Getting creative through WISE
Her birth place is Shashamene, Southern
part of Ethiopia. As her mother led a
very poor existence, she grew up with her grandparents in the town of Zeway (a
small town located in central Ethiopia).
Amelework Bekele said that she had led a comfortable life, as children
who grow up with their grandparents often do.
After completing her academic education, she joined Don Bosco Catholic
School, pursuing a course in tailoring.
She then spent 12 years teaching tailoring and sewing in the same
school. With only a small salary from
this job, however, she could not support her mother. She lost all hope and went abroad to a Middle
Eastern country. Amelework takes up the
story…
“I
worked in a Middle East country for seven years and was lucky not to encounter
any difficulties. I was happy to help my
mother with the money I earned at great effort.
Upon returning home, I immediately got married to a retired government
worker. With a small amount of capital I
then began tailoring activities. We
supported ourselves with my husband’s pension and the income I obtained from my
tailoring work. However, I did not
utilize the money I obtained in an appropriate manner, since I did not have any
knowledge of appropriate money handling. I simply could not save money and felt
within me that something was missing. It was hard to live month to month with a
small income.
One
day I went to my kebele ( district office) to buy sugar and noticed a large
gathering of women. I tried to find out
what was happening, but could not do so for a while, as everyone was busy doing
something. I waited for the chance to
talk to some of them, and was happy with the explanation leaders of ‘Serto
Masaya’ Savings Saving and Credit Cooperative gave me regarding the activities
of the Cooperative. I joined the
Cooperative in 2008.
After
completing a Business skills training programme, I took a loan, bought required
cloth and other related items, and revived my tailoring business. Having received valuable knowledge from the
training programmes, I began to put aside a small amount of savings from my
income. I also started to plan my
household and business activities. Gradually,
everything fell into place. After a
while, I underwent yet another training course in Creative Thinking, which had
a huge positive impact on my activities.
During the course of my work I was able to use the creativity I knew I
had within me, and started designing various clothes for numerous customers.
When I needed money I borrowed some from my Cooperative, eventually increasing
my activities. I came first in various
‘innovative business ideas competitions’ and received cash prizes from Women In
Self Employment. My designs include
flowers composed of chicken feathers, cake made of black ‘teff’ (local cereal),
‘Father Christmas’ costumes made from nylon, and women’s handbags made of
plastic. I always try to design
something new. I could say creativity is
my life.
As
my retiree husband used to sit at home with nothing to do, and since my own
income was insufficient to live on, I obtained honey and butter from Bahir Dar,
and with assistance from my husband began distributing them to merchants and
other interested persons. I also bought
a washing machine to wash clothes of bachelor men in my locality for fee, thus
obtaining additional income. So instead
of simply relying on my husband’s monthly salary, we were able to increase our
income by diversifying our activities.
Our situation today is much better than that of yesterday.
In addition to an amount of 6000 birr ($300)
savings in my association, I also save money which I put in the bank. I have currently taken out a loan of 7,000
birr ($350) from my cooperative. What
makes me very happy is that I am undertaking various activities at the same
time. I would not have been successful
if I had taken up an activity only.
As
I possess many years’ experience in tailoring work, my future plan is to
purchase a large number of sewing machines and set up a training school in
tailoring and embroidery. I think I will
be successful in this, as there is no one competing on the business in my
locality.
Finally,
I wish to say that nothing is impossible if people are able to use their inner
creativity in their work, supported by the required knowledge.
Involving
oneself in different commercial activities, rather than just one, is the
ultimate way to increase one’s income.”
Amelework Bekele
Serto Masaya WISE Saving and Credit Cooperative
Akaki-Kality Sub-city
Women
in Self Employment (WISE) is one of the four partner institutes of the
African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership Program run
by the Institute of Intenrational Education (IIE), Ethiopia Office
For more on IIE , ACE or WISE please follow the links below.
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