Makeda Teklemariam and her assistant Maimuna Shiffa have become the first female minibus taxi driver and assistant working together in the city of Addis Ababa. Both have won admiration for choosing jobs that are totally dominated by men. Twenty-two year old Makeda has been driving a taxi for the past two years. The minibus taxi owner employs both Makeda and her assistant Maimuna. According to Makeda, the owner's wife is very comfortable with their work and is very supportive of them.
Makeda says she preferred working to living off her parents and wants to own a taxi herself in the future. She says the encouragement and admiration she gets from passengers and bystanders have helped her a lot. Maimuna wants to get her taxi-driving license and be like Makeda. Eskinder Ferew, VOA's reporter in Addis Ababa, spent an afternoon with the young women to witness how well they perform and what kinds of hardships they face. Eskinder talked to Mestawot hosts Fregenet Asseged and Konjit Taye.
(Click the link above to listen to Eskinder Ferew’s interview with Makeda Teklemariam and her assistant Maimuna Shiffa in Amharic for Mestawot program)
