Entrepreneur
Name
Gabriel
Member since
January 2015
On-time repayments
188 installments • 91%
About Me
My name is Gabriel Njenga born back in 25/08/1981 -but im not as old as you want assume i am hehehe- i was born in Nakuru a place called Njoro being the tenth child of Francis and Teresia. I started my elementary education in a school called Ngano primary school then shifted to another new school (Kaiyaba primary school) that had just been built and was nearer my home and became among the first students to enroll there. i passed my final exams enough to find myself a place in Kilimo High school located within Egerton University Njoro. After my o-level exams, i got an average grade. My brother who had volunteered to pay for my high school, school fees after the demise of my father invited me to go and supervise how the building was being done in a parcel of land he had purchased -that is after the high school exams. i requested him to let me be one of the casual workers there and he let me.This job was search a difficult one considering that i was still young to lift heavy building bush stone but thank God i had already gotten the experience in search energetic jobs when my father died at my tender age and since my mother was a small scale farmer she could only afford little for us to eat, this meant that anything else was purely within what i could do to do earn. I could take a bicycle go to the forest cut dead tree branches bring them to my neighbours as firewood for a pay, sometimes i could go to the owners of large farms do weeding for half a dollar as a the pay. At my brothers home who lived in Eldoret i gathered some money that he later topped up for my college. I did a course in computer applications then further computer engineering. I did all this with the hope that one day i would get a better job to atleast change my living standards and that of my mother who i love with all my heart. Before the end of the last course, i got attached in a college that was offering information technology course as a tutor and technician. After 3 months of attachment i was employed in the same college and i here my first salary Kes4000 a month which to me appeared a miracle. i worked there from year 2004 to 2006 and after the change of management i got fired. It is because of this that i suddenly thought the only way to keep my confident and work without the fear of being fired that the idea of self-employment hatched. i started dreaming of a company but all this was just like a mirage because i didn't know where and how to start since i could hardly raise money for my own food and other expenses even. i had to think very fast on the next course of action to take for my up keep before the land lord could lock me out. i started freelancing and i would find students then borrow a space and computers in town from my friends and train them from there. i would also trouble shoot and fix machines for a pay. After the election fracas that occurred in 2007-2008. i really was affected psychologically which also affected my job. The job became impossible and a friend of mine Eric Ouma who we used to work together in the institution and was now working in a supermarket in Eldoret offered to speak to his boss so he could agree to employ me in the supermarket which he did. Thanks to Eric because he was asked to call me and handed my CV over. After 3 days i was called for an interview where i passed. i started working there in IT department. i worked for 2 1/2 yrs. I relocated to Nakuru to begin a different life because the idea of self-employment was still lingering in me. Im now married to a lovely woman and are both pushing on to see what more life has for us. If all goes well i want to found a home for the less fortunate and other than my business.
My Business
After resigning i relocated to Nakuru in July 2011 and started a business of buying and selling of Mali Mali (mixed small personal use items such combs, mirrors and other personal effects). I was doing all this with the hope that if all went well i would start my computer institution from the income generated by the business a dream i have always hope that one day shall come true. This however did not go as expected, the business did not do well and i thought it was all because of location. i rented different shop and still the results were not encouraging. It was at this point where i decided to close the shop. I closed the shop in August 2011, bought a small HP printer and then brought in a computer i had bought in the years 2008 and a the table in the house.i bought several plastic stools and i started doing printing and miraculously i got 1 student who paid for me to teach her. i she successfully completed her course and was happy that she could operate a computer by her self. She later brought her sister and i enrolled her and she also completed. i then managed to buy another small refurbished computer from the little i had secured. i did a small advertisement and i got 4 students enrolled for a computer application course. Since then i have managed to training over fifty students. i also involve myself alot with graphic design and computer maintenance. Though there are alot of challenges still i can stand a living testimony and a prove that one can start from no where, with the little you have to start. It is also very important that we don't loose hope and neglect our dreams. In future i want to own an institute a photo studio, a bigger and luxurious cyber cafe and a computer accessories shop. My main challenge to see this happen is a source of capital to buy the required equipment for all this.
Loan Proposal
Time has come when i feel i personally want to grow, i have for this reason opted to take a course in driving. The amount for school fees goes for Ksh 13,500 ($135). The remaining amount will be used to purchase some consumables like toners, ink, Printing papers, Photo papers, lamination papers and other stationery.
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Loan Info
Project Type
Classic Loan
Disbursed amount
$348.00
Date disbursed
Jun 16, 2017
Repayment status
On Time
Projected term
3 months
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Ask Gabriel a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.
Svenip Dec 23, 2018
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