I am a village-raised girl. I would look for firewood in the evening after school, and fetch water from the river. I used to till our family garden every Saturday and every other weekday during the school holidays. I grew up hard and was taught that I had to be tough to survive life.

I am the firstborn of six siblings. I somehow managed to complete secondary school after countless struggles because of my family’s lack of finances. My parents are peasant farmers and raising six of us, I notice, is a tall order for them.

Life is an amazing journey that wows me every day. I am glad for the joys around me, the sounds and wonderful moments that I share with those around me.

The uniqueness of my society is that it embraces new things. Studying online is not popular yet but I want to embrace it. It is common for girls to get into marriage immediately after school. A girl not in college is thought of as a timewaster.

When I finally have children, I hope to help them avoid the agonies I have gone through. I hope to help them get great opportunities that will help them change their society.

I enjoy braiding as a hobby. I also like watching soap operas.

My business will be about food production. I want to bake bread and prepare meals for office workers, market people and workers at construction sites. I will start with baking bread then expand to regular meals if the business model allows it.

Bread is a must-have as a staple breakfast food for most local families. It is cheap and ready to eat.

I chose bread making as a business because bread has a high demand in urban areas. It is also easy to make, yet only very few local families get to make it at home. Consequently, the start-up cost is low, as well as the operational costs. It was cheap for me to learn to make it as I only the only extra cost was the purchase of data bundles and I taught myself via YouTube.

A bale of bread flour for $50, bread baking pans for $150, oil, and yeast and sugar for $100 are part of the start-up costs I need. Since I can not afford an oven yet, I will use open heat in something called a ‘jiko’ (stove) and charcoal briquettes. I will earn $0.10 on every piece of bread I sell, and I can sell 30 loaves a day at the start. If I do this consistently, I will earn close to $100 a month, for a start. There is potential to earn over $500 a month when I scale up.

I will save up the income I earn so I can purchase a computer. I will also afford to pay for online certifications and study online. I will also reinvest in the business to scale up and eventually hire assistants to help me run the business. That way, I will offer employment and touch some other family’s life. As my life improves, so will that of my siblings and family.

My small but ambitious food business is growing. We serve fresh bread and hot lunches to office workers and other professionals. Thanks to my last Zidisha loan, I've improved my baking skills and expanded into meal prep. Now, demand is rising fast, and I want to seize the opportunity to scale up production.

With this loan, I will:

* Purchase bulk ingredients to reduce production costs

* Increase daily output of bread and lunches

* Hire an additional assistant, and create employment in my community

This investment will benefit me and my family by increasing income stability and supporting my personal growth. It will also benefit my community by offering affordable, quality food and creating a job for someone in need. My long term goal is to build a sustainable business that empowers others, and Zidisha is helping make that a reality.