BY BETELHEM BEDLU
Whenever we talk about Tella, Ethiopia’s traditional homemade drink, the first thing that comes to our mind is the burden of women who prepare it. It further reminds us of the women who are leading a miserable life and engaged in brewing and selling Tella to local people; plus those low income segments of the society who cannot buy high priced drinks; but enjoyed drinking Tella.
Brewing Tella though demands more energy, commitment and patience, it is an alternative field of work that many Ethiopian women engage in to earn their daily bread, support family, raise and educate their children. As a result, several Ethiopian women can reap the fruits of their efforts and realize their dreams by engaging in brewing Tella.
Among these successful women who are working day in, day out to change their own and the lives of their respective families’, Zinash Ayele is the one whom her customers call her by a nickname ‘Deshesho’ for the reason she named her Tella house under this name.
Zinash, by sacrificing her interest, is struggling to the betterment of the lives of her children. Even though brewing and selling Tella is a less appreciated profession and considered as a drink for the less privileged groups among many people, Zinash is able to reverse this perception by working hard. Her family, especially her mother’s strong attachment as well as ability to brew traditional homemade drinks, inspired Zinash to follow in her footsteps. It was with this deep understanding and commitment Zinash joined the Tella business. However, this does not mean that all the paths were smooth when she starts her mini business. The first challenge was Tella is a homemade drink that can be found in almost every house for free. It was almost impossible not to find Tella in the house where she grew up not only on holidays or special occasions but even on a regular basis due to the assumption that it serves the society in strengthening harmony, solving problems as well as deepening societal ties. However, this did not prevent her from excreting all her energy to convert Tella into business. What is more, the fact that she was leading a decent life with her husband did not stop her from wanting to become independent and support the marriage; rather she insisted on opening a small business which she thought would not be challenging for her. Therefore, she decided to open a small restaurant with the groceries she purchased for her household purpose along with her maid. When Zinash started her mini business it was not profitable; area’s unsuitability for the business together with her husband`s stand against her idea made her first journey a little challenging. However, she was able to convince him and rent a house around Lamberet area.
She started preparing fast foods as she believed it would attract laborers and shoe shine boys. On her first day, beginners` luck knocked at Zenash`s door when a public transport bus suddenly broke down and passengers had to step out of the car as it was getting fixed and decided to stop by Zinash’s restaurant.
It was her first day; she had not prepared a menu and a set price let alone hiring a waiter. Zinash and her maid got confused about what and how to serve that many people. Though there were people who did not pay for their service, she somehow managed to serve the passengers.
She stayed in this situation for about three months. The only thing she was concerned about was to own a private business and cared less about the expenses and profit issues. That is why she used to serve her customers lip-smacking foods and return home with nothing. Due to this, there were times where she had to ask her husband to cover the rent. It was then that she decided to hire a chef and start selling her foods with a fair price. Then, she was able to attract several customers from various places and the opening of public transport substations in her area made her business flourished. It was at this time Zinash decided to further expand her business.
Consequently, she continues serving her customers with her delicious foods enthusiastically. However, due to the increasing number of customers and complaints raised by similar business owners, who envy her success, Zinash had to find a better place again. Following that, she searched a business place for months and found one. Nonetheless, the place was a bit expensive.
Although she has no money on her hand, Zinash dared to get some loan from relatives and ‘equb’ which is an alternative means of saving money and she rented the house. The fact that she was well-known for her delicious food and services, it did not take much to get her customers back and it was only in a week that she started paying off her debt and equb.
Through time, she started serving Tella alongside her meals. Customer’s comment inspired her to upgrade her restaurant. However, the size of her restaurant was not in a position to accommodate extra customers; and the owner’s unwillingness to upgrade the restaurant has temporarily crippled her vision . She then started searching for another place that would allow her to sell both the meal and the traditional drink at the same time.
It was a fortunate situation that she was able to meet with a person she never gets tired of acknowledging. This person is the owner of ‘WATCH building’ in which Zinash was able to get a house that meet her standard. This man was generous enough to skip her charging for the house until her business bloomed and she got her customers back. Even after the business started to pick, he only made her pay a fair price. Thus, she was even inspired to refurbish the house in the typical traditional way.
With this entire journey, Zinash kept her customers entertained with traditional yet standardized service at the fourth floor of the building where individuals who admire cultural places could be served.
Currently, ‘Deshesho’, in its two branches, has created permanent jobs for more than 50 Ethiopian citizens. Besides Tella, it serves Tej and Areke which are both traditional homemade drinks along with foods. Moreover, she opened a stationary which also creates permanent employment for citizens.
With the aim of supporting other people and getting consistent supply for “Deshesho’ Zinash has also made a decision to prepare all the necessary input for her restaurant. This move did not only employ extra individuals (approximately more than 100 people) it is also able to supply her business all the necessary inputs.
“As the saying goes, the road to success is always under construction. The journey is filled with ups and downs; however, patience and persistence pushes anyone to realize a goal. I am a living witness for that.”After those hard journeys Zinash has become now a successful business woman and has a desire to export traditional Ethiopian drinks to the international market. By doing that, Zinash has a goal to create more job opportunities and earn a substantial amount of foreign currency for her country.
She believed that women have to be supported and empowered to achieve their goals and they have to develop an ‘I can do anything’ mindset to get to where they want to go in life
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD 2 FEBRUARY 2023
