Tag Archive for: empowerment

Resilience in a Male Dominated Field

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Mary has gone from a devastating incidence of robbery at her m-pesa ( Mobile Money banking business) to a new thriving business. In 2008 Mary had a m-pesa and a beauty shop that were thriving until one evening when her business was robbed. After the devastation she worked different jobs for a few years until 2014 when she decided to start a new business. Mary decided that she wanted to open a shop selling bike parts, auto parts, and beauty supplies. Even though the auto and bike industry is extremely male dominated Mary began to explore where she could buy goods to supply her shop and began planning where to open it.  So with the help of a loan from Opening Village Doors Foundation and some money she had saved, she started over and opened her shop.

As we visit her today, Mary’s shop is doing well, she has a good amount of clients and the word of mouth marketing about her shop is spreading. Thanks for donors who support Opening Village Doors Foundation, her business is doing good, she has a good income to support her family and she can make her loan repayments on time, and Mary has plans on how she would like to grow her shop by adding food items, and some expensive spare parts that she is not currently able to stock.

Near the end of our visit Mary thanked Opening Village Doors Foundation for supporting her. She described how banks will not give loans to small businesses like herself because they are only interested in large businesses in order to have large profit. She appreciates the  follow up visits done by Opening Village Doors staff means to her as they motivate her and helps keep her accountable.

The work of Opening Village Doors would not be possible without the generosity of those who support our mission. Thank you to all those who have shown support in the past and still do, if you would like to donate to help Mary and those in similar situations start their businesses and be able to support themselves you can click on the link bellow. No gift is ever small.

Determined to succeed

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Peter Onyango Aguro, aged 31, a farther of three children, one boy and two girls aged 8,5 and 1 respectively, is a well known tailor in Ng’ong town. He has done tailoring for almost a decade now. He says his greatest inspiration was his Uncle, who taught him all the basics of tailoring. Peter says he exists because of his business, it is from his his sweat that he is able to he pays rent, school fees(tuition) and still puts food on the table for his family.

This chain of responsibilities has become his greatest motivation. He knows he needs to work really hard to meet all these needs. For a number of years in his career, he was employed, but later on his employer went bankrupt and closed down his tailoring shop. With his savings he decided he would put up his own tailoring shop within Ngong town where he had a number of clients. Being that his saving wasn’t enough to get him enough machines and materials to satisfy the needs of his clients; Peter felt that he needed to get a loan to boost his business. He got  in Opening Village Doors Foundation when a friend told him about our work. I approached the organization for Ksh. 50,000 ( $500)

Peter used the funds to add two sewing machines one for Ksh. 25,000 ( $250, and another for Ksh. 15,000 ($150. One of the machines he bought was electric, which increased his productivity thus meeting customer deadlines without any problems without loosing opportunities for new orders.The rest of the money he used to add more sewing material.  When asked how things are progressing for him, he stated, the loan and mentorship that he has received from Opening Village Doors Foundation has given him so much confidence with his work and given him stability and an assurance that for sure he can sustain his business for many years to come.

Peter is very grateful to Opening Village Doors Foundation and plans to work very hard to pay back his loan so that others can also have an opportunity. He plans to employ one or two people  to expand his business. One of his dreams is to help others learn the skill of of tailoring, with time he plans to start identifying young men and women interested in the work and teach them just like his uncle had done.

Thank you for making Potential. Possible!

Business thriving…

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“Sometimes life beats you so hard, you just have to fight on, the sun rises each morning as a sign of hope, you have to find any ounce of energy in you to keep trying. ” Jane Machari narrates her story. Jane’s story is of determination, hard work and hope. Struggling as a single mother of two children she has toiled to make sure they attend school by working in any job menial jobs she could find.

“I learnt to braid hair since I was very young” Jane continues “ I wanted to get training on using different hair products and different hair machines so I can stand out from the competition.” Jane completed the training and wanted to open her own beauty shop but could not get any bank or anyone to loan her money. She joined a women’s group, she started saving the little she was getting from doing menial jobs. It was at the women’s group she heard about Opening Village Doors Foundation micro businesses program, and decided to seek support.

Jane received $375 capital; she bought beauty products, and hair equipment. Jane is very innovative and observant and studies her clients’ needs. As she interacted with her customers who came for braiding, haircuts and hair treatments; she noticed that she could do better if she started to sell gently used clothes alongside her salon business. The business is doing well and she has started paying back so someone else can get the starting capital.

Jane ends her story with a big smile stating “ you came to my aid after trying so much for the last 5 years to find money to get started, this business means a world to me and my children. The children can go to school and I can save for their college, God bless you!”

Believing in the vision

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Opening Village Doors Foundation®’s vision is simple; we envision a time when the villages we touch are prosperous, healthy and self sustaining and suffering has been relieved because of the micro loans, community projects, training, education and technical expertise we have provided. It is my hope you will join us to make this vision a reality to one individual, family and village at a time. How can you help to make it a reality for one person today? Click to donate.

 

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