Balbina Gulam is a young Tanzanian innovator whose digital learning centre is inspiring hope and improving livelihoods of hundreds of domestic workers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She narrated her story which we share below.

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My name inspires dreams, adventure, and change. People with my name are visionary, versatile and able to make constructive use of freedom. Myths say that people with this name have a deep inner desire to inspire others to a higher cause. They fight being restricted by rules and conventions. They tend to be optimistic, energetic, and intelligent, and forge friendships easily. They may be changeable, restless, untidy, and rebellious. It is true, and that’s what I am all about.

My name is Balbina. I am a techslayer and girl CEO from Tanzania: I am the Founder and CEO of Huduma Smart, a tech startup in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

My name is Balbina. Balbina is an Italian name.

I was born last in a family of five. I had four brothers, and I was their only sister. Our souls smiled in love and joy and we had never seen death in a hooded veil hanging around our home. Death is never kind. It never distinguishes even people who are in a fragile shell of childhood. The dark shadow crept into our home and snatched my eldest brother when he was but a bud, not yet a flower.

When my brother expired in a painful groan, I buried him in my heart. It’s been five years since we lay him beneath a cold slab, but mourning him does not end because the echo of his voice ever rings in my heart. He is ever-smiling in the vintage photographs he left.The power of love is strange. My dad is a Muslim and my mother is a Christian. My father is of Coastal origin and hails from the coast of the Indian Ocean while my mom’s roots go deep in the interiors of Tanzania. Their love transcended creed and culture, and they were wed in happiness, love, and hope. I was born to my parents when they were already grey and old. My mom was 45 and my dad 58 when they had me. My father is now 79. He attributes longevity to vibrant health, the food he can pronounce, exercise, and daily activities.

Now, while I grew in my parents’ tender care they encouraged us, siblings, to speak our hearts and freely pursue our dreams, wherever they may lead. On faith matters, our parents allowed us to decide the path to follow. I chose the way of Cross, Christianity. Ours is a democratic family yarned by love. We cheer on each other’s dreams.

I started school at Mwinyi Primary School. The school is named after Ali Hassan Mwinyi. He served as the second President of the Republic of Tanzania. Between 19990-1996, Mwinyi was the chairman of the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). During his tenure, he took the maiden steps to reverse the socialist policies of Julius Nyerere. He relaxed import restrictions and promoted private enterprises. Mwinyi left a legacy of introducing multi-party politics under pressure from foreign donors. Pundits argue that during Mwinyi’s tenure, Tanzania transformed from the failed socialist orientation of Julius Nyerere that left the economy on stilts. It was during Mwinyi’s regime that Tanzania made some of the key decisions towards the liberalization of its economy and morals that paved the way for short-term economic growth

My stellar grades at grade school steered me to Jangwani Secondary School. “Jangwa” is Kiswahili for desert. The school is in Dar Es Salaam though, not in a broken waste of desert (insert a smile).

It is at Jangwani Secondary that my passion for technology germinated and the seed sprouted through personal drive and support from my teachers. I graduated from Jangwani and joined Benjamin High School, where I was convinced at heart that Computer Science was what I wanted to pursue.

My childhood dream was to become a medical doctor. This is what I was raised to believe in. In my family and my community, this is the career people define as the greatest. A career as a medical doctor, like everywhere else on our planet, is highly prized in my community.

Balbina Gullam during a digital learning session.

When I focused my energy into what excites me-technology, it birthed my second passion: entrepreneurship. My passion for technology and entrepreneurship fuelled me to find my purpose in empowering domestic workers in Dar es Salaam. Thus Huduma Smart Company was sired. Huduma Smart is a socially-oriented platform that aims to create employment opportunities for domestic workers. With the right blend of technology and people management, we intend to revolutionize this unorganized industry. We work on the latest technology to create an easy user interface for our clients and at the same time, our team works to spread awareness and education on domestic labour laws and rights among domestic workers. We ensure that pre-placement induction and training are provided to the workers so that they fit the lifestyle and mannerism of our clients.

Through The YALI (Young African Leaders Initiative) Regional Leadership program, I have learned the intricate art of effective time management by identifying my rocks and doing first things first, and investing shrewdly in the emotional bank. My finesse has been sharpened, my mind reformulated, and values embedded deeper at the centre of my soul for effectiveness. Design thinking was a game-changer for me. From stimulating empathy, ideation, prototyping and finding innovative solutions for the pressing human needs, I am keen to practically employ the lessons to scale up Huduma Smart’s innovativeness.

Huduma Smart has directly transformed the lives of about 100 girls at the time of this writing (2020) by imparting skills and eliminating their exploitation by rogue employers and negotiating far better terms for them. So far, 48 young women have solid work contracts, and 38 have temporary work contracts.

One such transformation is the life of a young lady named Esther. One day while we were out for outreach in a remote village, Iringa, Esther came to us crying from the cracks of her heart, and with her soul in her voice narrated to us her ordeal in the hands of an oppressive employer. Esther had severally been physically and emotionally abused by her employer. She had also not received her payment for three months. We rescued Esther, and for six months we imparted her with digital skills as she worked on a shift in better working conditions. Her tears have since dried, and as the storm that disturbed her life calms, there is an arc of a rainbow from newborn sunshine and hope. Reaching out to people like Esther is my true passion.