My name is Robert Rotich. I am a third born in a family of six children. I am in my third year pursuing a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science at University of Eldoret.My father is a peasant farmer while my mother is a house wife. Last year, my mother was diagnosed with a tumor in her intestines and was to get an operation at Kenyatta hospital in Nairobi. However, we could not raise the amount needed and we sorted to go to a traditional herbalist, who has been attending to her since then. We only survive on a one acre piece of plot on food and all other basic needs. Things at home become a little harder as we had to prioritize my mother's treatment. My elder brothers had to drop out of school to find sources of income. I was lucky enough to complete high school with grades good enough to get an admission to the university and pursue a good course but my parents were not able to raise the fees needed. In august 2010 my uncle organized a fundraiser to support my college education which paid the whole of my first year fees.

I am thankful for the opportunity to pursue a career but it has not been easy. I had to get a loan from the government and bursary to be able to complete my second year of school. It was becoming impossible sustain my personal needs and at the same time help my younger siblings. I stopped school for a whole year to find ways to earn some form of income. So i started selling clothes in people's residential homes. The business was promising and 5 months later i got a small room in town where i could sell my clothes. By September 2013 i had raised enough funds to start school again so i manage my business during the day and attend my classes in the evening. I also managed to get more funds for my school fees so i can be able to sustain myself and help my siblings a bit. I plan to expand my business and open more shops so i can let my younger siblings manage others and enable them to sustain themselves.

I sell second hand and shoes in town. Every Friday is market day in Eldoret and new bales of clothes are opened. I have a good eye and taste for what my clients need so with the money i manage to save from the business, i select and buy the best variety of men and women's clothing and i bring them to my shop and sell at higher price so i can get profit. I have managed to get a lot of customers because most of them work and study full time and have no time to go to the market, so they prefer to come to my shop. However, my sales are so high from Friday to Sunday that i ran out of stock before market day. So i have to wait until Friday to go for new stock. When i have a lot of stock, i make up to 40 US Dollars in a day but when am out of stock,i make at most about 8 US Dollars.

I need capital to bring enough stock to last me a whole week so that i can be able to maintain the high number of sales i have through out the week. This will also enable me to save more and open a second shop.

Every Friday is market day so i go to buy more stock with the little money i have managed to save from the weekly sales. However, I ran out of stock by Sunday so i have to wait until Friday to bring in new stock. Between Friday and Sunday, i make up to 40 US Dollars because my stock is still high but from Monday to Thursday, my sales decreases to around 10 US Dollars. If given this loan, i will purchase more stock to last me a whole week and therefore increase my weekly sales from from 25% to 75%. This will enable my to save more money to open a second shop much faster than i had anticipated.