HOW SHE USES SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO HELP DESPERATE YOUTHS IN
TANZANIA
Mama Sharode from Kibaha Tanzania |
In this complex liberal economy which comes up with a lot of
challenges to many people in their ongoing life, the only solution which seems
to solve a lot of social problem or challenges is doing business while doing
good to a prevailing society. Social entrepreneurship is a kind of business
with a social goal in it, a business that add value to a society, it normally
intend to solve a certain devastating social problem around the community where
it is ran.
Social entrepreneurship builds people’s
capacity
This
kind of business is good and preferred as a tool for social change because it
builds vulnerable people’s ability to run their life independently. Social
entrepreneurship doesn’t work like a charity organization instead it teaches
people how to fish for them to stand independently instead of depending on aids
or being given always, it helps people to make their own income from what they
do or from their own work so it builds people’s capacity.
Sharode entertainment a social enterprise in
Tanzania
This
social enterprise was established by SHARODE popularly MAMA SHARODE (mother
Sharode) she is talented in acting, she likes so much doing arts specifically
acting. After living in Kibaha one of the small towns in Tanzania for some
time, she discovered a big problem of a number of desperate youths around that
community. Most of them were street vendors, drug abusers, young ladies
prostitutes and most of them are so young. Their parents do know what to do to
solve this problem, these youths becomes a problem in their community because
they some of them engage in robbery hence their community is not safe anymore.
A social enterprise business opportunity
These
youth problems in Kibaha became a social enterprise opportunity to mama
Sharode, she started thinking of how she can help solving this problem by using
what she has in hand, her idea became to start a club where she could mobilize
these desperate youths and teach them how to act, and do drama then benefit out
of what they earn after their performance in different events.
She
grabbed this opportunity and not delayed to start implementing it, she started
searching for these youths and the response was very positive, boys and girls
joined her at her home place. She didn’t have any capital to start with, what
she had was a talent, a brilliant idea, a passion to help youth through such
kind of business and a small place at her home to use a training platform.
Sharode youths at practice |
All youths who joined
mama Sharode started toS be changed their attitude about their life, almost
every day in evening they go to mama Sharode spend their time there discovering
their talents and start acting and at the end of the day they earn some money out
of what they do. Most of them stopped completely practicing their previous
negative behaviors like drug abuse, prostitution and street vending; asking
them what made it successful they will tell you that mama Sharode teaches them
good morals and they do not have any reason to continue living like before
while now they have their own job, a job which they love doing.
Social enterprise is normally supported by many people.
Since mama Sharode started this business, it has
become a point of interest to some people in the society, some people like
supporting her in different ways; I think is because her business helps youths
and solves a big problem which has been growing in their community. One of the
stake holders in Kibaha offered mama Sharode a very big and conducive building
for her to use as an office and working area. In this building she can make a
camp with youths and stay there during camping practice. She also got some new
teachers who joined her to teach youths other talents like dancing variety of
dancing like Tanzania traditional dances etc, this attracted more youths in her
club, so recently you can hire actors and actress together with dancers from
Sharode entertainment.
Social entrepreneurship goes with challenges
Mama Sharode said that since she started this
business, she faced a number of challenges, the biggest challenge was lack of
support from her community, most of people complained that she was doing
prostitution kind of business where she used to sell young beautiful girls and
boys to shuga-mammies but because she knew what she was doing and believed in
it she persisted. The government which was pressured by people in the society
tried to burn her club but she persisted and survived. After sometime the same
society started to understand the importance of what she is doing and now are
supporting her in different ways.
Talking to all youths at mama Sharode club they
witness that their life have changed a lot, most of them are now confident,
positive in their life, they feel like entrepreneurs or workers because they
earn money out of their own work, they morally feel successful than before.
Mama Sharode herself feels successful though she is
still facing a number of challenges including lack of enough teaching
facilities in her platform but her hope is in future to have everything because
her passion is still high.
Mama Sharode is building youths capacity to earn
money out of what they are doing and not giving them money so she is teaching them
how to fish which is better than giving them fish.
CONGRATULATION MAMA SHARODE!
Good luck as you are learning and getting inspired by mama
Sharode.
By Erick
Chrispin