BY BETELHEM BEDLU
She goes by the name Samrawit Tarekgne. She was born and raised in the beautiful Bahir Dar city. She attended her primary and secondary education in Bahir Dar Academy. She is the founder of Mogzit In-Home care.
Growing up in an extended family with her five sisters and one brother, she happened to witness the challenges that most women in her house as well as in her surroundings gone through. So, the painful memories that depicted in her mind at a young age stacked in her head to the point where she couldn’t think of any other thing till she grows up.
Despite the fact that she was raised by a strong mother who she looked up to as a role model, seeing that most women had to give up their career after giving birth used to trouble her deeply. She thought the only way of finding solution to these women was through education. So, she studied hard and was able to obtain her first degree from Gondar University in the field of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
She served there as an Assistant Lecturer for two years and went straight to India to attend her second degree however, she met with the opportunity of making her childhood dream a reality. She became so envious when she witnessed how the people are leading an easier life using technology and she couldn’t help but think of the women who lead a miserable life in her hometown.
What she saw made her realize that, had the women been assisted by the technology/system, they wouldn’t have been forced to leave their jobs or education to raise children. The experience made her realize what she could bring to the table in this regard.
During her stay, not only did she learnt how the digital system they put in place made the living standard of the people easier but also how much the system was built on trust.
She said failure in creating such system in the country has created many inconvenience and inefficiency in various ways. The fact that she was close to the technology sector, did not give her a hard time to come up with technological solution to the problem.
In this respect, Samrawit prepared the proposal before she returned to her country. After she came to her homeland, she started studying to find a business where she could link both business and technology. Fortunately, she realized that a huge gap lies in the childcare support and babysitting accessibility.
After a long journey, Samrawit was able to create Mogzit.com. Nonetheless, her journey was filled with many struggles. Though she had a better understanding of the technology part, she did not have enough knowledge about the business aspect. That is when she joined Blue Moon Technology Institute to attend a six months training.
After she accomplished her training, she established Mogzit In-Home Care in 2021. The company offers in-home child care services for parents in Addis Ababa with convenience and affordable cost. The major objective of the company is to serve as a link between freelance/full-time baby sitters and parents who have young children that need to be looked after at home on a regular or irregular basis.
However, finding well trained babysitters and nannies was hard at the time. For the bright-minded young woman, the situation was an eye opener as she comes up with an idea to train babysitters besides linking them with parents. In close collaboration with other training centers, the company was able to train several women which in return created job opportunities for many.
As much as there are many unemployed women, employed mothers who are desperately looking for babysitters or nannies to look after their children are high in number. These mothers need well-trained and trustworthy babysitters that can look after their children in the comfort of their homes. Thus, “by serving them, we not only give relief for the mothers but we secured jobs for the unemployed women too,” she stressed.
Through the training they offered for the trainees that are drawn from districts through identifying those who generates low income, they somehow filled the gap. Thus, the women were given 45 days, three and six months training. The company that started with 20 babysitters has now over 600 nannies in its platform. Of these, around 300 have secured permanent job.
“As a company that started business in a year, the challenges we encountered as well as what we have accomplished so far is a success. We give relief to the mothers while we create job for others.”
Though it provides various services, over 80% of Mogzit.com services focuses on linking between freelance baby sitters and parents. Secondly, they assist hiring of full-time nannies. They also help customers find nannies that provide emergency care for elderly people. Lastly, the company create link for the customers if they look for care for patients and newly mothers.
She said societal perception towards her business was hard to bear at the beginning. Nonetheless, their vision is reaching to several customers in big towns in different states.
Mentioning that they have set a plan to create job for 10,000 women in the coming three years, she said they envision becoming center of excellence in service and care providing besides being technology center.
As per their wishes, college and university students would be provided with training in the near future if they wish to undertake par time jobs to support themselves. Besides the website, they are preparing mobile application as well as call centers. More importantly, they aspire to become Africa’s best care providing center in technology and ethics wise.
“If I hadn’t followed my dream, I fear that it would eat me alive. But I knew that there wouldn’t be a right time to take risk if not for at a young age. Though the journey was tiresome, it was worth it because I had a strong trust on God’s support in every way,” she underscored.
She went on saying: “Therefore, I advise the youth to follow their dream, study and get to action. The more we try, the better that doors would be opened for us. That way, we not only accomplish our goal but we become the reason for other’s smile.”
The Ethiopian Herald March 23/2023
