Zephania    Dec 15, 2014

Dear lenders am still trying to reach mr
Edward through her contacts,i will let you know once i will be able.Thank you

Alexandre desterre    Nov 25, 2014

Hi Edward, I hope your funds are helping towards building materials and livestock. Wishing you the best success. God bless. Alex.

Edward    Nov 2, 2013

Hallo Zidisha.
My dairy project is doing great and especially after you gave me a loan. I am sorry for repayment delay. I have been sick for the last six months. Now I have recovered and will repay the remaining balance.
Thank you so much.

Edward    Jul 8, 2012

Dear Zidisha,
Thank you for the loan you awarded me last year. It helped me much, but my installment payment date on 29th for last month was not possible. The money I get is delayed because I am a businessman and it was not a good time for my business. I could be very happy if you change the amount I pay starting this month.

Edward    Apr 14, 2012

hi zidisha team. Am sorry for the delayed remittance that has occurred because money meant to service my loan were used to clear a hospital bill for my wife. Am really committed to paying my loan. I have mobilized every single resource that i have and am optimistic that within a week i will clear the accrued installment. Thank you.

AchintyaRai    Feb 17, 2012

Hello lenders,

My name is Achintya Rai

On 8th Feb I went to meet Edward Waithaka at his home and Shamba (farm). Edward works as a watchman in Mugaa Secondary School where I was putting up. With his first Zidisha loan he bought a donkey. I asked him what the donkey’s name was and he said “Geneva”. I said “I’m sorry what?” He replied “Geneva, like the one in Europe”. Edward did not complete his schooling and has studied till form one.

During the 2007-08 post-election violence Edward had to sell most of his flock of sheep and goats at very low prices. He, like most people in the village, sent his wife and children away during the conflict. The Zidisha loan helped him get back on his feet. He uses the donkey to fetch water for his Shamba and his family. He also invested part of the loan to build the roof of his house.

With the second loan he bought a goat, which later gave birth to a little baby goat (called Toto, which means ‘a baby’). Edward has 11 children, 6 of whom stay with him. The youngest is 9 months old. The milk from the goat is just sufficient for his family but he intends to buy a cow with his next loan. He expects that by then he’d have 4 goats and sufficient milk to sell in the market. I learnt from him that goat’s milk is costlier than cow’s in Kenya. I remember reading that Gandhi called goat the “poor man’s cow”. Apparently not so in Kenya.

Edward works as a night watchman in the school and he was utterly fascinated by my torch, which does not need a battery but can be charged by rotating a small lever on its side. He told me that he spends on 4 batteries every month for his torch so I have promised to give him my torch before I left Kenya.

Ironically Geneva, as if realizing I was from Zidisha, was very happy to see me (he overturned like a beetle and gave himself a nice rub in the mud right in front of me) but Edward’s little son was not (he bawled and ran away from me)- pictures of both attached.

I found Edward to be a very simple hearted and genuine person, free from any guile. I’d love to see him employ his Zidisha funds in gainful uses and improve his lot.

Achintya
17th Feb 2012
Nairobi, Kenya

Edward    Dec 5, 2011

Hi zidisha team. Thank you for the support that you have given me so far. I to reschedule my loan repayment period on the grounds that:
My business has been hardly hit both an increase in the price of my items of trade and a shortage of supply from the source.Prices are high because of the high rate of inflation in the country. The supply of chicken has gone done due to some unusual weather changes marked an extended rainy and cold season that affects the maturity of those animals.The suppliers (mainly local farmers) have reported that the best breed in this region does not do well in wet conditions. As a result of high prices from suppliers, am consequently forced to increase my retail prices. However my buyers are yet to adjust fully to the new changes. Ordinarily, i would take to the market at least 20 chicken to the market every Friday but today with the same amount i can only afford 15 of them. Am hoping that things will change for better sooner than later. Am sure i will comfortably afford my loan remittances if it comes to about sh 2000 per month.
I hope for the best.
Thank you
waithaka

Edward    Aug 9, 2011

I sincerely thank all my lenders for their positive impact in my life and that of my family. God bless.

Edward    Mar 25, 2011

hi my lenders. Am doing well. My poultry business is doing well. Am currently capable of buying 15 hens at once at an average cost of 220 shillings and later retail them in open air market nearby at 300 shillings. Soon i will be buying a daily goat for my family. I will post a picture of it when i buy it. thank you.

Edward    Jan 24, 2011

Hi zidisha lenders the loan have been of great benefit to me.I have started tilling the land for planting thank you may God bless you

Lauren Rosenbaum    Dec 24, 2010

www.overstream.net/view.php...

Teachers at Mugaa Secondary School, where Edward works, explain the challenges that staff face in providing students with a quality education.