it planting or harvesting)or any political activity that might be taking place during that time(like Independence,would be called Uhuru)as for Zoey ,mum tells me that she watched a movie while pregnant with me and the kid who starred in that movie was called zoey mmmmmh, that is a story for another day,however.I would really thank all Lenders who had faith in my mum"s loan and bidded for it,take from us that your loan will be paid in time as i know that she is a person of high moral standards and integrity,consider your loans fully paid and hopefully she would apply for bigger loans and you will be there to support her!in case i don't get permission to post another comment,I wish to take this earliest opportunity to wish each one of you a Merry Xmas and A Happy New Yeaar...

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