September Kenyan Woman of the Month

Age 40

Agruppa Mandasi

I am 40 years old, a mother of three children, one in university and two in primary school. I am a trained caterer and was certified in the year 2000. I have previously been employed in hotels and restaurants but embarked on making pastries (mandazis) for sale in the year 2020. I operate my business in Ongata Rongai of Kajiado County.

What are you most proud of?

I am proud of the work of my hands. Over the years, I have learnt that having skills that I can do with my hands will always ensure I have a source of income. This was made evident when I was out of my job when Covid-19 upset the economy/businesses in many parts of Kenya. I relied on my cooking skills to ensure I always had ‘mandazis’ to sell to my customers to get an income. Being a woman who knows the value of my sweat, I have worked over the years to see my children through school. They give me the motivation to work even harder to ensure that they realize their dreams through the education they obtain. On a typical day, I wake up at 3:00 am to prepare ‘mandazis’ that I will supply for the day. I pack them in packets of tens, and at about 6:00 am, they are ready for distribution to retail shops within the area I live. I currently have a pool of 6 retail kiosks that I supply, who take an average of 6 packs each on a daily basis. I have to be back in my house by 6:30am to ensure my children are ready for school in time at 7:00 am. In addition, I have individual customers in my neighborhood that come throughout the day to buy from my house, which is my working area. For me it is joy to see my family go about their daily lives having the basics, such as food, shelter, clothing and education, taken care of.

For me, the most important lesson I learnt with the Pangea Network was the one on Basic Business Skills. From this topic I learnt the importance of record keeping and it is this method that has proved to me that my business is growing and sustainable. I also learnt to budget which has gone a long way in ensuring I get commodities at the right price to minimize costs. From time to time, product prices fluctuate in the supermarkets and this means my profit will be affected. For instance, last year when I began my ‘mandazi’ selling business, the prices of cooking oil and wheat flour increased significantly and would negatively affect my profit. I had to change the brand of flour I bought to a slightly cheaper one so as to still make the same size ‘mandazis’ as before and sell them at the same price to the customers as well. The business microloan also came in handy when it did as it enabled me shop for items at wholesale prices, hence obtaining great discounts and keeping my profits intact. I thank Pangea Network for helping me realize that I can use my skills to earn an income.