TESTIMONIAL
Mentor Sacco Members Count their Blessings One by One Maina’s confessions to Mentor Sacco loan officers, every time she went to request for a loan. Jane Maina joined Mentor Sacco exactly two decades ago upon getting into employment, thanks to her teacher colleagues at Mbiri primary school in Murang’a County, who were already members. However, she was not able to use banking services since she could not raise the minimum deposit, that was a requirement of the bank. “I am a teacher by profession and have been a member of Mentor Sacco since 1990, a year after I got employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). However, my salary could not meet Kshs 10,000 minimum deposit which was a mandatory requirement by commercial banks. My colleagues who were already members of Mentor Sacco, told me that it would add value to my life,” she stated. She joined the Sacco and after six months, borrowed some money to pay her fees at the university. “I had joined Kenyatta University but did not have money at that time, so I borrowed Kshs 40,000 to pay for my school fees,” she says. Committed to give the best education to her children, Jane wanted to transfer her two boys to a private school, but did not have enough money. In addition, she had not fully serviced the first loan. Luckily, Mentor Sacco had a top up product that enabled her to take another loan to complete the previous one and remained with some money, for other projects which she equally enjoyed. “I was moving my children from public school to a very expensive school called Technology school, where admission fee only was around ten thousand. I had to buy uniform and make sure they had enough books, as per school requirements. So I topped up with Kshs 16,000 that was around 1992 and it was a lot of money then,” says Jane. Having done special needs in education at the University, she didn’t go back to the primary school upon her graduation, instead she was transferred to Our lady of Mercy Centre in Nairobi to work at the resource center. By Malachi Motano
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I know I have a very big loan to service and clear, but among the many loan products you have, just find something little for me. I don’t have anywhere else to go, just do your mathematics and find something small for me. I have children who need fees. I don’t even have fare to go to work and I can’t afford to pay my house rent.” the above were Jane
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SACCO TIMES | DECEMBER 2020 - JANUARY 2021
“I did not have the money to move with my family to Nairobi. I could not pay rent which was then only Kshs 2,000. Mentor Sacco had an emergency loan product which I borrowed. That is why I praise Mentor, it listens to individual needs. I would tell them that I was aware I had pending loans but since I had no other choice, I would ask them to consider me, which they did.’ she says. After settling in Nairobi and understanding the trends of the city, Jane wanted to put up a permanent residence. However, her savings and investments were not enough to help her secure a piece of land in the city,
