Bernard Wainaina

Bernard Wainaina is 58 years old, married, and has 5 grown children. He stays in Ruai town, on the outskirts of Nairobi. Bernard also takes care of his father who is 90 years od. His father needs constant care since he is bedridden. Bernard makes sure that the helper he has employed is always by his father's side, so that he can feed and bathe him.

Bernard's story is one of sheer determination. In 1967, Bernard was employed in a hotel in Sagana, a town in Central Kenya. He was paid Ksh 20 per month, and he used to save Ksh 10 per month. His employer raised his salary to Ksh 100 per month. True to his determination, he saved money. By the year 1988 he had initial capital of Ksh 30,000.

Bernard, with other businessmen from Central province, relocated to Nairobi, the capital city. Here they sold clothes, which they usually purchased from neighboring Tanzania. This continued until 1989 when they decided to part ways, and everybody started operating individually.

During this year, trade conflicts between the two countries made Bernard decide to operate from Kenya. He started selling second-hand clothes from one of the biggest second-hand markets in Kenya named Gikomba Market. He acquired a stall and started with 3 bales of clothes. Business was usually good since many people liked the second-hand clothes because they were cheaper; some selling for less than a dollar a piece. Bernard combined his clothes selling business with the sale of fruit. Since the fruit was seasonal, he reaped profits from their sale.

Bernard suffered a set-back in his business last December when Kenya experienced the post-election violence. His entire stock of clothes were stolen, and the rest were burned by the youths. Bernard was so distressed, he had to be hospitalized for three weeks, after which he got counseling. Since, he has been selling pineapples at his former stall where he still hopes to resume his second-hand clothes business. Bernard was directed to come to the Action Now offices to see if we could help him. We found his case worth submitting to Kiva lenders.

Bernard is kindly requesting Ksh 40,000 ($550.00) from Kiva lenders. This will enable him to purchase 8 bales of second-hand clothes. The repayment period for this loan is 14 months.

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