“Look in the mirror and see yourself as the President of your own self, Minister of your own goals and Chief Justice of your own will because all positive change started that way.” ~ Words on marble by Medard Sotta.
23 year-old Tanzanian, Medard C. Sotta is the Managing Director and Co-founder of InsGrow International Company. He is also the founder and the first Executive Director of Fellows for Dignity. His decision to share his story with Konnect Africans stemmed from his belief that success isn’t about how big or small you are, but about how big or small you can think. Success isn’t about the big things you have, but about how well you can use the small things that you have.
With a passion for development, humanity, human dignity, social change, equality and growth, Medard Sotta is on a self-assigned battle to eliminate poverty, ignorance and disease in Tanzania. In his words,
‘Eliminate poverty and you can effectively fight ignorance and disease.’ How to do this? By working together in other to collectively, effectively and constructively utilize people’s potentials towards achieving a common goal and prosperity of people – as individuals, families, groups and communities at large.
His story?
“As a fresher in the university, I decided to enter into business because of two major reasons: First, because I had a feeling that I could do more than just study for three years whilst waiting to earn my degree. Secondly, due to family challenges, I thought that I should be self-reliant and not be a financial burden to my family.
When I shared my thoughts with friends, many didn’t support it and asked, “How can you start a business without a capital?”
The philosophy I drew on which gave me the strength to move forward regardless was by believing in what I had and not focusing on what I didn’t have.
I founded Fellows for Dignity because I wanted to put my energy into transforming the lives of people in my community and create connections that will pave way to the establishment of a business that I believed would transform my life .”
‘Fellows for Dignity is a non-governmental organization which aims at uplifting human dignity and hence fight against poverty, ignorance and diseases in Tanzania. They seek to collectively and effectively initiate, implement and enhance programs and activities that would transform the lives of the people, build sustainability and leave them self-reliant. They provide a diverse range of opportunities to people around the world who want to become part of Fellows for Dignity and those who are interested in furthering the objectives of the Organization.
Fellows for Dignity works with people, families and communities by providing moral or financial support and services in such areas as education, health, environment and sustainable development, beyond the mentality of being developed. [fellowsfordignity.org]’
No good deed ever goes unrewarded and months after founding and working with the Fellows for Dignity, Medard co-founded InsGrow International, an international e-commerce, brokering and consultancy company on a pay-with-profit share plan which is witnessing steady growth and expansion.
In his words, “Even though I didn’t have money or connections, but I did have a great business idea, passion, dream, determination, ambition, intelligence, an old laptop that my father gave to me, an old smart phone and the desire to work hard and follow my dream, passion and ambition.”
Living and achieving his dreams one step after the other, Medard pursues the dream of a poverty-free Tanzania and expresses his challenges thus:
“One of the biggest reasons that people remain poor is because they UNDER-ESTIMATE the value and potentials of what they possess in order to take their lives to a better place, and OVER-ESTIMATE what they lack – be it materially or academically -. Hence, they legitimize their poverty. I never let what I lack, overshadow what I possess.”
Tis a deplorable human trait though; this ability to accentuate the bad and underplay the good. Time to do some inward cleaning and re-evaluate don’t you think? As God asked Moses, so also do I ask, ‘What do you have in your hand?’
