Alex shows off his wares at his second hand clothes stall

Alex, 45 lives with his wife and 5 children (aged from 5 years to 20) in Kibera and has been a casual labourer for last 20 years working from day-to-day in the timber business. His wife is a housewife and he takes care of his mother, who he lives with.
“A friend introduced me to Faulu when I was looking for a place to deposit money for saving and thinking about getting a loan. My friend told me that I needed to be part of a group to get a loan.”

Alex started with Faulu three years ago and his first loan was Kshs 20,000 and second Kshs 40,000. With the loans he used the money to purchase some second hand clothes and grow a part-time business of selling second-hand clothes to the local community.

Alex shows at his second hand clothes stall
“As a casual labourer it can be very difficult to provide for my family’s basic needs. The pay is meagre and the work can be irregular. But I no longer see myself suffering the fate of the other casual labourers because I have used the loan to grow a business to support myself. This is something that is impossible without the loan.”
“Initially when we started the group we began to realize that we were all facing the same problems. When our families got sick, we had no money to pay for the medical care, we didn’t necessarily have enough for the basic needs.

So we began saving together to build up a kitty which we can access when we need to.
“Now I have my own Maisha Account with Faulu – it comes with life cover, which provides me with peace of mind, knowing that my family will be provided for should something happen to me.”

“Life has changed for me and my family. Before I had no hope, but now I have hope as I am able to finance my businesses which in turn helps me to provide for my family and educate my children. I feel secure now. By 2015, I think I will be far from here, the way things are going now, business is good. There will be a point when I am very old where I cannot work and so this business will sustain me. My wife has become more understanding especially when we don’t have money, because she understands that I have to service the loans in order to keep the business healthy.”