|
Success is yours if you are disciplined and determined
2005-11-17 07:47:26
By Rachel Mkundai
’IN the Chagga tribe the word apaisaria means grace. My name is a result of my father’s reaction soon after my birth. To him, my arrival was a grace to the family.
He loved me and made sure that I got all the basic needs and rights as a child.
He was at the forefront in taking me to school and I was the first girl to go for secondary education in our village as you know that in those days many families were against educating girl children’ said Apaisaria.
Apaisaria Arnold Kilewo is the Managing Director of K-net café and Trade located at Mikocheni in Dar es Salaam. She was born in Marangu, Moshi Rural District.
Coming from a hardworking family, Apaisaria obtained her primary and secondary education in the same region.
She was the among the first batch of students to join Ashira Girls Secondary school when it changed from a middle school to a girl’s secondary school.
’As I said before, my name means grace and my school career was full of grace. After completing ’O’ level at Ashira Girls’ I joined Jangwani Girls’ Secondary school in Dar es Salaam for ’A’ level secondary education and our batch of students happened to be the first one to join the school after it was converted into a public school.
Prior to that, the school had been owned by an Indian society,’ says Apaisaria who is now a mother of five and grandmother of four.
Apaisaria was also among the first batch of students to join national service and the first batch of students to join the University of Dar es Salaam for the Bachelor of Arts degree (BA).
The university was closed down and all students were sent back to their villages after organizing a strike.
’After completing my studies at the UDSM I secured a job at National Textile Industries (NATEX) as a Management Trainee.
My husband got a job with the East African Community in Nairobi and I had to follow him.
A decision we made in order to keep the family together.
Being a hard worker, I didn’t like staying at home doing nothing. While in Nairobi I got a job at NAKU Freight as a Credit Controller, ’ she said.
’When we came back to Dar es Salaam in 1977 soon after the collapse of the EAC, I joined the UDSM for a Masters degree in Financial Management.
When I was proceeding with my studies, I decided to start a small business i.e. market gardening, poultry and selling ice-bars to boost family income. The money I got from that business enabled me to buy milk and soda for my kids.
The poultry farming was advantageous because my children could eat the legs as relish whilst I sold the chicken. We used to save our money with the CRDB bank for later use,’ she said emphasizing the importance of saving.
Fortunately for me, when I completed my studies I secured a job at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) as an Assistant Manager in the Audit and Import Departments,’ says Apaisaria.
’Things were not good at BoT then, our economy was very poor. The salary I got was very little compared to the needs of my family and I decided to resign from that job and look for a better-paying job.
I secured a job at IPP Ltd, which paid better than BoT and worked for fifteen years from 1985 to 2000,’ said Apaisaria.
’Having acquired the most valuable experience in management in the 25 years of my working life, I felt confident to stand on my own in business.
Through that process I learnt the importance of quality, keeping deadlines, discipline and perfection in the business world. I acquired these rare attributes, which are necessary for achievement of goals in life,’ she said.
Apaisaria wants women to think about what they have to do in order to generate income.
’We should understand that it is God’s will for us to achieve success both spiritually and materially.’
’There are several means through which women can start their own businesses.
All what one needs is to study one’s environment in order to establish what kind of investment one can venture into.
Come up with the idea by considering three things.
The other thing to consider is capital, the amount of money you have at your disposal will determine the kind of investment that you can venture into,’ said Apaisaria.
She went on to say, ’before starting your business you have to ask yourself.
What skills do you have? Are you capable on doing such business? You should decide on the type of business you want to venture into according to your level of education, ability to handle that type of business and of course the market.
Think about how you are going to get your customers and also plan on how to maintain them. You should also put in place a system which you can use to check whether you are making progress or not,’ said Apaisaria.
She believes that vision, determination and seriousness in whatever you are doing will enable you to achieve your goal. Do your part and God will do the rest. Everyone is blessed in a particular way.
|
