The dilemma Choosing passion over money

Most people are driven by passion to get engaged in some jobs of their dreams. It has been noted that money alone does not push one to love their job but passion seems to have taken an intrinsic motivation.

No wonder, some people opt for jobs with meager pay all in the name of meeting their passion.

For Anthony Luvanda, a famous Master of Ceremony (MC) and motivational speaker, passion is what it takes for him to augment his job efficiency.

Being the managing director of the Home of Events Company Ltd, Luvanda deals with inspirational talks, corporate training together with event planning and management of corporate and private functions.

Having worked in the banking sector for over four years, Luvanda says he had to put aside his profession for the sake of his dream job. For him, entrepreneurship is the way to go.

Luvanda says his area of influence include: Personal Development, Time management, Goals planning, Stress management, Success Coaching, Effective communication, Team Building and Leadership.

A graduate in Political Science from the University of Dar-es salaam, Luvanda opted for self-employment rather than go for slim slots from the government and private sectors.

“When I was at University I had my own philosophy that life is more than academics so I had to get involved in extra curriculum activities. I was particularly engaged in motivational talks and preparing radio programmes,” says Luvanda.

He says from a development perspective passion is more than education curriculum and this philosophy helps one succeed because one takes after other people who are successful, who act as role models to cast their horizon ahead.

Luvanda says since then he craved for learning things that are far from the syllabus, noting that some authors like: Brian Adams, Richard Daddy were of utmost importance in helping him pursue his dreams.

“The major reason that pushed me to opt for creating own job was seeking solace and freedom. I noted that being employed is akin to enslavement,” he explains.

He mentions other factors that motivated him to seek for a dream job as: freedom to spend cash, since being employed means waiting for someone to pay you at the end of the month, long working hours was also another stumbling block---if one works from 8.00am to evening hours, he would have spent that time working to build his own dream.

On youth: he says youth have a huge challenge because employment slots are very slim, adding that graduates are supposed to think beyond carrying envelopes to ask for jobs.

“God has created everyone with their unique potentials. It is time they made use of them to generate an income,” notes Luvanda.

Talking about why most people work for passion or for money, Faraja Kristomus, a lecturer from University of Dar es Salaam, says people seek for jobs mainly to augment their income.

He says expectations are to blame, noting that some people expect good income when they get employed and when they start working they realise that money isn’t all that it takes.

He cites an example of university students who normally expect to land plum jobs but upon finishing studies learn that employment chances are so slim, a thing that leads to frustration and complacency.

Luvanda says lack of guidance is to blame for youth’s lack of life focus, noting that instructors do very little to motivate students about life after university.

According to Kristomus, the government should devise a mechanism that will see university students being given ways of getting integrated in the job market.

He says there should be special teachers whose role is only to coach students who seem to have demonstrated talents, adding that our education system should be overhauled where creativity would be the way to go instead of craving for regurgitating answers to pass examinations as per the set curriculum.

“There should be a link between the private sector and the universities so as to make sure those potential students are given room to practically demonstrate their academic excellence in the job market,” says Kristomus.

However, Starmius Mtweve, 33, an entrepreneur who resigned from journalism to realise his dream in agribusiness says, agriculture pays more than being employed.

“I decided to embark on agribusiness, dealing with farm inputs alongside growing cucumbers, strawberries and water melons. I found the projects paying off. In journalism I had not seen my career passion,” he notes.

The farmer-cum-journalist was born in Njombe Region where from a young age he had demonstrated a passion in agribusiness.

“I used to grow some vegetables on my home garden when I was a little boy. I also liked keeping bees because our home was surrounded with prime vegetation cover that attracted bees,” says Mtweve.

Mtweve completed his Ordinary education at Ulayas Secondary School in 2006 and due to his good academic grades qualified to join Malangali High School for his Advanced Secondary education.

The agronomist says he was fortunately selected to join an agricultural school, but at the end of form six the curriculum changed under the then Minister of Education and Culture, Joseph Mungai, who had changed the curriculum at the expense of unlocking students’ potentials in agribusiness.

Under such changes in the curriculum, agriculture was no longer a subject but a topic that was almost dissolved in the many other science subjects.

Mtweve says he was later on selected to join the University of Dar es Salaam in the department of Journalism and Mass Communication to the detriment of his other career goals.

The ambitious agronomist says he had planned to change the course along the way, thanks to enabling environment and motivation from his instructors and fellow students at the university.

On being an entrepreneur, Mtweve says it does not mean one becomes challenge-free, noting that all can be done if one has developed a spirit of shying away from complacency.

Mtweve says he feels at ease being his own boss, unlike in the past when he was pushed and pestered to implement other people’s goals.

Meanwhile having been employed for about 18 years, Mwamvua Mlangwa thought she needed independence and the ability to stand on her own feet rather than depend on month-end pay.

Being self-employed would give her enough time to be with her family. Mwamvua knew what she wanted to do before she made the decision to quit her job at the National Microfinance Bank (NMB), where she had worked for about a year and a half as a bank cooperative affairs coordinator. She previously worked with Vodacom for over 15 years in different positions.

She wanted to venture into agribusiness and invested in the project using the money she had saved all this while.

“I can say farming is in my blood. When growing up, I used to enjoy helping my parents on our farms in Kibaha, Ruvu and Chanika. This is what I wanted to do and I wanted to do it in a modern way,” says the mother of two.

With a diploma in marketing and business administration plus training in hydroponic farming, Mwamvua was ready to follow her dream.

Today she is the proud owner and founder of Mwammy Green Veggies Company, which supplies fresh vegetables in Dar es Salaam straight from the farm.

The technology she uses in her farming does not involve growing plants in soil but in plastic pipes filled with water containing mineral nutrients. Hydroponic farming, according to Wikipedia is a method of growing plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent. Terrestrial plants may be grown with only their roots exposed to the mineral solution, or the roots may be supported by an inert medium, such as perlite or gravel.

The technology that provides better yields in a short time and on a small area is practised in Israel, which is where Mwamvua borrowed a leaf of inspiration.

She learnt this during one of her numerous trips to the country. Because she cannot find the exact type of plastic used in Israel, she buys plastic pipes used in construction in which she grows her vegetables.

“My visit to Israel inspired me a lot. Israel is a small country and half of it is almost a desert but they use advanced technology in horticulture. I was very much interested in this and thought I could do the same back home,” she says.