Leading By Example
Aug 6, 2019
Sudi Salum Musa is a 22-year old from Kaliua town in the Tabora district in Tanzania. He is ambitious, passionate about volunteering and working with youth, and loves to apply his skills whenever possible. Sudi attended Asante Africa’s Leadership and Entrepreneurship Incubator (LEI) Summit in Arusha last December and learned about small businesses and how to invest. He developed a strong entrepreneurial spirit and quickly applied the knowledge he learned to one of his interests, bird rearing.
Sudi first had the idea to start his bird rearing project from seeing street bird keepers in his local area. However, he noticed that they usually did not provide adequate care to their birds and that they could only accommodate about 20 to 50 birds in their care. He also noticed that none of them operated as a business. Using the street bird keepers as examples but wanting to put more serious thought to it, Sudi started his project with support from his parents.
The most meaningful thing that Sudi learned from the LEI Summit was that he could invest in his project even with a small amount of funding. He started with 21 doves and used techniques such as ensuring a constant supply of food and allowing them to roam in a bigger space once in a while for reproduction. After five months, Sudi had successfully raised 120 doves! One bird has a resale value of TSH 5000 and using the business knowledge he had gained, Sudi has made a profit of TSH 450000 to date.
Sudi shares that “bird keep is very simple since it’s not really time-consuming but challenges such as diseases can be difficult because they spread and lead to a rapid death among the birds. Another challenge is the lack of marketing opportunities in my area and making sales can be limited.” Despite this, Sudi upholds the qualities of an entrepreneur and feels very proud of his project because he has managed to create a profit with his modest amount of investment.
Sudi continues to aim high and was recently selected to complete a military course called JESHI LA KUJENGA TAIFA (JKT), which translates to troops or group of soldiers in building the nation or country.
“It is a Tanzanian policy for high school graduates who are wanting to join universities. We train for three months and then receive results on how we have been doing, those who have good marks and passed will be allowed to go and apply for universities and government loans. I was chosen for the training and my results have come back with the best. I am now on a 7-day break from training to work on my applications for universities. Then I will return to the training to be certified in the military.”
Sudi gives credit to his self-confidence when it comes to his resilience and ability to handle any difficulties that come his way and follows a certain practice in being a good leader. “When I’m faced with challenges, I usually channel my self-confidence and try to solve them but if it makes me confused, I always prefer to ask those around me for support. I learned to be a good leader from Asante Africa’s LEI summit. I learned to always maintain accountability and accept criticism and feedback from others. I always listen and am open to their advice. I avoid conflict and respect everyone around me. I follow these practices so Asante Africa’s goal to create leaders can impact beyond just me and touch others as well.”
If you want to help provide opportunities for ambitious youth to develop into strong and resilient leaders like Sudi, please consider donating today! We are currently in our 99 Day Challenge (from June 17 to September 24) where every dollar donated will be matched to support our programs! You can learn more about our match and our programs by visiting the Asante Africa homepage!
Written by – Genevieve Chan
