SafeBoda as a Part of My Journey
I joined SafeBoda in the year 2018 around July, freshly from the University with a few years of experience from the different pet projects I had under my sleeves as an Android Engineer. At the time, SafeBoda was going through a rapid growth boom, backed by the 50% percent discount on all rides, and this saw the number of SafeBodas grow in correlation to the number of Customers Day by day.
An IT assistant I was, as early as 4 am, I woke up on a daily basis to be able to set up and get each new SafeBoda with a new smartphone, email address and train him/her on how to operate the device and the SafeBoda App in time. On average I had about 250–300 New SafeBodas every day. My time as an IT Assistant was really great and amazing that I honed a couple of new skills that I carry with me to date, and with the little experience I had, I showcased my skills in Android Development and Knowledge.
Fast forward, I joined the Product Team a few months later in December as a QA Engineer. The decision I had to make was to turn down the new role and stick with Android Development, or Ready up for the new challenge and face it. I decided to go on with the new challenge and this is a decision I don’t regret at all. My time as QA Engineer of the SafeBoda driver app, saw me successfully test and launch to production the best ride-hailing driver app in East Africa and parts of West Africa, Nigeria, Ibadan to be specific, with added features like Send(Deliver Package), Food, Shop, Airtime (Buy Airtime), Cashless Transactions among many others. Due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, this application was the backbone for all who wanted to buy airtime for making calls and internet bundles, send and receive different items, with the SafeBoda Phrases like “if it can fit on a Boda Boda, we can deliver it,” hahaha.
I am very proud of the little contribution I made to my community to better lives through this application. I live my life on a daily basis to give back to the community, better, change and put a smile on someone’s life in the community. Living your life with a purpose for what you do day by day is the best thing in life and makes life easy as you always look to achieve it.
Unfortunately, I and SafeBoda had to part ways on 1st August 2020 due to COVID-19 effects on the economy, with my last day being 31st July 2020. SafeBoda as a company informed me about their decision to let me go a month to my last day with them. This was one of the hardest times in my life because I could not ever believe and imagine that I would have to live the rest of my life without the best workplace, workmates, and community of SafeBoda. I did fill the need and urge to blame SafeBoda for this decision but as they say, “it is what it is”, I had to move on. A good friend called Joan Carles Bartra, Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain, Once told me “I had the skills and the ability and anyone who had made it through SafeBoda has the skills to be at the top and be employed anywhere they choose.”
I later took on a few interviews with rejections of course. I was resilient and got my first job offer a month after leaving SafeBoda. In the Philippines, a startup that did not follow some of the principles that I as a human being base my life upon, and so I was not comfortable with going against my principles, and so I resigned 2 weeks later because of this.
I am currently employed in the US by a tech and construction company in Silicon Valley called Ergeon. Ergeon is my new home and I am really happy that I did join Ergeon. The Best Remote Work Company in the Entire world. They have made remote work seemless and not even realise we are so many thousands of miles apart. Ergeon offering a product that I am sure it is giving back to the community through Fences and driveways, I will ensure to have the best product for the customers.
I am really proud and happy about what SafeBoda as a company offered me, the amazing workmates and teammates, My SafeBoda Friends like Joan Carles Bartra, Allan Tumuhimbise among others, who did not only remain as friends but became brothers.
The Moral here is Whatever decision you make now, will affect you tomorrow, resilience is a great virtue to own, and always be thankful, Create more friends than enemies, and above all, GOD……..