• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Monthly Giving

Microfinancing Partners in Africa

Microfinancing Partners in Africa

  • About
    • Understanding Extreme Poverty
  • Programs
    • Loans Program
    • Cow Program
    • Clean Water
    • Health Program
    • Education Program
  • Get Involved
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Donate

Lydia Shiraya

Lydia Shiraya with her family.

Meet Lydia Shiraya, age 37, whose home and business is in the Deep Sea Slum in Nairobi Kenya. This young mother of four carries a smile and shows confidence but has not always had it easy. Lydia runs a hotel as her income project.  The hotel is in an area set on a slope, within a slum surrounded by palatial homes and fancy apartments. Raw sewage runs in between the narrow corridors of the iron sheet shacks many call home in Deep Sea.

Like any other informal settlement in Kenya, Deep Sea slum has had its fair share of problems. The most prevalent have been fire outbreaks that seem to occur every few months, burning down everything. In 2011 Lydia was a victim of these fires. At the time, she did not have any savings and she had trouble housing her family.

After learning about Yawezekana SACCO in 2014, Lydia began saving as much as she could out of the small rents she collected at her makeshift hotel.  When she saved enough to meet the requirements, she took a loan.

Lydia used the loan to rebuild her one-story home that had burnt down and she used some of the money to pay for her two daughters’ school.

“Thanks to Mama Ingrid Munro, I now live in my own house and I am able to support my family and my sisters,” she says with a wide smile.

The biggest challenge which Lydia faces is a lack of business and hotel visitors during the time of seasonal government elections.

“Business is usually low when this happens. It makes it difficult to service our loans,” she explains.

Lydia laughs it off and stays positive, saying, “We are the single mothers who move the wheels of our families.”

Stories of Hope Category: Loans

Sidebar

Our Mission

By providing grants for the strengthening and expansion of microfinancing programs in Africa, MPA empowers those living in extreme poverty to lift themselves up with dignity through access to services and education.

Recent Posts

  • The Importance of Access to Clean Water in Africa: How It Impacts Health, Education, and Economic Growth
  • We Don’t Have to Do It Alone: Toni Temporiti on Empowering Women Through Trust and Community
  • 17th African Gala
  • The Impact of Lifting Women Out of Extreme Poverty
  • What’s the Impact of an Alternative Gift

Ready to make a difference?

Join us in impacting communities in Africa by providing a hand up from poverty to possibility. With each donation made, you’re supporting a business entrepreneur to lift themselves out of extreme poverty with dignity and respect.

Donate Now

Latest News


The Importance of Access to Clean Water in Africa: How It Impacts Health, Education, and Economic Growth

Access to clean water is essential for human life and development, but unfortunately, it is a luxury …

Read moreThe Importance of Access to Clean Water in Africa: How It Impacts Health, Education, and Economic Growth
Three women outside caring for a small pig.

We Don’t Have to Do It Alone: Toni Temporiti on Empowering Women Through Trust and Community

Tune in! Sr. Toni Temporiti, founded Microfinancing Partners in Africa, an organization that …

Read moreWe Don’t Have to Do It Alone: Toni Temporiti on Empowering Women Through Trust and Community
Group of people sitting in an audience watching a video screen at the 17th African Gala.

17th African Gala

What a night it was! The 17th Gala of our organization was a resounding success, and we would like …

Read more17th African Gala
Two women standing outside beside a wooden fence.

The Impact of Lifting Women Out of Extreme Poverty

Women in Africa face significant challenges, including poverty, which exacerbates their struggle for …

Read moreThe Impact of Lifting Women Out of Extreme Poverty

Sign up for emails

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

(314) 776-1319
Contact
Get Involved
Donate
FAQ

Stories of Hope
990 Tax Form
Annual Report
501(c)(3) Letter
Board Nomination

Microfinancing Partners in Africa logo.
GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency.

Mailing Address:
4949 Columbia Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63139

Office Address:
6400 Minnesota Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63111

Copyright © 2023 · Microfinancing Partners in Africa · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy

Give Monthly

Our monthly giving community, the UpLifters, is for those who want to make an ongoing commitment to Microfinancing Partners in Africa.

Become an UpLifter Today!