By Betsy Ramser Jaime
Mary Aleonokhua lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, and runs a private school. Upon joining the Zidisha community in January 2020, Mary shared, ‘it’s still a growing school. My school is doing well but I need the help of this platform for assistance to move this business forward. The school needs new furnaces, playpen and other things like teaching aids, stationaries, and improve the learning environment.’
As Mary’s school continues to grow, she now has about 25 pupils, students, and toddlers. As she continues to grow her school and creates a better learning environment, she hopes to attract even more parents.
So far, Mary has been able to successfully raise 11 Zidisha funded loans to put towards her school. Starting with loans in the $4-5 range, she has now raised loans of almost $300. Starting out, Mary used some of her early loans to do some minor renovation work on the school and purchase furniture. As her loan amounts continued to grow, Mary was able to continue with her renovation efforts and also put funds towards fumigating and cleaning the school.
Most recently in June 2021, Mary raised her largest loan yet and shared, ‘This loan will be used for buying cement, blocks and paying labor wages, this loan will be used for buying, wood, and zinc for the roof and also pay for labor. Materials are so costly that the loan amount from Zidisha won’t be enough. There is a need for wall plastering likewise and to install windows and doors.’
Through the school fees that the students pay, Mary has been able to re-pay each of her Zidisha funded loans.
Would you like to make a difference in the life of an entrepreneur like Mary? Make sure to head on over to our Browse Projects page to see what other Zidisha business owners are doing around the world.
Betsy is a Writer and Editor living in Florida with her husband. She has been writing with Zidisha for 5 years and loves sharing the inspiring stories of Zidisha entrepreneurs. You can connect with her on her personal website.
