One guy we funded was a scales manufacturer (amusingly he wrote ‘made in Kenya’ on every scale so that he could sell it at a higher price). His workshop is in his mother’s house and he spends 15,000 shillings on hiring a drill for every set of scales that he makes but if we buy him one at 150,000 he’ll have broken even within 10 scales. He’s certainly not a wealthy man at the moment. I’ve had a look at his financial records; there’s a lot of money coming in and a lot of money going out. Ultimately though he wants to save up to go to university and study law. I’m not actually convinced that this is for the greater good because his business will take a hit and he almost certainly won’t utilise the qualification once he gets it (says the geography graduate!) I met a logistics student the other day who was planning to become a baker once she graduated – this isn’t an uncommon story. Quite the opposite. However, education is the key here - who knows what he may have the potential to go on and do. Also, he already employs a couple of other people and we hope that he'll be able to continue to provide more and more employment to other people here.
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