Elizabeth Mkufya: Defying odds to eke out a living

It is around 10am on a calm Monday in Dar es Salaam. The skies are clear though dotted with isolated clouds after rains had pounded the city the previous night. Along Sokoine Drive, just adjacent to Sukari House, a middle aged woman is seated behind a small table on the pavement, under a tree.

The table is strategically located so that vehicles parked nearby will not obstruct passers-by from noticing her and probably seek her services. As we walk towards her desk, she looks at us in anticipation. “Karibu,” she welcomes us while smiling before greeting us. After exchanging greetings, the lady says, “You want your shoes brushed? Come and sit on this bench.”

The seriousness on her face shows that she means business but her smile and tone of her voice shows good customer relations, assuring us of a good service.

She continues to persuade us to sit while overriding our attempts to try to explain the purpose of our visit. 

We hesitantly go to where the bench is and sit, knowing very well that she had not understood our mission. Feeling at home, after a warm welcome, we introduce ourselves and it is at this moment that we realized that our message for booking an appointment with her had not reached her. Actually, she knew that we were to come, but did not expect us that day.

So after explaining the purpose of our visit, it is then that her true colours came out; she is a shy and reserved person. It took us over ten minutes trying to convince her that it was harmless for her to tell us of her personal life. She had made it clear that she was free to discuss everything concerning her work but was not comfortable talking about her personal life.

After convincing her of the importance of the interview, she opened up. But, she whisked us some a few meters from her stall, away from her colleagues as if to make them not to hear the details of her life and family. We move some five or so metres away and stand in between parked vehicles ready for the interview.

“I am Elizabeth Musa Mkufya and I come from Arusha,” said the soft spoken woman while responding to our first question. But, before she could go any further, she had to be cut short as one of her neighbours called her for a customer who wanted to be attended to. She quickly excuses herself and rushes to her stall where she sells a mobile phone recharge card to the customer before she rushes back.

“Samahani,” she says as she takes her position ready for the resumption of the interview. “I did not get the chance to progress with my education, so I ended in Standard Seven. I did my schooling at Daudi Primary School, in Daudi Village, Arusha. I am a third born in a family of 11 children,” she continued.

Having been born and bred in Arusha, Elizabeth later on got married and together with her husband, shifted to Dar es Salaam in 2004.

This marked a watershed in her life as she found herself doing what she likes most. Her husband, a well known cobbler was her mentor and trainer.

“I started doing this job in 2007 and my station was based along Shaaban Robert Street in Dar es Salaam,” she said, adding, “I chose this job because I like it and it is unique because in the sense that other women haven’t done it. I looked all over I went and I didn’t come across any woman doing the job so I decided to do it,” said the ever smiling Elizabeth.

Again, it was another time for a short break after a customer was demanding her presence. Typical of her, she apologises before going to attend to her customer. This had to happen several times during the interview.

“By the way, I also sell mobile phone recharge cards, but they don’t make much profit,” she explains as she comes back from serving her customer, adding that she started the shoe repairing and shinning business with a capital of 80 000/-.

She continues, “The job is not easy but I try my level best. It was the zeal to look different that drove me into this. I simply wanted to look different.”

Speaking on challenges, the 34 year old mother of two said she comes across many challenges as the industry is male dominated.

“Some men come and seek services on credit but they go for good, they don’t own up,” she said.

Elizabeth also added that another challenge she faces is that many men are used to come across male cobblers and shoe shiners, so when they approach her, some of them show that they don’t have confidence in her because she is a woman. Some of them don’t believe that she can work on their shoes as good as any other male cobbler can do.

“I try by all means to prove them wrong and at the end of the day, I get a lot of customers. But, as a woman, I face a lot of sexual harassment. Many men think that because I do this job then I should be an easy target,” she added.

Asked on the fortunes of the business, Elizabeth had this to say, “The business pays a lot because as of now, we shine shoes for between 500/- and 1000/-. We repair a shoe’s sole for 8, 000/-. And, what is good about the business is that you can charge whatever amount you are comfortable with.”

She said that on a good day, she can take home 30, 000/- or more and she has managed to develop her life. With the business, she has managed to put food on the table, paid school fees for her two children, and has managed to buy a plot where she is planning to build her own house.

As a married woman and a mother, Elizabeth leaves home early in the morning to start work at 6 O’clock and this enables her to serve customers who will be rushing for work.

“I knock off at around six in the evening, so that I can get transport to Kigamboni and have some time with my family,” she added.

Asked on how she balances family life with her busy schedule, Elizabeth said that she shares the house with her mother-in-law, so it is easy to balance work with family life.

“As a woman, you have to plan your time so that you balance the two. I just plan. I have two kids aged seven and 10 years and they are all in primary school. I also do not work during weekends hence will get time with my family. But, whenever I am tied up my mother-in-law chips in for me,” she added.

Though she cherishes her job and can look back and be proud of her achievements, the business is without its bad side. In 2010, she was arrested for operating her business along the streets and had to spend 14 days in prison.

“The case took six months but luckily I won it. The problem is that I lost everything when I was arrested, so I had to start afresh. I relocated from where I was to Nyumba ya Sanaa. And, when they destroyed it ready to construct a new building, I temporarily stayed home for two months and I looked for a place. That’s how I ended up being here,” she said adding that she started operating at her new location in December, last year.

Though she decried harassment from city militia, who always demand bribes, she said the city fathers have allowed her and others to operate where she is operating from.

Elizabeth, however, went on to advise other women to work and not wait for their husbands to feed them.

“As women, we are able to work. We have the power and can make a difference. Women out there should not rely on their husbands for everything,” she added.

Asked about her dreams, Elizabeth said that she wants to one day own her own shop dealing with selling and repairing of shoes. She also hopes that the business should spread to other regions in the country.