Caleb Ochieng is a very hardworking
and opportunistic man. After disposing of his job as a social security services
employee, which he had held onto for 9 years, he moved into the profitable cyber café
management business. With sheer determination and diligence, Caleb utilized his business
savvy techniques to establish a computer training college. He recognized the
need amongst the young people in his community to acquire computer literacy skills
and he has successfully made a profitable living out of this innovative
venture. Below is a recent update from one of our Client Relationship Managers
in Kenya:
Greetings lenders! My name is Neil DiMuccio, and I am a
Client Relationship Manager with Zidisha in Kenya. I am currently visiting
borrowers to learn more about them and support them with their Zidisha loans.
It is my hope that this work will build bridges to better connection and
understanding, and that Zidisha and its borrowers will increasingly grow,
communicate, and support each other.
I was recently very lucky to meet with Caleb Ochieng in
Utawala / Githunguri, a small town some 25 kilometers East of Nairobi.
Caleb is a father and business owner of a cyber café named
Half London, which is a very nice facility that he obviously takes pride in.
When I visited him, his young children were there, using computers to watch new
movies on Youtube. I was able to see firsthand Caleb’s investment in his new
printers, because I just so happened to need to print some 20 pages for a
document that I’ve been using to do New Borrower Orientations with Zidisha. The
printers are of very nice quality, and he should be able to recoup his costs on
this investment in just a few months.
Caleb has worked in many other areas of the economy, but
decided to open a cyber café partially because he wanted his children to grow
up being very computer savvy. He is an exceptionally kind and soft spoken man,
and at the end of our meeting I decided to ask him if he would become a
Community Organizer, which is a local volunteer with Zidisha. Community
Organizers are vital to maintaining communications and spreading the word about
Zidisha, and I was very happy when Caleb accepted.
One interesting anecdote was that while we were logged in
to Caleb’s profile and checking his repayment schedule, he mentioned that one
of the payments shown had not been made by him. I’d like to take this time to publicly
applaud his honesty in this matter.
While I was visiting Caleb, some 5 other Zidisha borrowers
and applicants from the community dropped in to say hello and ask me questions,
thus proving that Caleb’s café was something of an ideal community meeting
place for Zidisha.
Thank you so much for taking the time to meet, Caleb. Best
wishes in all your future endeavors!
