My name is John Barasa from kakamega county in Kenya. Born in the year 1984 in a family of fifteen; ten girls and five boys. My mother, Agnes, succumbed to cancer in the year 2015 while our dad is still alive and we thank God for his life.

My parents were peasant farmers struggling to raise us up from their meagre earnings. I did my Kenya certificate of primary education in the year 1998 and passed well. However, I couldn't join form one since my three siblings were in secondary school and raising school fees for them was a nightmare for my parents.

I was able to get admission to form one the following year in a cheaper nearby school. Secondary school life was not easy as anticipated. I could spend weeks at home due to lack of school fees.

Even with the difficulties I worked very hard, I managed to attain a mean grade of B-(minus). However, I could not secure a sponsorship from Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) since I didn't meet the cut off points. I was demoralised. I applied for various diploma courses but I couldn't get enrolled in any course due to lack of fees.

I reverted to doing manual jobs like weeding sugarcane for people and ploughing farms. Life was difficult.

I later enrolled for a driving course with the little I had saved. I later got a job as a driver/salesman in a Coca-Cola distributor company within our area where I was being paid kshs.15000.

The salary though not enough helped me a great deal to settle in my life, get a wife and help my parents.

A Boutique

From the savings I made, I opened a clothes business to supplement on my income. I deal with new clothes for women and men. The business is doing well. I have employed one person to help me run the business. The business is capital intensive. Customers have different tests thus some orders cannot be met due to insufficient capital. Nevertheless, I am able to get between kshs.5000 and kshs. 10000 as profit in a month.

I would like to market further my Boutique. I operate from a rented room thus the business needs a good display outside the room. I therefore seek your assistance to help me purchase dummies (human figure) to help me market my clothes. One dummy costs around kshs.1500 to kshs 2000. I purpose to purchase 20 dummies at around kshs. 30000 to kshs. 40000.

With the dummies, I will be able to fight competition and attract more customers. I expect my earnings to double to between kshs. 10000 and kshs. 20000 a month.

People have an eye for fashion. As a result new clothes and the trendy ones are in demand. Because of the demand, I opened a boutique for women clothes. The business is doing fine. I have one employee helping me with the day to day running of the business.

The boutique business is capital intensive thus am unable to meet all my customers needs.

I operate the business from a rented room thus my business visibility is little. I therefore would like to market my boutique by having a good display outside to attract the passers-by.

I therefore seek your assistance to help me purchase dummies (human figures) for the said purpose.

One dummy costs between kshs.1500 and kshs.2000. I purpose to purchase 20 dummies. I am therefore looking for around kshs. 30000 to make the purchase.

With the dummies I will be able to compete and attract more customers.

I expect my earnings to double to between kshs 10000 and kshs. 20000 a month.