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By Elizabeth Tungaraza When it comes to the wedding day, everyone expects everything to be perfect. From the bride in her traditional all-white and the Publish Page bridegroom in his all black to the maids and the processions, it is a general unwritten rule that everything about this special day has to be more than stunning. Yet with the many weddings that take place in Dar es Salaam, rarely is the attention given to people like Alice Dossi, 29, who not only dress the bride, bridegroom and maids, but also ensure there is glamour and style during the whole ceremony. Alice is an IT-degree graduate, who examined the growing wedding industry in Tanzania and decided to quit her job to follow her dreams. “Every week, I used to see all these people getting married and partying at their weddings and then I asked myself: ‘Why not find something to supply?” she recalls.And she did not just find ‘something to supply’. Alice had always wanted to be a designer. With the wedding idea, she had found her niche. “I decided to design wedding gowns as well as outfits for sendoff and kitchen parties,” she says. With a small capital of only Sh300,000, she started designing wedding gowns, quitting her sales and marketing job at CYSCORP to venture into fulltime designing. That was in January this year. She is grateful that a few of her first clients gave her down payments, which she used as the springboard for her new enterprise. Ten months down the line, Alice is confident that she pressed the right button. Her business in now worth over Sh40 million. “This is where my heart is. Designing has always been my dream career. I believe after working for several NGOs since 2005, I have finally found my place,” says the designer.Apparently, Alice has fabric and thread for, not only Tanzanians, but also for clients beyond our borders. Her business has grown by leaps and bounds. “My clients are increasing day by day, and not only in Tanzania but beyond,” she says. “I have new clients in Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Uganda and Kenya.” Alice, who started with five clients, says she now receives at least three to four new orders every week. “I provide hundreds of wedding dresses each week because I also do for the maids,” she says. To be consistently in touch with her growing list of clients, she has established a blog: alicefashionworld.blogspot.com. And as testimony to her growing business, her clients have an option to use banks cards to make payments at the Point of Payment machines. So, what is the secret to her growing popularity in the fashion-designing field? For her, creativity and quality clothing is the way to go.“When I started this business I did not want to be just one of your usual kind of designers. I believe that a good name speaks for itself.” Who is her role model? “Vida Mahimbo is my role model in fashion. I really love Vida Mahimbo’s designs,” she says. For this designer, her achievements over the past few months are just the beginning. Alice sees a lot of potential in the fashion industry. “Right now my next step is to network with the right people for the growth of the business. I have started on a high note and I hope to keep up the pace.” Her destination is a place on the international fashion scene.  But in her fast lane to fame, there are many mountains to climb before she achieves that, and Alice is fully aware of that. “There are people who have nothing to offer you but each time they open their mouths all they do is talk you down,” she says, adding: “For example, there are people who look down upon you and call you names like ‘she is just a tailor’. But I am not that easily taken down.” Her success in the past few months has obviously ruffled a few feathers among her competitors and members of her community who witnessed her humble beginning, and like the Biblical Thomas, doubted she would and could make it. Her critics have not seen anything yet, says Alice, who is married to respected gospel musician David Robert.  In addition to designing, she has also started providing catering, decoration and car hiring services for weddings. “The idea is to be able to be a one-stop shop for wedding services,” she says. The designer sees her growth as positive signs of women empowerment in the country. “This society would not have grown like this had it not been for women empowerment,” says Alice. Her firm employs 20 workers. “By January next year, I have plans to offer them medical cover.” Email: etungaraza@tz.nationmedia.com What Daily News Wrote: Tanzania: Enterprising Lady Gives Back to Society By Hasina Mjingo, 19 March 2012 ALICE Dosi Mwamsojo is a woman with a vision, a mission and compassion for Tanzanian souls. Her dream is to help the poor and people without hope for a better future. The 30-year old lady is the brain behind Alice Foundation, a non-government organization with an overall objective of improving social and economic advancement of street children in Tanzania, by increasing access to education. The foundation has also the task to cater for maternal matters, newborns health and sexual reproductive health services related to HIV and AIDS. "Alice Foundation is not here to compete but to work with other NGOs that serve the interests of women and children. The Foundation has a strategic plan to make significant contributions to Tanzanian women and their families through working closely with the government and donors," Ms Mwamsojo explains. At first, the foundation targeted street children. However, with other board members, she changed their mind. Alice, who lives and runs her business and her foundation in Ubungo, says she grew up with sympathy for street children she saw. "Our foundation started with Ubungo ward because the area is filled with street children, I think it's due to Ubungo Terminal Bus Station. I got a thought that if I wanted to make a change for the poor souls, I should start at home," she says. It all started late 2010, Alice, a social worker graduate and a former sales and market manager, Ms Mwamsojo left her job at the Syscorp, and opened her Alice Fashion World boutique where she sells and rent wedding dresses, maid of honour/maids dresses and caters for wedding and provide a rental car services. "My boutique is a place where a bride would want to be. We provide all sorts of services," she explains. Within one year, her business boomed. Despite the little profit she earned, she decided to give back to the community. "I have been a volunteer for long. So when my business became successful I thought more about a better way to give to the community than start my own foundation." The foundation was established in 2011, has 10 members and seven volunteers. The organization operates through four main programmes namely: MKUKUTA (National Poverty Reduction Framework), Women Empowerment, Health and Environment and Educating street children. "We have different projects such as the women empowerment program which has 28 groups of different women. We also pay school fees for 11 children, and in a week we do a visitation to 276 children, who are underprivileged," The foundation isn't a year old yet, but has done a lot without a sponsor. "We don't have a sponsor. Sources of revenue for Alice Foundation come from a small stationery station where we provide services like 3-minutes express passport size photographs, photocopy and scanning. These have helped us to run the office, get lunch money, transportation fee and manage administrative cost." A mother, a wife and a businesswoman, Alice is still trying to master her time. She says some day she will be the best chairperson of Alice Foundation. "I spend a lot of time working as the Managing Director of Alice Fashion World, a chairperson of Alice Foundation and a designer. Being a blogger, a wife and a mother is not easy because there are times I stay off work to have time with my husband and my baby," she confesses. Alice's vision is to increase the number of economically empowered women, progressive communities with well educated children free from ignorance, disease and poverty. It looks like her mission is giving her that. On March 8, this year the Alice Foundation launched a campaign to stop violence against women. The guest of honor was Ubungo Member of Parliament John Mnyika. Alice says, apart from funds, the only challenge they face is a lack of commodious office. They need a bigger office, office tools such as a computer for storing their data. The future is bright for Alice Foundation. In the near future Alice says they are thinking of opening a bank to give women security with their money, and where they get a quick loan, a children's campaign that will help raise awareness on HIV/AIDS in an earlier stage. Her message to people is: "People who search for happiness think that money and fame will make their life perfect, that is not true at all. You have to be thankful for everything you know and own. Just remind yourself that someone in the world has never even had the privilege you have. "There is somebody always better than you and always somebody less fortunate than you. Until you find a middle ground and accept what you have, you will not have happiness. Together we can eradicate poverty in our nation. Together we can do this".