Simple Car Loan Saves Neighbourhood

A court in Buru Buru Estate
A court in Buru Buru Estate
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Have you ever taken time to recall and reflect on that single decision that ended up changing your entire life? I did.

I  have had sometime to reflect and came to the realization that the reason my small gated estate is throwing a thanksgiving party during a global pandemic can only be tracked back to a single decision that we arrived at after this parliament-level heated debate we had.

I can still remember the day, Friday November 19, 2019. I remember something catching the corner of my eye while watching the evening news, "man dies from strange virus in China".

Being a 'worrier', I immediately embarked on a research that took me down a deep dark hole.

AMREF Flying Doctors personel load a portable isolation chamber onto a plane.
AMREF Flying Doctors personel load a portable isolation chamber onto a plane.
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Side note: Never dive into the internet in search of strange illnesses.

Anyway, I had all the time in the world as my hardworking husband was 'out with the boys' as he often puts it so eloquently.

Being a Friday, that usually meant I wouldn't see him till the following morning, as I was usually dead asleep by the time he found his way home.

Don't judge...we found a way to make it work.

Back to the strange illness. After an hour of intense research and frequent diversions to not so friendly sites, I finally tracked down some research report that detailed the virus.

I immediately lit up the estate WhatsApp group with my findings.

As expected, the unmarried 27-year-old next door (Tracy with a Y) was the doubting Thomas.

"You can't trust everything you find on the internet" she wrote in an almost condescending tone.

A user browsing through a smartphone for news.
A user browsing through a smartphone for news.
Simon Kiragu
Kenyans.co.ke

Luckily, there were those who had heard of the virus and we soon engaged in a deep conversation that actually went on and on. My husband walking through the door was what made me realise we had been chatting for 6 hours straight.

He was equally surprised to find me awake. We caught up on how our days were before he took a shower and told me that he'd eat in the morning, plus talk more about 'my virus'.

Flashforward and 2 weeks later, 'my virus' was now big enough to make prime time news.

Based on the long WhatsApp chat I mentioned earlier, we were somehow prepared.

Okoth, a paediatrician from our hood, had mentioned that if the virus was as serious as the media was making it sound, then quarantine and lockdowns would be the two most used words in the next few months.

The entrepreneur in me has always had a knack for finding the silver lining amid stormy clouds.

A quick search online and I realised what lockdowns meant, and what opportunities would arise during such a period. Food trucks.

We discussed this in detail on the group. 

Tracy with a Y was no longer skeptical, she was constantly talking about the end of the world and all that she was yet to accomplish.

Anyway, she proposed that as I was the one who had brought the entire issue up, it was only fair that I lead any venture we would agree on.

Luckily, my Coop bank person had recently informed me of an asset financing deal that involved anything from pick ups to trucks.

At the time, I wasn't the least bit interested, I mean, what would a high school teacher need trucks for? Right?....wrong.

By December 2019, I had already applied for the Coop asset financing package and within no time, our little close-knit neighbourhood had its first truck.

We had all agreed to chip in with money for any payments due to the bank until we broke even.

By the time President Uhuru alias Jayden was announcing a lockdown across various counties, we had built our food delivery business to point where we now had 2 trucks thanks to Coop asset financing deal.

From then on the business just took off, and I meant took off in every sense of the word.

We are currently operating 7 trucks that deliver food and other essential items to every corner of the republic.

Demand was so high at some point that we had to lease trucks just to meet it.

The recent surge in fuel prices has dented the profit a bit, but we are still faring quite well beyond our expectations.

Anyway, that single decision to research on some disease being reported in China is why I'm currently being celebrated with a party.

Even Tracy with a Y is excited, what could go wrong haha.

I'm off to make my speech. If you don't get anything from this, just take this home "always follow through on instructions you get from that voice inside you".

Clients inside a Cooperative bank branch.
Clients inside a Cooperative bank branch.
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