From daily worry to resilience
- ellenarnison
- Mar 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 28
Training with Prosper empowered Jeneba to understand her customers better and change the way she thought about her business
Jeneba Quee lives in the Kabuwabu area of Nongowa Chiefdom, Kenema District with her husband and two children. She runs a business selling pap (a traditional rice porridge, often eaten for breakfast) and other complementary food. Her savings are growing and she feels confident that she can meet her family’s needs now and in the future.
She wasn’t always in this strong position. Before undergoing business training with Prosper in 2023, life was a struggle.
“My biggest challenge was management. I had little saved and I worried about how I would manage this money. It was always on my mind that I was not going to succeed and I would lose all that I had accumulated,” she said.
Jeneba was born in Tongo Field, Lower Bambara Chiefdom, and at the age of 10 she was sent to live with her aunt in Bo Town. There was not enough money for her to attend school, instead she helped her aunt in her business.
Later, she returned to Kenema District and got married. She said: “I thought some of the challenges I faced would be solved, but, unfortunately, they weren’t, so I decided to become a labourer to save some capital to start a business.
“People used to hire me for hard work such as transporting sand, cleaning and laundry. This was what I did to be able to raise capital to start selling other products.”
She started her pap business, but things were precarious and her savings often went to feed, educate and keep her children healthy.
Prosper’s training enabled her to understand how to improve her business and make a series of improvement. This included learning about her customers’ buying patterns.
“Before, I did not realise that some of my customers only need pap in the morning before they go to work. I also learned that some of them need pap with bread, milk and mayonnaise. So, to avoid my customers going out in search of bread, I made an arrangement with some bakers to supply bread that I can pay for after I have made sales. I also arranged with a retailer to sell me mayonnaise and milk.
“Even though I have experienced business since I started working with my aunt in Bo, I made huge differences to how I work since I did the Prosper training. I have changed my behaviour in spending money. As a member of the savings bank, I can now boast of having a reserve to add to my business or when I have an emergency to address.”
The savings group that she previously joined lacked a financial control system and money was often lost through poor management, eventually causing members to drop out and the bank to fail. The Prosper system of symbols and tallies enables members to easily calculate their savings.
She said: “Now, the Prosper savings bank has financial control mechanisms - even though the majority of us are illiterate, we have had no experience of any financial mismanagement.”
Prosper also helped Jeneba to connect with local services. Through a linking meeting she has made connections with people offering motorbike transport, wholesale suppliers and other trades people.
“The training has created some changes and drastically improved my customers and profit base. I now know exactly the amount of profit I am making from every sale.
“I am currently searching for opportunities in any form that will help to expand my business. With the kind of confidence I have now, I strongly believe that I will be able to grow my business to another level. Through this training, I have been able to overcome all the challenges I used to worry about constantly.”