Article written by Mary Kiguru, founder and mentor of the Sujali Self-Help Group, Nairobi, Kenya. For more articles about the remarkable journey of these women and the way they have transformed their businesses with microcredits, please click here.
It was Valentine’s day, so I decided to visit Sujali group of women … to talk about love for our businesses. I visited five of the women. It was a hot morning, 28°C and dusty… not the kind of weather a farmer desires, but we have to deal with this.
Rispa is a farmer but the weather does not deter her efforts in anyway. She is always determined. I found her busy in her farm. She has a green house, she has just completed harvesting tomatoes, but due to the heat, there have been terrible flies laying eggs in the tomatoes. But to supplement her tomatoes she planted “Pili Pili Hoho” aka Paprika/Capsicum and has a nursery for Spinach. Amazingly, after such blazing heat on this day, clouds formed and it RAINED that night and has been rained ever since Valentine’s night!
Elizabeth was doing what she loves doing most… making hair. We have been discussing about expanding her business. Our last discussion with her was about engaging someone on commission to do what she is not able to do and to assist when she has many clients. Here she is shaping a client’s eyebrows. Elizabeth has been able to diversify her business by adding a unit to sell beauty products.
Susan’s business is also looking up. Besides selling clothes, she has added more of the hair products and other cosmetics. Susan does not restrict her business to the premise in Ruai, she also supplies to people in other locations during the weekend. She has been thinking of taking the clothes to the market during market days. Most important is that her and Wacuka, her assistant, have improved in their book keeping. Susan pays herself a salary to ensure that any profits are ploughed back in to the business.
Next, I visited Jacinta. Jacinta is the proud owner of Daisy, pregnant Daisy. I did not realize how long it takes a cow to bring its calf into the world. It has been so long, but now she looks ready to pop out. Daisy is not her main preoccupation but rather the “HOTEL”. Even though it was 28°C, people were taking tea. This is Kenya, it does not mean just because its hot, you will be taking ice cream … Tea is our thing and with “Mandazi”, something like a doughnut.
Alice, her chicken business has never been better and the goats too. I however admired how fast the chicken grow. The newest chicks will start laying in two-weeks’ time. She still cannot meet the demand for eggs and has to work with neighbors to meet the demand. With the loan acquired in December, she put a watering system that makes it much easier for her and her assistant. Alice has decided to ensure that she pays herself a salary. While she pays her assistant KES150.00 (1.07 pound equivalent) per day, she pays herself KES200.00 (~£1.42 Pounds) per day.
These chicks are 3.5 months old. They start laying in two weeks’ time. Please note the red thing in the center. That is the watering system.
I was not able to visit Linet, Eunice and Rosemary. During our meeting, Linet was able to clear her loan and applied for a bigger loan of KES50,000. Linet runs a food canteen and now has orders for wedding cakes in April. She plans to buy an oven in readiness for baking.
Although January is a slow month, Eunice business was picking up after the Form one selection in February. She took an overdraft of KES10,000.00 to meet the demand during this season.
Rosemary runs a hardware shop dealing with scrap metal. They target farmers putting up chicken houses. She took a loan of KES70,000 to increase her stock.
Sujali is looking up. We have students interested in working with the women. They will be visiting them this Thursday to get acquainted. They already see Sujali as their project.