Astrid    Jan 2, 2015

Hi Susan,
I wish you, your family and your business all the best for 2015. I'm glad to see that you're doing well with early repayments. Thanks!
Astrid

Namaste250    Dec 30, 2014

Hello Susan,
I'm writing to wish you a Happy New Year!
Best wishes to you and your family for a healthy, joyous and prosperous 2015, Ann

Lisbeth    Nov 17, 2014

Hi Susan
I hope things are going well for your businesses and family. I hope James was happy with his KCSE exams last month and isn't too nervous now waiting for the results.
Regards, Liz

Lisbeth    Nov 17, 2014

Susan Wanjiru was hard at work on a Sunday afternoon when she took some time out of her busy role as an accountant for a major Kenyan supermarket chain to meet with me to discuss her life, business and Zidisha loans.
Susan grew up in Nakuru county in central Kenya as one of five children. She also completed her schooling in the area and is a qualified CPA. She has worked has an accountant for different organizations and been with her current employer for around four years. Earlier this year she was transferred from her local Nakuru branch to a branch in Nairobi meaning she now spends a lot of time away from home but travels back to Nakuru whenever possible.
Susan’s husband works with an auctioneering firm and together they support their three children in secondary school with Sam in Form 1, Rachel in Form 3 and James working hard in Form 4 for his final school exams. All three children would like to continue their education beyond high school hoping to become a pilot, architect and electrical engineer respectively. With three children in national high schools (generally considered the ‘best’ but also the more expensive high schools in Kenya) Susan and her husband have to budget well to manage the associated costs of fees, uniforms, textbooks, exam fees and the like. Luckily, as an accountant Susan says this budgeting is no problem!
To supplement the income she receives from her employer Susan also rears various animals, employing others to manage the animals while she is working. She used her first Zidisha loan to increase her chicken house and buy more chickens and she now has around 100 chickens creating income from her through eggs and meat. Susan used her second loan to build a piggery and she has now grown her herd to around twenty pigs.
Susan says the Zidisha loans “have really helped me” as she has built her farming business. And she’s certainly not planning on stopping there as she is also looking to move into a new venture next year so is currently researching cow rearing and will possibly apply for a third Zidisha loan to help her build this business.
Susan also plans to undertake further study to gain her Bachelor of Commerce and hopefully open her own accountancy business. We joke that she might be studying at univeristy at the same time as some of her children and she thinks this would be a really great thing for them all as they could challenge and motivate each other and share ideas and experiences. Susan says “you have to dream big” and she and her family certainly seem to be doing this as they build a strong future for themselves with the help of the ZIdisha community.
**
Lisbeth Overheu, Kenya Client Relationship Volunteer
Photograph: Susan taking a break from her job as an accountant.

Astrid    Aug 8, 2014

Thanks for your repayments so far Susanleah. You're halfway now. I hope your steady early payments mean that you're doing fine!

KyRoamer    Oct 13, 2013

susanleah

I hope you and your family are well and that your business is growing. Zidisha has as part of its website, forums. If time permits, visit zidisha.org/forum/forums/op... and let us know how you are doing..Once you have joined the forum (it will ask you to join or log-in at the top), select Post New Thread and use your name as the title. Then let us know what is happening to you and in your business.

If we do not hear from you, that is okay. We know that you are busy and that internet access is not always easy.

Mike