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Colleen Chitsa
MASVINGO – The coronavirus-induced national lockdown has given rise
to a whole new home industry spanning informal trading, gardening, poultry as
well as facemask and sanitizer production in the ‘Kuma R’ section of Mucheke A.
Residents who spoke to TellZim
News said they had realised that the lockdown will not go away any time soon
hence the decision to make the best of the situation.
Many of them have embarked on gardening,
poultry as well as face mask and hand sanitizer production to supplement their
meagre incomes.
Others who had been employed
elsewhere before the lockdown have also started selling basic commodities like
airtime, eggs, bread at makeshift markets erected in front of their homestead.
Hawkers and vendors who used to
sell small items door to door, at Mucheke Bus Terminus and on the streets are
now doing all that at home.
One senior citizen said he had
taken advantage of less frequent water cuts to expand her garden and start a smal market.
“We have seen less water cuts
since the lockdown began and this has allowed me to grow more vegetables here
at home. I have also set-up this small market so that I can sell the vegetables
and other goods,” said the elderly man.
Panashe Tichawana, a young
resident of the suburb, said the lockdown had enabled people to come up with
new ways of gaining skills and making money.
“As youths, we have learnt many
life skills in this lockdown. Such skills as sewing as well as making sanitizers
and facemasks are getting increasingly vital. I think this just shows that even when days are dark, there is always a way out,” she said.
Others also said the lockdown had
made it possible for families to bond and spend more quality time with each other
than ever before
