The Journey starts with a step

Meet Mwaka Mbuli Nyanje who comes from Tiribe in Mombasa, a woman who decided to beat all the odds of her community’s beliefs and started a business to assist her husband in paying the bills. Mwaka is from a community where women aren’t expected to work because the women´s chores is to take care of their homes, children, cleaning and cooking. Mwaka is 31 years and a mother of five and an astute businesswoman who has been an inspiration to other women in her village where women normally stay in their homes while their husbands provide to their family.

Mwaka going to her shop

Mwaka is a client at YEHU Microfinance Trust in Mombasa Kenya one of our Kenyan providers. She started her business in the year 2012 and applied for her first loan through MYC4 in 2013.

We had a talk with her – this is what she had to say about herself, her business and MYC4.

How did you hear about MYC4?

I have been a client of Yehu Microfinance for a year and some months. When MYC4 partnered with Yehu. Our group was told about MYC4 and how it works by one of the Yehu loan officers.

What was the loan used for?

The loan has been a great help to my business; I added to my savings and I was able to stock more products in my shop. I bought more mattresses, suitcase and more clothes for both women and men.

How has the business helped your family?

My business has helped my husband and me to educate and provide for our five children. The little profit I make I’m able to assist my husband in buying food for the family and books for the kids.

What are some of the challenges you face in your business?

I don’t have major challenges in this business I have adapted to the market and I’m able to give my customers what they need.  My secret has been to understand my customers and providing them with what they need. The only small challenge I experience is the competition in the market but I’m able to keep up with that.

Do you plan to get another loan with MYC4?

Yes, once I have fully repaid this loan I plan to get another loan but this time I’m going to take a bigger loan because I have plans to expand my business to be a big store in Tiribe village.

What are your future business plans?

I would like to start importing shoes and clothes from Uganda, because I will be able to get them at a cheaper price, I also have plans to open another stall in my village because my products have been in demand.

Would you recommend MYC4 to friends and family?

Yes, so far I have introduced one lady and she is in the process of taking her first MYC4 loan, I have also encouraged women in my village to form groups and join Yehu so they can borrow money through MYC4.

Do you have additional comments?

I would like to encourage women to start small businesses so they can contribute to their family’s welfare and support their husband in paying the bills. Women should be able to support their families even when their husbands are not there.

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A town on steroids

Gikomba – ever heard of it? Probably not, at least I hadn’t until I went there on business. It is supposed to be the world’s biggest second hand market, but it’s more than that, it’s a town within Nairobi, and it’s more than a town – it’s a town on steroids going from about a hundred traders in the 1980’s to about 4000 traders today. It’s all about clothes, not all of it is second hand, the sound of hundreds of Singer sewing machines testifies to that. This is a very vibrant and energetic part of the capital city of Kenya.

Kevin Njuguna from MYC4’s office in Nairobi

Whether you are going to trade, looking for a sweet deal or you just want to spend a couple of hours in a very special place, Gikomba is the place to look for, and it’s very close to downtown. Bales of clothes all over the place, carts being pulled and pushed by delivery men along the dusty or muddy streets, people everywhere, shops with everything your heart might desire, and sweatshops with women hunched over their Singer while their fingers skillfully direct the fabric under the needle.

This is where I find Catherine Wangari Mwangi. Or rather, I would never have found her had it not been for Kevin Njuguna from MYC4’s office in Nairobi. The place is a maze. We are visiting borrowers, and Gikomba is our first stop. Catherine is on the second floor, she has three employees. They are cramped into a little space and are not very talkative as they get paid by how much they manufacture. Or maybe they are just a little shy. But Catherine talks. She specializes in clothes for children and women. Six days a week from 8 to 5.30.

Catherine Wangari Mwangi with her three employees in the Gikonga market

– Customers come from as far away as Sudan to buy my clothes, she says. Clothes are so cheap here, and you can get everything, it’s huge. I do in whole sale, and I have my own customers, so I’m not particularly afraid of the competition.

Catherine pays 45 Euro per month in rent. She would like to buy the shop, but 9000 Euro is out of her reach. She is on her first loan for 1800 Euro, which she got in November. She would like another loan. The one she has now is for 1845 Euro which she got through SISDO.

– I want to be a big woman, she says, and for that you need money, but I’m pretty satisfied with the way things are. I’m the boss, and my three children are all doing well.  My oldest son is studying medicine at university, she tells me – not without pride. And rightly so.

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