Penina Musyoka, Tailor

sQuid Microfinance’s aim is to build household economic capacity and overcome the financial barriers to education by providing access to finance to enable parents of children at iMlango schools to grow their business.

From the profits that these parents achieve through growing their business, they’re encouraged to set aside funds into a Digital Education Wallet to ensure that their children, especially girls, continue to attend school and successfully transition across the school years and into secondary education.

Penina Musyoka lives in the village of Malamba in Kyale, Makueni County, and is mother to a girl and boy attending the primary and secondary school respectively. She and her husband run a tailoring business, which had previously primarily carried out clothing repairs. Making only KSh 300 per day, they were struggling to meet their household needs…

Having been made aware that sQuid Microfinance was available at her children’s school, due to it being part of the iMlango programme, Penina formed part of a group of parents who met with a sQuid Microfinance officer, and having had her business identified as viable for expansion, she underwent a month-long period of financial literacy training to help her to learn how to manage her finances.

She was then able to apply for, and receive, a KSh 10,000 loan - allowing for a substantial investment in fabric stock. With a revamp of the business, she is now engaged in making clothes and dresses for weddings and other events and occasions, resulting in stabilisation and significantly improved earnings of up to KSh 1,000 per day - an increase over 200%

The training Penina received is also allowing her to manage her family’s finances better, and she is now comfortably able to cover family expenses, meet her repayments and set aside KSh 200 into her Digital Education Wallet.

She says: “With the money I have (in my Education Wallet), I intend on taking my children to University or College, because I believe education is the key to a successful life…”

Due to this change in circumstances, facilitated by accessing sQuid Microfinance, Penina’s children are now able to look forward to continuing their education and enjoying a brighter future!