Ilela Self-help Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to the Ilela Self-Help Group group, consisting of Agripina Musavi, Gertrude Khatiolo, Olifa Ayeza, Jesca Kagonya, Everlyne Mmboga, Philomenah Amboy, Beatrice Emily Shias, Beatrice Oresia by Opportunity International- Wedco Ltd. in Kenya. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 4 months, Opportunity International- Wedco Ltd. will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Update by Zack Turner, Kiva Fellow with OI-Wedco in Kenya:

I met with Agripina on the outskirts of Kakamega town, she had a few minutes to share and update me on her loan, business, and life. Agripina was directly affected by the post-election turmoil. The businesses she ran were a salon and retail shop in Kakamega town, but she lost everything from looters during the violence.

She is actually single mother with two children, her husband passed away in 2002. Since the peace has been brokered in late February she has been rebuilding her life with a small salon next to the building where her former shop was located.

Agripina is resilient and committed to rebuilding her livelihood and continue supporting her two children, so they can “grow strong and smart”. Originally she used the loan to boost stock. She has been able to pay half of her portion of the group loan and Opportunity International-Wedco has rescheduled and extended the groups term by a several months.

She tells me that the area is still very sensitive tribally. Due to the lack of stability and the increase in prices and transportation the Illela group has been struggling to make repayments. Many in her group were displaced and as a result the group was forced to change their weekly meeting place to a safer neutral location.

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Special Notes:

This loan was posted mid-cycle on Kiva for extraordinary reasons. After peace and stability was restored, Opportunity International-Wedco chose to reschedule the loans of groups impacted by the post-election crisis. Kiva offered to help by posting the groups that were rescheduled, thus this extended update.

Agripina does not have fruits and vegetables business as per her business description. She has owned the shop and salon since 1998. Often entrepreneurs in the developing world diversify with multiple small enterprises, thus is the fluid nature of micro-business in Kenya and leads to occasional misinformation posted to Kiva. Additionally, some personal details were incorrect. We (Kiva and Opportunity International-Wedco) apologize for the error.

For a summary of the post-election crisis start here.

To view group loans currently fundraising from OI-Wedco on Kiva.org, please click here.

To read more about my Fellowship with Kiva’s field partner, OI-Wedco, click here.