BY LEULSEGED WORKU
It is almost a year since COVID-19 has shown its firm hands against humankind. Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the social, political and economic activities of the people around the world is impacted and it has lead countries’ economic progresses on the brink of collapse.
Unarguably, the outbreak of the pandemic has been influencing people substantially in every aspect. Particularly, the lockdown has obliged them to experience same routine lifestyle which makes life too dull and at the same time boring as they stuck at home to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Not only that, but millions of peoples have lost their job, suffered own trauma and their previous pride has eroded. Even some have totally gotten discouraged and lose hope as they focus on the negative aspects of the pandemic and their minds have already accepted their defeat.
In fact, some have used the challenge as an opportunity and handle it differently. Those deliverymen and street food providers are among the “alchemists” who can turn iron into gold.
For Ak Fiker and his colleague DJ. Musse Samson, the pandemic has shown them a new opportunity- to open their own food corner “Og`s Corner” that serves fast food for customers with reasonable price.
AK. Fiker is a young Ethiopian who holds his advanced Diploma in hotel management and, currently, a graduating student in Business Administration. Like other youths in Addis, Ak Fiker and his colleague DJ Musse were tired of the boring days of COVID.
Therefore, they came up with the idea of starting a mini business-to engage in street food preparation and serve the community with reasonable price.
Until recently, street foods were not common in Ethiopia. This was due to several reasons. Taboos attached to the people against the consumption of foods and drinks on streets as well as sanitation related fears were some of them.
However now, street foods are becoming popular. For that reason, they have created job opportunities for several youths and; people are able to get tasty food with affordable price.
According to AK, when he was in Dubai, street foods are common and affordable. This has pushed him to start the business at home with his DJ friend who has also lost his job because of lockdown.
“Until recently, having meals on the street had been considered as a taboo in Ethiopia. It was culturally unacceptable. However, through time this trend has changed and people have started to eat their food while walking to office or somewhere.
The idea of street food had been in me and my friend’s mind. But we did not start it. However, when CORONA virus breakout and when we are tired of the boring days, we started it.”
His friend Musse was a Disc Jockey (DJ) by profession. Unfortunately, when the nightclubs closed following the outbreak of the pandemic and government’s closure order, he was out of work. For that reason, they decided to start the business with courage.
“When we started the business, it was not that much easy for street foods are considered as an offensive act among the society. However, as we started it, we have got acceptance from our neighbors. This is because partly, we deliver neat service and our price is reasonable.”
Regarding the challenges they encountered, AK said, “Work preference is one of the problems in the society. This has directly or indirectly affected our journey when we started our business. Some individuals were giving us a lip service thinking we are broke.
The other challenge we faced was corrupted individuals from Kebele (lower administration level) who tried to get unnecessary benefit from us. At the same time, there were also some good individuals who truly encouraged us.”
When we commenced this business we did not only consider the profit we will make out of it. We have also taken into consideration those neighbors who cannot afford expensive foods.
Mahlet Tafesse, is the other young lady The Ethiopian Herald interviewed. She is from Wolayita Soddo. Like other youths in her town, the COVID-19 has affected her daily activity. Even if she is a last year graduate student, COVID did not allow her to attend her class properly. For that reason, she was forced to wait idle at home watching movies.
However, one day an idea came to her mind-to convert her time into something valuable. Using the available money, she got from her father, she bought a French-fries machine and started selling French fries on the nearby street.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown, Mahlet used to consider engaging in such kind of jobs was something invaluable. However, when she started it, she has found juice out of her micro business.
Mahlet believes that, no matter what the economic level of a given person is, or what his or her economic ground is, every business has substantial benefits not only economically but also psychologically.
When people engage in a certain activity, they would have a positive reward to their life. Whenever people develop a good feeling towards themselves, they will also have a positive outlook to the world they are living in.
COVID-19 has jeopardized the lives of many individuals. It has negatively affected their work and the lives of those they support. However, we should not allow the negative experiences we encounter overshadow on us and bring us down. Rather, we have to strengthen our effort to seize the best growth opportunity amidst uncertainties.
The Ethiopian herald December 26/2020
