DRC, North Kivu Goma / Saturday April 25, 2020
Asha Maimuna, a resident of Goma and fruit seller since 2010, widow and mother of six. Her business is the only source of income that ensures her financial independence, with a stock currently exhausted, she finds herself limited to lead a life economically stable.
"This pandemic has put a stop to everything" she has trouble paying for a sufficient meal every day. The stock is now 3 times more expensive than before because most of the fruits were bought in Rwanda have now been isolated out of town for more than two weeks. “I had one-time customers who buy in bulk at the end of the week which I can't keep up with now. Every week I had to deliver at least 4 basins of orange and bananas, which allowed me to raise a large sum and save.”
In Rwanda, I had 3 fruit trees for which I made a permanent living. A week after that the access to the Congolese was prohibited, I could not get anything anymore because I was already low on stock, I hadn't been warned, I had to prepare myself accordingly, which completely destabilized me. For the moment, all I do is work to have something to eat, I will soon exhaust my last option which means that I will have no other way out for my survival and that of my children.''
Moses Sawasawa