Mary Kasowa

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Mary Kasowa by Action Now: Kenya in Kenya. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 10 - 16 months, Action Now: Kenya will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Down the winding paths of Kibera, past the children playing, at the bottom of a hill you will find Mary and her thriving business. With her Kiva loan Mary has been able to purchase some of the equipment shown here, that has enabled her to greatly improve her ability to make increasing quantities of the githeri (a very popular Kenyan dish made up of beans and maize). As you enter the house, you pass by one of the huge sufurias (huge metal cooking pot) bubbling away with the day’s beans for the dinner crowd. Since her loan, Mary has been able to now service 3 locations within Kibera, she caters to the young bachelor crowds who often work long days on the matatus, and want something hot and cheap for their dinner.

Mary’s business is going well, and she is able to employ 3 assistants to help to cook and then sell the githeri. At the end of the day, Mary brings in about Ksh 250 (about $4) from her business. However, one of the challenges Mary faces is the fluctuating price of her raw goods that she purchases from the shops within Kibera. Sometimes she struggles, and finds it difficult to purchase the beans and maize when the price has gone too high. Unfortunately the catch 22 is that Mary could not put up the price of her meals, since people in Kibera would simply refuse to pay more than Ksh 20 (about 30 cents ) for a cup of githeri, so Mary, like all the other people in the food industry in Kibera, must bear the cost of the fluctuating prices to the detriment of their income.

Mary makes regular loan repayments and she would like to thank the Kiva lenders for the support. With the purchase of the kitchen equipment, her business has grown steadily and she is able to meet the demand of her clients. She is looking forward to another loan from Kiva after she finishes with this one. She would like to personally thank her lenders, "may God bless them abundantly."

Mary makes regular loan repayments and she would like to thank the Kiva lenders for the support. With the purchase of the kitchen equipment, her business has grown steadily and she is able to meet the demand of her clients. She is looking forward to another loan from Kiva after she finishes with this one. She would like to personally thank her lenders, "may God bless them abundantly."

Mary Kasowas business is doing well though in the month of November Mary lost a relative and she had to chip in some cash towards the burials,she was also blessed with a grandchild and with all this happenings Mary was able to repay her loan.,shes very grateful to all her lenders.Parting shot from Mary and her family is 'MERRY X-MAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 FULL OF GODS BLESSING'

Mary is another ANK client who has bore the blunt of the chaos that followed after the contested general election in late December. All her utensils were looted, but she thanks God she's alive and together with her family. She does not know how to start over again; she has been rendered homeless as well as penniless.

Mary came to our offices ,a very sad lady,i could see from her eyes that she is going through tough times,the office was sympathetic with her and we gave her some maize flour,cooking fat and some butter cups which some friends of Action Now Kenya had donated so that we can distribute to victims of the post-elections violence,she thanked the office and asked me to talk with kiva lenders if they can bail her out again since she is back to square one and finds it quite difficult to feed her family.She is now penniless and this is making her suffer from frequent headache,she thanks kiva lenders for her first loan and is very sorry that she never finished repaying.Her prayer is they should bail her out once again."BLESS YOU ALL KIVA LENDERS"that all Mary could wish to all kiva lenders.

We visited Mary on the 14th October 2008. She told us her daughter was burnt with water by a friend and therefore being the mother she had to pay the hospital bill. Mary’s other daughter who is in the final year in high school needs school fees and so, in terms of money things have not been so good. She is lagging behind in her loan repayment due to the hospital bill and school fees she had to pay she says. ‘I will get over this’ she told us. She is still looking for funds to restart her business in order to ease her loan repayment loan. She has promised to work hard to clear her loan.

Mary Kasowa's Questionaire(1)when we visited her in kibera.

Mary Kasowa's Questionaire(2)