Dr. Emebet Demsewu
Her name is Emebet Demsewu (Medical Doctor); in this article the writer preferred to use her nick name – Emmy. She is friendly and frisky. Emmy is devoted to set out many business projects which are applicable in Ethiopia. While she speaks Dutch and English fluently, anyone may doubt that she is an Ethiopian.
Since she has developed a strong sense of bravery in a variety of occupations, many testified that she is more exemplary for women and hardworking people. Emmy has a firm belief, “If Ethiopians cooperate ourselves, we can stand by ourselves without needing anyone from outside.”
Emmy has a plan to build a billion-dollar hospital in recent years, and promised that she will be able to provide quality and low cost medical services to the people here. Now, she works in her own lodge, decorated with traditional architecture that has the power to inspire everybody to appreciate Ethiopia’s homegrown architectural designs.
Emmy was born in Nekemte town, Oromia State, and her parents were moving to different areas of the country for occupational purposes. Her mother and father contribute today’s Dr. Emebet for their country, while working for some time in Nekemte town, which is known as patriots’ center in Oromia region. Shortly after a year, her family returned to the capital city, Addis Ababa. She started living with her family near Bole area.
Adapting with the climate and the new culture in the Netherlands, she began to study both medicine and medical biology side by side. After a year, she dropped medical biology and kept studying medicine. Emmy recalled that she could able to register higher score on her education better than she did in her home country. “If I scored the same result, no one will question me about the feat, and I always work to score higher mark.” But, if someone asked her while scoring high, she never afraid of telling where she is from.
With her greatest performance and highest score, she could complete her courses in Medicine in the university. After graduations, she was employed as a medical doctor in one of health center in the Netherlands. However, she was worried about how she could contribute for her own country.
When her financial capacity grows stronger and stronger, she opened her own clinic in the Netherlands and began providing medical care. There, she got married and have two children from the Dutch man. Stayed in the Netherlands for eight years serving in her profession, Emmy heard that she could lose the house she grew up in Addis Ababa, around Bole Rwanda, because of the divorce between her father and mother.
Not to pass the house for anyone else, she discussed with her mother and brothers. Finally, she could buy it and made it her own. Hoping to start a business in this house, her mother advised that she could make lucrative investment if it is a lodge. Helped by her parent’s advice, she could launch the construction of the lodge with traditional architecture at her home in Bole Rwanda.
While her mother was working tirelessly on the construction for some time, Emmy came from the Netherlands and put her full effort on the completion of the lodge. During the construction of the lodge, Emmy also participated in the beautification and paintings by preparing cement and gravel together.
Decorated with beautiful wooden and leather materials, the lodge got completed in the center of the town, and started to give services for anyone who wish to take a break and enjoy lives in the greenery salon. The Lodge, which has 16 permanent staff, is currently hosting various guests including famous scientists and
sportsmen from around the world. Getting far away from sky-rocketed and glass-enclosed buildings, many foreigners now prefer to spend their time at the Zeus Lodge, which has traditional Ethiopian architectures.
The Lodge, which is six years old, has ten rooms. Intending to build the culture of self-management among the employees, the Lodge has no manager, where every staffs are responsible for their assigned works. In so doing, Emmy feel comfortable, and could be able to engage in other businesses. As a result, her business has won various international and domestic quality service awards.
Now, Emmy has been involved in the manufacturing of a generator that works without oil, in cooperation with a foreigner. In particular, she has also invested for distribution of an electric-powered generator invented in Tangier, Morocco. She is now supplying the technology named in her shortened name – Emmy generator, in Somaliland and various countries.
Moreover, she is now preparing to build the factory in Ethiopia in the near future. In the coming years, Emmy has keen interest to distribute the technology, especially for rural Ethiopians who do not have electricity.
Apart from participating in the mining sector, Emmy is also engaged in consulting foreign financial institutions. She believes, “If a woman is strong and confident, she is proving to be a capable business person.”
Emmy has also other business that has significant importance for the country. She has a project planned to reduce the affliction of Ethiopians going to various countries paying a huge price to get medical care. In so doing, she will be able to contribute to her country – Ethiopia, in holding down the transfer of high foreign currency to other countries.
The project aims to provide a sub specialist service in the field of medicine and to bring the world’s most advanced technologies and experts to Ethiopia. She has got a financial support worth of 300 million USD for the project from various international funding organizations.
In fact, the financial institutions are usually financing for governments alone. However, individuals are not allowed to do so, Emmy has got the permission to get financial access since she is recognized by the donors while she works with them as an advisor. The next assignment left for such funding organizations is to talk to the Ethiopian government in order to give them a guarantee for the management of the payments set for the project.
With the approval, she has planned to take over and complete the newest Human sub-Specialist Hospital in Addis Ababa within two to six years. To this end, she is now approaching various government agencies to discuss on the issue. Since the volume of the construction fund is huge, the hospital is believed to provide a wide range of services. According to her plan, the hospital will charge high bills for foreigners, and will provide low-cost services for local people in the form of support.
Living with such multidimensional purposes, Emmy becomes exemplary to many women and business persons across the globe. Of course, she believes that many Ethiopian women have bright mind and strength; if they are confident and plan to work hard, they will surely achieve real excellence in their businesses, which were previously left for men alone. She also advises rural women to believe that they can stand by their own, and will definitely reach a higher level.
Above all, Emmy is a woman of substance and possesses a depth of personality and character. She is interesting to get to know; and has a variety of interests outside and within her home and family. The government needs to open its eye on such successful women in order to benefit more from such untapped skill and experience fused together.
The Ethiopian Herald August 17, 2019
BY ZELALEM GIRMA
