I Salute You All

By Betsy Ramser Jaime

As a child, Peter Wainaina grew up as the third child in a family of 6 and attended the local primary and secondary schools. Upon completing form 4, be began working in the teabushes as a “plucker” where he saved up enough money to attend the Kenya College of Commerce and Hospitality. As a student, he studied Computer Repair and Maintenance, and after receiving his diploma, he returned home and began farming.

Today Peter is able to operate both a livestock farming business and he also grows and sells avocados to exporters. Since he started with Zidisha in October, 2018, Peter has successfully raised 7 Zidisha funded loans which have allowed him to pay school fees, buy feed for his livestock, fund transportation costs, and also purchase additional equipment.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to know when and how to take risks or transition to something new. Many of our seasoned Zidisha at entrepreneurs will start one business and over time will move into a different business or even expand to run multiple businesses at once.

And this is exactly what Peter did, as he started in the livestock business and later on was able to add avocado farming to his business portfolio.

Between October and November 2018, Peter was able to raise 4 loans ranging from $1 to $45, allowing him to pay school fees and also purchase feed for his livestock.

Then, as the new year rolled around, Peter reached out to lenders for a $65 loan, he shared, ‘Due to the high demand of milk in my local area, am hoping to raise my dairy farming. Am hoping to use this loan to purchase hay for my cows in order to be able to feed them well even in the dry period when there is scarcity of grass. Am also planning to deworm them after this period of high rain to keep production at a high level.’

The following month, in February, 2018, Peter went to the Zidisha community and requested a $285 loan to purchase a chaffcutter for his business for chopping the grass for his cows. He explained that currently he used a panga to cut grass, and unfortunately it can be cumbersome, wastes grass, and requires a lot of time and energy.  He knew that the chaffcutter would make his work much easier for him to prepare the grass for his cows and that it would also help him make silage, which would increase his overall milk production.

For Peter, he is truly appreciative of the support and encouragement of his lenders and the Zidisha community. He shares, ‘I am very grateful for your presence. You really do a great job of assistance to those who are seriously in need of help. For me, were it not for you I doubt whether I could have managed to achieve my goals and also setting others. I thank you all for being there when I needed you most. God bless you.’

Most recently, in May, 2019, Peter shared that he’d received a big order for 15,000 avocados. With an additional loan, of $370 he would be able to increase his number of deliveries per week.

On May 13, 2019, Peter went to his discussion page and expressed his sincere gratitude for having his loan funded as he said, ‘Am humbled by your generosity my lenders. Thank you so much for funding my loan.This amount of money will help me to supply my exporters with an additional of 5000 pieces of avocados per week. This supply in estimate will give me a profit of above 3kshs per piece of avocado supplied per week. Eagerly waiting disbursement. Thank you so much.’

For Peter, his next goal is to eventually purchase his own method of transportation to be able to transport his avocados on his own. He says to lenders, ‘I salute you all for this far you have made me go.’

Would you like to support an inspiring entrepreneur like Peter? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to read story after story of perseverance!