It’s late at night on a Friday evening when a young girl named Esmada plants herself in front of her family’s television set. Weaving her fingers through wires and plugs, she fires up her Nintendo NES and, with a light sigh of satisfaction, launches her favorite video game.
Immediately, she’s greeted with a pale-blue screen dotted with shrubs, clouds, bricks, and the occasional Goomba. There, plastered in bold, blocky text across the screen, the game’s title reads:
Super Mario Bros.
Smiling to herself, Esmada starts a new game and brings her knees to her chest. A familiar voice rings out: “Here we go!”
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Esmada is a 23-year old college student based in Zambia, is a lifelong fan of video games. Born in Malawi and growing up in South Africa, she spent much of her time playing games like Super Mario Bros on her home consoles.
At 14, she moved to Zambia, where she continues to live and study. “When my Mom was younger, she was posted from Zambia to work in Malawi as a travel consultant and that’s where she had me before we moved to South Africa,” Esmada told me. But, throughout the years, her love for video games persisted. “I never wanted to go outside,” she told me, laughing. “I always wanted to play video games.”
That passion ultimately led her to the Information and Communications University in Zambia, where she now studies Software Development. However, COVID-19 has temporarily put her education on hold.
In the meantime, Esmada has also found work as a transcription editor for Werkit. “I’ve been working with Werkit for just over 7 months now. I found it one day on Facebook and applied… and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she said.
Before joining Werkit, Esmada worked as a cashier at an auto spare shop to make money on the side. However, she had to quit that job to focus on her studies. “It wasn’t flexible in terms of time,” she said, “and I couldn’t manage to do both.” Luckily, she found Werkit, which has helped connect her to remote opportunities that she can fit into her lifestyle and schedule.
Although Esmada is eager to return to full-time school once her college reopens its programs, she’s amazed at the growth she’s had with Werkit, and the opportunities the platform has given her. “I had no idea what transcribing was before the program, but I’ve grown to love Werkit. At first, transcribing was difficult because of the guidelines we have to follow, but I worked hard and made my way up to a reviewer. Now, I’m the last look on a deliverable before it gets sent to clients!”
One of the reasons she works so hard is to pay it forward to her Mom. Esmada’s Mom, whom she cites as her biggest inspiration, has played a huge role in getting her to where she is now: “She’s an amazing person who pushes me to be better and work harder because she’s a very hard-working person… I sometimes joke that she’s a magician because it feels like she does the impossible!”
According to Esmada, freelancing through the Werkit platform is different from working for any other company because of the opportunities they offer. “Not only do they offer you transcribing, but they offer you other opportunities as well. The money that I get from Werkit will help me pay for my degree. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
In a few months, Esmada will return to university, where she is eager to finish her degree and work on video games full-time.