Hello Zidisha Community,

My name is Albert Keronye from Kenya, born in a humble family of 2 brothers and 2 sisters, I being the last born, my dad (now late) who worked as a gardener and the only breadwinner, my mum was a housewife. Growing up, life wasn't easy, the income my day got was only sufficient to feed us, education was like a luxury to us. I remember after completing my elementary level my dad passed on, the hopes of continuing with my education were shaken. If wasn't God through the hand of well-wishers my dreams of joining high school could be no more. I manage to go through high school and through hard work I obtained a mean grade of B-. This was enough grade for me to join university and study to become an engineer that I had always dreamt of since childhood. But unfortunately, there were no funds for me to join University. I got a cheap option of joining a teaching college and get a certificate in education to become a teacher.

Life as a teacher wasn't bad, the interaction with the kids brought joy in my heart and made me forget what I had gone through. The only challenge was the little pay, the salary that I was being paid per month could be depleted within the first week of the month. I was starting having a family and the expenses were increasing day by day, I moved from one school to another in search of greener pasture but the efforts had a little impact. I now opted to change career and work in a grocery shop, the pay was a little bit better but somehow far from where I lived. I was taking a bus daily to work. I will never forget this particular date when the owners of the buses had gone for a strike, an idea came into my mind to take a train to work, little did I know that the train would come when full, passengers were literally hanging outside because it was the only cheap option to town, as the other men I opted to hung on it. The train had barely gone for 5 minutes when I started losing grip on the metal at the door that I had held on tight. Suddenly I dropped from the moving train, fear rented the air that you could hear the women from the nearby coaches shouting. By the grace of God, I landed on the grass nearby and only my shirt was torn by the impact. Will you believe if I tell you that I stood up, dusted myself and run toward the same train as it had stopped at the next stop to pick more passengers got a space to stand and off, we left to town. This time I arrived at my destination.

Such ordeals made me ask myself questions like, "will I really come out of all this?". After one year working in the grocery shop it was closed due to poor management and we lost our jobs. I remember having unusual peace. It is when I ventured into online jobs, initially I didn't know exactly what to do but eventually God opened my mind and I realized that I had great potential that I never knew of. I realized that by the grace of God I was a great content writer writing Christian articles for clients all over the world, from my knowledge of teaching I did online Swahili lessons and did translations as well, I also realized that God had blessed me with a beautiful voice that now I could record voice overs in both English and Swahili. On the same platform I was also a virtual assistance where I helped people who lived far away and needed work to be done for them with a trusted person in Kenya. I did reservations and hotel bookings on their behalf, acted as a guide whole they were in Kenya, drafted itineraries among other duties.

This year a thought came into my mind and I asked myself why couldn't I expand my knowledge and start a travel and tour company since that is the work that I have been doing perfectly. I have taken a step of faith by doing a name search of the name of my tour company and I have reserved the name. I am in this platform as I am seeking funds to register my company and build my website among other initial expenses that will be required. I will honored if you the person reading this will be my initial clients as I have prepared wonderful and exiting packages that will leave memories in your mind about visiting Kenya. Here we say "Karibu Kenya Hakuna Matata" which means that welcome to Kenya, no worries. I know by the grace of God I will finish registering and start operating this International Tour Company.

I am training my children to open their mind and not be limited in being employed as the world is full of many opportunities. I remember today I was showing my 11 years old son the logo of my tour company and shared with him a little bit of what I am intending to do. He was very proud of his dad. I do this to open his mind to realize that it is through determination and hard work with the fear of God that one will achieve their purpose here on earth.

My hobbies are listening to gospel music, travelling and making friends from all over the world. Thank you so much for reading my story. I know that with God ALL things are possible.

My online business involves being a remote online interpreter, recording voice overs, doing translations and Christian content writing. These services are on highly demand and not a season business, I remember even by the entry of COVID 19 my online business was still in operational.

I chose this kind of job as compared to being employed as it gives me enough time to not only do my duties but also come up with what I can venture into to increase my production and therefore increase my income. My typical costs are transport, electricity and internet bills. The profits from my business are used to pay my bills and utilities and also support those who are in need with basic items like food and clothing.

Finally, as I have highlighted in my story above, I am planning to start my own tour and travel company and that is the reason that I am here. I need funds to complete the registration of my company and crate my website and do marketing plus other initial expenses.

With the funds from this Zidisha loan, I plan to purchase essential office furniture such as desk and chairs and storage units for my tour company.Having a well-organised and professional office space will improve efficiency, enhance client experience, and boost the company's credibility, helping me serve both local and international clients better