Modeste Cimpaye

Modeste Cimpaye is a 48 year-old single mother of 5 children. Modeste is a Burundian refugee who came to Kenya in 1998, fleeing the war that ravaged her country and life at that time. She has lived in Kenya for the last 10 years with her family of four in Komarock, and Nairobi neighborhood. Of her 4 children, two are married to Kenyans, and she takes care of her other 3 children, 2 of whom are in college while the other is in secondary school. In addition to her three children, she also takes care of her granddaughter. Fortunately, her life in Kenya has stabilized after being displaced by the war in native Burundi.

Modeste used to be a teacher in Burundi, but once she came to Kenya she found that she had to find another profession since school syllabi in Kenya are in English and she was trained in the French-speaking education system of Burundi. Therefore in 2002, she joined with 39 other women at her local parish, the Kayole Divine Word Parish, where they taught each other the various skills that they had. She decided to learn how to sew, and with this training she began her own business in 2006.

Modeste gradually built up savings and used what she had accumulated over time to buy materials for her sewing business. Eventually she acquired an old sewing machine as well, and she began making bed covers and bags.

Now that her business is picking up, she feels that she needs to expand so as to increase her clientele base. She also plans on offering permanent employment to the two workers who have been on a casual basis until now. She is therefore requesting from Kiva lenders a loan of Ksh 50,000 to purchase 2 high-quality sewing machines at Ksh 20,000 and additional materials and sewing equipment like buttons, zippers, lining and 2 iron boxes.

Modeste is confident that this worthwhile investment will enable her to better provide for her family and to offer stable employment to the two other workers she has contracted casually until now. She also looks forward to serving as an example to the women of her local community that with diligence, vision and access to initial credit, all things are possible. She thanks Kiva lenders in advance and will repay her loan in 12- 14 months.

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