Doroas Muhila
Business:Cloth-selling
Loan:1st: 10,000.
2nd: 15,000.
Doroas Muhila received 10,000 Kshs through TFEDI’s microfinance programme. After completing repayment of the first loan, she has received one more loan from TFEDI: 15,000 Kshs. The thirty-five-year old woman had worked on mobile cloth-selling in Buruburu and Kariobangi, Nairobi, before she achieved the loan. However, Doroas could not earn enough income to sustain her business. Without more income from her business, she could not afford to send her two children to school. With TFEDI’s loan, she bought more clothing stocks to be able to sell to as many customers as possible. Nowadays, Doroas earns more income than before and manages to send her two children to school which is her great joy. She is thinking to expand her business more, so that she will give her children higher educational opportunities.
Nancy Wambu
Business:Cloth-selling
Loan: 1st: 5,000.
2nd: 10,000.
Nancy Wambu have received loan twice from TFEDI’s microfinance programme. with complete repayment.
Nancy has three children as a single mother. The thirty-year-old single mother had walked door to door se inlling clothes in Eastleigh, Nairobi. However, she could not afford to send her growing children to school.
As she was looking for capital to invest and expand her own business, she found out that TFEDI’s microfinance programme was giving out loans.She applied and got it. Thanks to her diligence in both business and housework, she can earn enough money to send all her kids to school by herself.
Rosemary Waithira Mwangi
Business: beauty shop
Loan:1st, 20,000.
2nd: 10,000.
3rd: 30,000.
Rosemary Waithira Mwangi owns a beauty shop in Kariobangi North Market, Nairobi. She succeeded to expand her shop with microfinance loan of TFEDI.
Before she obtained loans from the microfinance programme, Rosemary had struggled from lack of capital to expand her business. At the time she found TFEDI and became its member.
The fifty-eight-year widow achieved the loan three times. With the loans, she successfully expanded her shop. Currently, her shop deal not only with beauty stuff including wigs, hair piece, and accessories, but also with some sweets and soft drinks. The business-minded woman knew what young women want and actually buy.
Rosemary dreams to expand her business more, and she keeps investing her shop with profits she attained with TFEDI’s loans.
Margaret Wanjiku
Business: small restaurant
Loan: 1st: 5,000.
2nd, 5,000. 3rd: 5,000.
Margaret Wanjiku has applied to TFEDI’s microfinance programme to financially assist her family.
Margaret has owned her small restaurant which is called ‘hotel’ locally, in John Saga, Nairobi, before she borrowed loan from TFEDI. She could afford to sustain her own life without expanding her business. However, as taking her family in her concern, things became very different.
The sixty-year-old woman decided to boost her hotel with more capital to afford to assist her family, especially her precious grandchildren’s school fees. Like other local Kenyan businessmen or women, it was really difficult for her to loan from formal banks.
TFEDI’s microfinance was accessible for anyone who wants to start and boost own business. She took a chance from the microfinance programme. By far, she received the loans three times, and managed to send her grandchildren to school.
Margaret Kathini Mamumuge
Business: Tailoring shop
Loan: 1st: 10,000.
2nd: 12,000.
Margaret Kathini Mamumuge owns a tailoring shop in Kariobangi South Market, Nairobi. Her motivation to apply to TFEDI’s loan was to buy machines for a tailor-training school which Margaret is working on since 1995. To give more women opportunities to learn tailoring and eventually skills to become self-sufficient, Margaret decided to pursuit extra capital.
With the TFEDI’s loan, the tailor-training school owner bought other sewing machines and more clothing materials for training her students and also boosting more opportunities to let them have experience. She has already trained more than forty women. These women left from Margaret’s training school and became independent as tailors.
Margaret is empowering women in her tailoring school today, and her challenge will be finished in the near future.
Mariam Hassan
Business: Mobile beauty-selling
Loan:1st: 5,000
2nd: 10,000
3rd: 12,000
Mariam Hassan started her own business with TFEDI’s microfinance programme. When she was married, Mariam’s most concern was her children’s education like other mothers. However, her concern was emergent because Mariam was married with her partner who had already four children.
As their mother, the thirty-five-year woman decided to start her business to help her all children’s education regardless her own or not. With TFEDI’s loan, she could afford to send all children to school. Her oldest son, twenty-six-year old, went even to a university and completed his degree.
The young mother of seven children keeps working to take all her kids proper and adequate education.
Elizabeth Warinya
Business: retail shops, hair salon, charcoal selling
Loan: 40,000.
Elizabeth Warinya achieved 40,000 Kshs loan from TFEDI. When she attained the loan, Elizabeth already owned a retail shop, a hair salon, and charcoal selling. The twenty-seven-year woman is one of the most successful women in her community.
The young businesswoman achieved the loan to boost her three businesses. She successfully managed to invest and spend the capital for her business.
Nowadays, Elizabeth is achieving one of her goals, which is to build a house. The young owner almost completes her own house built for her family with her business profits. Her visions are growing with her successful business.
Mercy Mbithe
Business: small restaurant
Loan:1st: 5,000.
2nd: 10,000.
Mercy Mbithe successfully owns her own small restaurant with TFEDI’s microfinance programme. Before she achieved the loan, her restaurant was just a food stand selling only chips (French fries).
The twenty-six-year woman expanded her business with the capital. The plan succeeded very well. By now, she owns a small restaurant to serve variety of food including chai, chapatti, chips, and so forth.
Moreover, her business is helping her community. The young restaurant owner employs two boys and a girl. In her restaurant, there are many young boys and girls as well as their parents aged customers. This is a place for anyone to come and enjoy foods and also conversation not only with friends, but also with somebody they do not know.
Veronica Mujeni
Business: Mango selling and charcoal selling
Loan:10,000.
Veronica Mujeni owns a shop to sell mangos and charcoals. Her business is boosted by TFEDI’s microfinance programme. Veronica had a mango shop before achieving the loan. With the microfinance programme, she started charcoal selling next to mango shop.
Her motivation to apply to the loan was based on concern of her youngest child. To boost her business, the forty-one-year old mother had a big trust on TFEDI. This is because her daughter, Mercy Mbithe, already attained a loan from TFEDI and succeeded in her business.
Veronica also succeeded in boosting her own business like her daughter, and now she can afford school fees for her youngest child.