New Kiva Loan

Hello World! Meet Rebecca. She is a true definition of a strong, spirited, young, dark, Kisii lady from Kenya. At only 32 years old, the single mother of one is a Branch Manager leading the oldest and most established office at Juhudi Kilimo. Passion, respect and integrity are the key values she upholds and that have got her this far. Her achievements have also been catapulted by her impeccable people skills. In the office, she is well-liked and respected.

Rebecca, however, hails from a very humble and traditional background. It is amazing how far she has got herself today. She is from Riabamanyi, a small remote village in the Central Kisii district of Kenya. Most of the people there are smallholder farmers who occupy small plots of land and practice subsistence farming.

Rebecca grew up fighting so many social and personal battles that only few can relate to. For example, Riabamanyi village has a social codification that invariably colludes with patriarchy to oppress women, through cultural identities that advantage men and disadvantage women. Rebecca was really determined to move against this and to thrive in a community where girls are regarded with less value and not given equal opportunities to succeed.
In her life’s journey, she has dealt with the pain of losing her mother, an elder brother and an elder sister. The two deceased siblings left behind four orphaned children. Being the only employed member in the family, she took the responsibility of looking after these children. Just recently, Rebecca’s world came crumbling down again after her father became paralyzed. She is grateful to God, however, that she still has him as part of her life. She is doing her best to provide him with the best medication she can afford. With all these burdens on her shoulders, Rebecca still manages to keep herself together and strive for excellence in life.

She is seeking a loan of KES 438,100 for higher education. A degree in Business Management will help her to increase her business skills: leadership, interpersonal communication, technology and other valuable hard skills in the business environment.

When Rebecca joined Juhudi Kilimo in 2010 as an Office Assistant, she was still a student. She used her monthly stipend to contribute to the tuition fees for a diploma in Business Management. In no time, she was promoted to become a Business Development Officer. She did a superb job as a BDO which led management to entrust her with more responsibilities of leading a Branch. Joining management has exposed her to a set of new challenges that have enabled her to identify some gaps which she seeks to fill through furthering her studies.

Rebecca says; “My zest is in helping farmers to become more productive and successful. By helping them to improve their enterprise, I am changing their lives. With your loan investment in my education, I promise to use the acquired knowledge and skills to become a better manager and deliver the promise of a better life to our farmers.”