Covid-19 took away our livelihoods

Woodcarver vendors operating at Ndjamba wood carvers informal markets in Okahandja said the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has taken away their livelihoods as they now find it difficult to get customers and sell a single product in months.

They said most of them have been selling at the place for many years now, and they have never experienced what they are going through now, going four to five months without getting a single customer to buy their products.

One of the vendors, Johannes Hipo, said he has been operating at the place since 2004 and when business is bad, he made around N$ 600, and during good months it can go to thousands, without revealing the real amounts, but ever since the Covid-19 outbreak, there has been no income.

“Most of our customers are tourists and foreign visitors, because local people don’t really buy these things, but ever since this Corona virus started, we did not get any single customer to buy our products. We are not getting any income anymore because of Covid-19, it took away our livelihood,” said Hipo.

Another vendor, Natalia Ismael, who have been selling at the place since 2004, said Covid-19 brought them problems because they have been struggling to pay for their electricity and basic needs.

Erastus Aukongo, who started operating at the place since 1994, said business has been good ever since, until the Covid -19 outbreak this year that and interrupted everything.

“We are even struggling to provide for our kids because there is nothing coming in. Our business depends more on tourists who are longer coming into the country. Government should look at us like any other Namibians and help us with something,” said Aukongo. - Nampa