It is obvious that everyone regardless of age, sexual category, religious affiliation, political views and other related aspects have their own talents. As a matter of fact, bringing into play the God-given gift, they wholeheartedly work around the clock and inject huge contribution in the spheres of a wide-variety of development activities wafting in the left, right and center of the country. They directly or indirectly play a major role in taking the country to a new height of success faster than a speeding bullet.
All kidding aside, my focus is not going to be attaching significance to the various types of talents or benefits one secure out of them. But the desired goal is acquainting the unsung heroine and an inspirational strong woman named Hadiya Mohammod with The Ethiopian Herald newspaper readers. To my surprise, the woman has been accentuated by success stories time and again.
To begin from the very beginning, she was born and raised in the heart of Dire-Dawa town, marked for love, harmony, togetherness and what have you. At this moment in time, she possesses Hadiya Supermarket found around the Addis Ababa National Stadium in addition to serving as the President of Ethiopian Women Exporters Association.
Likewise, aside from getting herself involved in introducing Ethiopia in various stages worldwide, she takes delight in encouraging women entrepreneurs now and then. Above and beyond, she strongly believes that if women possesses strong mind and are able to work they can pass through many twists and turns with no trouble.
She is pioneer in getting herself involved in the business of transport, supermarket and agricultural works withstanding undaunted challenges in the business world. Following Hadiya’s footstep, quite a lot of women have got themselves involved in the same business areas.
In another twist, she hates to death sitting idle. Simply put, she bends over backwards time and again. Nothing is impossible with her.
As Hadiya is on familiar terms with the nitty-gritty of managerial skills, she had fruitfully worked at various parts of the country and in the Horn of Africa. A lot has been said about Hadiya on the grounds of her unreserved efforts.
As a matter of fact, as success and Hadiya are two sides of the same coin, nobody can alienate the two. She loves getting herself involved in agriculture and trade. Nothing is impossible with Hadiya. The word ‘Impossible’ has no room for Hadiya. She every so often plucks up courage to get herself involved in any business.
Hadiya’s father had played a major role in shaping his daughter’s mentality with I can do it. As a kid, she had been positively influenced by her dad seeing that he was showering her with pieces of constructive advice unremittingly.
She grew up making needlecraft as a kid apart from practicing a wide array of needlework from her neighborhood foreigners. More to the point, she had taken training on embossing at Singer and Saba sewing and embroidery institutions.
Education wise, after she had successfully attended grade eight in Dire Dawa and scored outstanding results, she joined Lycee Gebre Mariam School aside from studying secretary at the School of Commerce. Subsequently, she came back to Dire Dawa and got hired as a secretary in the Railway Station. However, she did not work there for more than six months seeing that she got married and returned to Addis Ababa.
As luck would have it, she embarked on working as a secretary at the embassy of Morocco. Having served there for six years, she got hired in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa as a typist and worked there for three solid years.
As Hadiya’s husband departed this life during the Derg regime, she left for Kenya and set in motion working as a secretary in the Embassy of Zaire. Afterward, she began working in the United Nations Environment Protection Bureau and left for Portugal and worked there for some months. At the end of the day, on her own will, she was transferred to work under the United Nations development program.
As time passed, Hadiya remarried and set in motion living under the same roof with her husband. Just then, her husband kept on showering her with pieces of advice to run her own business. But she was not interested to give up her job from the United Development Program seeing that the UN visa passport has a visa free entry to many countries so that she could visit her mother with no trouble.
As she had worked in her husband’s organization of transport during a maternity leave, she had understood the benefit of running her own business without a shred of doubt. For this reason, she embarked on sending a corrugated iron sheet to Ethiopia buying from Moyalle, Kenya in addition to sending soap to Addis Ababa and salt to Kenya and sending marble to Kenya being agency of Ethio-Libya.
Be that as it may, she left for France with a view to taking courses on building design and in due course she returned to Ethiopia and partook in beautifying Kenyan buildings with marbles of Ethiopia. In the fullness of time, she returned to Addis Ababa.
One fine day, she learnt the fact that an organization named GTZ was looking for applicants who would transport refugees from the borderline to Ethiopia and pay 148 thousand USD. Without batting her eyes, she headed straight to GTZ and told him that she had got cars and she could carry out the task successfully. At that specific point, she did not have as a single car even.
Almost immediately, she asked her sister’s husband who was getting himself involved in coffee business to provide cars for the intended target and gave her word that she would give him twenty five percent of the profit. Despite the fact that the car rent was two hundred fifty Birr per a day, she told him that she would pay the bus owners one thousand Birr a day. In a little while, he brought twenty cars. In a jiffy, she got uniforms and badges ready for the drivers of twenty one buses.
When the pertinent bodies from GTZ saw the cars and the successful coordination, they could not believe their eyes. They were all taken by surprise after a short time and soon fifty percent of the payment was made. In this way, she transported all the refugees in twenty one day and took the remaining money.
As time went by, Hadiya opened a transport office in Addis Ababa with seven cars she bought on loan from FIAT and two cars she got from her husband. Inch by inch, she had got herself involved in transporting grain for aid purposes all over the country. As bad luck would have it, at some point, during the Ethio-Eritrea war grain, which cost seven million Birr, was robbed and thus she was in the red in this regard.
However, as time passed by, undaunted she kept on coming bit by bit to the right track. At that specific point, Transport Association was blaming Hadiya for getting herself involved in the same business sector saying she has already taken over their work. Later, she got herself involved in a supermarket buying government-owned supermarket at a cost of 700,000 Birr.
The Ethiopian Herald June 23, 2019
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
