MOUNA BALGOUTHI

Mouna is as Software Engineer at a Health and Beauty products company, Rise Up Inc since 2017. Her main roles are: SCRUM Master, iOS applications developer, Tester (Quality Assurance). She has graduated from the Ecole Nationale Des Sciences de l’Informatique with an Engineering Degree in Computer Science. Mouna studied Social Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing out of curiosity. She considers success in work is when her coworkers smile back when she greets them in the morning.

"Life Is a Series of Exams"

Q: Tell us a few things about your country, and also your life's story!

Tunisia is an African Arabic Mediterranean country. A potpourri of cultures that can be felt in the cuisine, the music, the vibes of cities; from birds chirping in the green forests of northern Ain Drahem to the peaceful deep oasis in the southern Sahara.

I was lucky to have parents who encouraged me to travel in Tunisia and abroad. Opening my eyes to different environments and embracing different colours. I was sent in field trips, school trips, children spring camps since I was in elementary school. Thus, the seeds of bravery were nurtured within my soul to cross international borders later.

Q: What is your view of the Coronavirus crisis and the world as it is today? How do you define the concept of a better world especially given the hard lessons we have taken from this unprecedented crisis?

I had higher expectations from developed countries like Japan. Likewise, I was surprised by developing countries like Vietnam and Cambodia who managed the crisis well.

A better world for me would control mass-tourism. Let the earth breathe again. Governments should encourage local agriculture and manufacturing. Companies should be more flexible with remote work in their new contracts. I hope this crisis helped to raise awareness about basic hygiene measures as well.

Q: What are some of the key challenges in your society currently and how do you think CoVid-19 will affect your country?

Tunisia has around 1k CoVid-19 cases. The government made a wise decision to close the borders in March. Things were going down in Italy, where we have a big number of resident nationals. Joblessness has always been a major challenge in Tunisia. No wonder it caused the 2011 revolution. The confinement and evening curfew forced people to unemployment. Majority of Tunisians work on non-contractual jobs. Jobs vary from construction workers, domestic helpers to call centres operators and artists. In Tunisia, we call it working in "noir", french work for black. It is illegal but doesn't mean drug dealing. These workers follow pay as you go, payment model. They don't benefit from medical insurance, pension scheme, bonuses... Confining them literally means cutting the income source. Hence, leads to frustration, depression, anger towards society and government. Unfortunately, this leads to disobeying the law and more violence.

Q: As a young individual what are a few of the hurdles that you had to overcome up until today?

As someone who can work online and resides in a country where there was no confinement, I was lucky. My major challenges were mental fighting depression. Away from home, family and loved ones, briefly my supportive circle, in a time where social media highlighted the advantages of the confinement as getting closer to your family members or focusing on yourself. Neither did I have time to peacefully focus on my personal development because I was constantly worried, nor were I close to my family because I was locked in another country with 8 hours time difference. I had to lift myself up from what I identify as depression cycles.

Currently, the borders are still closed. I am just waiting for them to open. I am quitting my job in a time where many are losing theirs. I don't even have a desire to work again despite my appreciated friends' efforts to push me to apply. I just want a peaceful break at home, an environment where I don't have to struggle. Meanwhile, I am still trying to push myself up with side-projects. I wish all the best to the ladies who are struggling with the word productivity itself at this time.

Q: Why is the role of a mentor important for you?

I see the mentor as a motivator, someone to push you through the hard times.

Q: Do you have a lesson that life has taught you and you would like to share?

Life is a series of exams. We get friends along the path who can push us to pass the exam. Friends come and go as everyone have their own life plans and exams. I am just certain, that there will always be friends on the path. We just have to be brave enough to call them.

Q: Name a project, a foundation or a person in your country that you think is doing great work in helping improve other people's lives!

Big shouts to Salmine Sassi, founder of She Starts (https://www.facebook.com/SheStartsAfrica). She built a safe community for ladies in Tunisia, aiming to globalize it, where she provides consulting on different topics from technology to business and entrepreneurship.

Q: What are some of the challenges that women in your country face and what efforts are made towards gender equality?

A major challenge is domestic violence. It's in TV shows, drama shows and even some famous figures think it's okay for a woman to be slapped by her husband. It's sad. People think it's funny drama when a guy slaps a girl because she "exaggerated". Naive minds don't realize that sending these messages in the media resides in the subconscious of people. It starts with a slap and ends up in death. Women are too ashamed to seek help even from the closest relatives because usually, they do it for the kids...

Q: Share with us a phrase, a poem or a story that you love or you find interesting!

Women have abundant love and craziness. They just need a small push to be braver.

Q: Share with us a project that you would like to make happen for your country or a cause that you are passionate about?

I would like to recommend this project of supporting an entrepreneurial hub for women. Currently, they do their sessions online. Before the pandemic, they used different co-working spaces but they don't have an official physical headquarter: Their official Fb page: https://www.facebook.com/SheStartsAfrica Their active community Fb group where you'll see the action on (1-on-1 mentoring, online sessions): https://www.facebook.com/groups/shestartscommunity