There is a saying which goes “If
you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to go far, go together,”
This aforementioned saying hammers home how teamwork leads to success.
Working together towards a common goal leads to great achievements. Mindful of this perception, there are lots of group movements. Teamwork affords numerous benefits to companies or other institutes to which team members belong.
Cooperation among teammates is one of the key factors of success. Persons have different views and ideas. When people join hands, heads and hearts they will have diverse potentials.
Studies also shed light on the fact that teams with members hailing from diverse backgrounds (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.) are more creative and perform better by up to 35 percent, compared to non-diverse teams. That underlines the importance of having different perspectives to work with instead of viewing a single side of things.
Today’s success story shows us not an individual’s achievement. It focuses on groups that have achieved their goal together and also who are working together to achieve more down the path of life.
On the other hand, some people are heard saying “Ethiopians can eat together but not work together.”
Nevertheless, today’s story that showcases Ethiopians too can work together proves those who espouse this saying wrong.
It is all about three enterprises that respective members have been jointly fighting to win both climate changes and poverty. These enterprises are working on seedling production.
Dereje Serawork and His Friend’s seedling firm has been established by Gizachew Solomon. He had been engaged in the agriculture and forest sectors for long years. After he retired from a governmental organization where he worked for 36 years, he found it hard to detach himself from a stewardship bent towards nature.
Gizachew was also graduated from Wondo Genet Forestry University. It is not only for this educational background and job experience, protecting the environment and rendering the surrounding green was his passion. So, he had to make something new to stay connected with the green environment.
He was fond of coordinating some youths towards joint stewardship of nature at the same time to create job opportunities. It was around Bahir Dar city he and his friends established their forestry firm. The firm has five degree holders as well as many diploma holders. Well-educated individuals have also joined the firm.
Members are focused on producing indigenous trees and other fruits and vegetables.
The reformed government’s movement on protecting and making the environment evergreen has uplifted their morals. “The government’s focus on green resilient economy encourages citizens to do the best,” Gizachew added.
For Gizachew and other members, this forestry production is economically useful. This way they are eking out a living for themselves and their family members. They are working together with other enterprises to increase the awareness of the society and to generate more income. The government also supports them by giving them land.
“I’m very interested in the sector of protecting the environment. I’m also happy to see the environment changed to green,” Gizachew said.
All members except Gizachew are youths. They started their job with passion. Despite the presence of challenges, they hope that they will achieve their goals of making the environment green. They need to make their city and the whole Ethiopia covered by a green mantle. They have made a point of deepening the awareness of the community.
The other successful enterprise both in protecting the environment and in creating job opportunities goes by the name Meseret Tefera and His Friend’s seedling firm around the Amhara State. They produce tree seedlings, fruits and vegetables. Together, Meseret and his friends produce seedlings and sell them for buyers.
Their capital is also growing slowly but surely. The problem of a market linkage is posing hurdles. The awareness of the people on forest development is biased. It is rather shallow. Hence, members are laboring towards creating awareness.
Firm members’ hope is to get the return by changing the environment and generating more money. They also expect a transition to a higher investment. They want to be medium-level investors soon if scarcity of every resource is done away with.
The three member of the company run their family leaning this firm. They feel happy to have dual advantages contributing to protect the environment and to get their jobs done.
This journalist has paid homage to Tedele and his Friend’s Seedling firm. The five members grow mango, avocado, and other fruit trees. They are beset by marketing linkage problem. They are working with the government, NGO’s and other stakeholders to overcome their problem.
Now their market is functioning well. They also have a plan to export products. Their members have graduated from universities and other higher educational institutions. Starting from 50 thousand capitals, now they have reached about a two million Birr capital.
The aforementioned role models, together with their brothers and sisters, have continued their on the avenue of success. It would not be hard to extrapolate the presence of a lot of groups striving to be fruitful together in their day to day activities.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday February 2/2020
BY GENET FEKADE
