Editorial Team
Publication Date
July 5, 2020
Noella Nyirabihogo, GPJ DRC
Before the threat of the coronavirus shut down the border between Rwanda and DRC, some 50,000 traders made their living by bringing goods into DRC. Today, only a few can afford to continue trading. (Archive photo.)
GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — The once-bustling border crossing between Gisenyi, Rwanda, and Goma, DRC, has been quiet since March 21, when both countries halted traffic and trade to quell the spread of the coronavirus.
Now, tens of thousands of people who rely on one of the world’s busiest pedestrian borders for their livelihoods are struggling as the cost of food imports from Rwanda skyrockets.
“Day by day, minute by minute, I wonder what tomorrow will look like,” says Mariam Uwase, who has been a cross-border trader for more than 10 years. “We have no more food.”
More than 50,000 small-scale traders on both sides of the border support their families by transporting goods between DRC’s North Kivu province and Rwanda’s Western province.
Thanks to the closed border, a food shortage in DRC’s North Kivu province is imminent, says Pépé Mikwa, communications officer at Project de Facilitation du Commerce dans la Région des Grand Lacs, a project to facilitate commerce in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, financed by the World Bank in conjunction with government ministries.
Despite vast areas of fertile land here, there are not enough local crops to feed the population, due to a combination of armed group activity, ongoing military operations and the poor state of roads. All of these factors affect the supply of goods and produce, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a leading provider of analysis on acute food insecurity.
To bring more food into DRC, some local traders devised a group purchasing system to hire large trucks to cross the border and bring back vegetables and other basic foodstuffs. The provincial government of North Kivu negotiated with the Rwandan government to allow these trucks to pass, in lieu of endless foot traffic.
But this system excludes small-scale traders, most of whom are women.
Previously, small-scale traders could buy ample goods across the border in Rwanda with just $100 in capital. But to take part in the group purchasing system, traders need to buy in at between $300 and $1,000.
Shopkeepers are forced to pass that cost on to customers, says Zawadi Shukuru, 40, a shopkeeper in Goma, the capital of DRC’s North Kivu province.
“We have to pay the vehicle carrying the goods as well as the entry taxes,” she says.
Before the coronavirus threat closed the border, it wasn’t common to rent vehicles to move goods between the two countries. Most commerce happened on foot – typically by women who carried goods on their backs.
“The cost of renting a transport vehicle, as well as the taxes, is expensive, which explains the increase in prices on the local market,” Shukuru says.
As of July 4, DRC has seen 7,379 cases and 182 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
While the health implications of the virus remain nebulous here, its long-term economic impact is clear and devastating, Mikwa says.
Vegetables, milk and meat from Gisenyi have become scarce at the market, says Grâce Maombi, a housewife living in Goma. When she can find food, the prices have increased considerably from earlier this year.
Maombi says she used to feed her family of five with about 5,000 Congolese francs ($2.64) a day. The same food, which includes produce and beef, now costs 8,000 francs ($4.22).
“I had to accommodate my budget with the new prices,” she says.
Others echo her experience. Before the border closed, a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of beef at a local Goma market cost 6,500 francs ($3.43). Today it costs 8,500 francs ($4.48).
High prices and mobility restrictions have also driven down demand. At the Gisenyi Slaughterhouse across the border in Rwanda, workers used to slaughter up to 80 cows a day. Today, they only slaughter three to four, says the company’s accountant, Jean Claude Nizeyimana.
Mikwa says the group purchasing system that allows large trucks to cross the border is temporary. A long-term solution is still unclear.
“People need to understand that a lot of things have changed,” Mikwa says. “The way people used to cross borders to buy anything they wanted is no longer possible.”
Germain Manga, GPJ, translated this article from French.
Noella Nyirabihogo, GPJ, translated some interviews from Swahili.
Slideshow: How the World has Reacted to the Coronavirus
Uranchimeg Tsoghuu, GPJ Mongolia
A sanitizing solution rains onto the street below as Tegshjargal Baatarchuluun sprays disinfectant from a truck in Dalanzadgad, the capital of Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. A staff of 58 people, led by the Dalanzadgad mayor’s office, carried out the decontamination of roads, bicycle paths and other public areas in Dalanzadgad from March 27-30.
Aline Suárez del Real, GPJ Mexico
Alma Soto stands in front of Tacos Lupe in Tecámac, in the State of Mexico. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the taqueria has stopped allowing dine-in customers, made customers apply antibacterial gel at the entrance and required face masks. The shop also placed markers to indicate where people should wait for their orders, so they won’t stand too close together.
Thayalini Indrakularasa, GPJ Sri Lanka
Alfred Mariyanayagam patches a bicycle tire at his repair shop in Cheddikulam, a small town in Sri Lanka’s Northern province. Like other nonessential services, Mariyanayagam’s shop was closed in March and April, but he was able to reopen it in May. His services have been in great demand since then, as more people move around the town.
Edna Namara, GPJ Uganda
Sekamate Nobert cuts Elijah Agaba’s hair at Agaba’s home in Nansana, a town in Uganda’s Wakiso district. Barber shops and salons have been closed along with all other nonessential services since April 1, so Nobert has been traveling door to door to provide services to Nansana residents.
Mar García, GPJ Mexico
Juan Carlos Moreno, left, and Carlos Moreno play songs on their marimba, a percussion instrument, for tips at the South Santiago Housing Unit, an apartment building in downtown Mexico City. The duo used to play at private events or in crowded marketplaces, says Carlos Moreno, but the suspension of nonessential activities in Mexico due to the coronavirus means they have to think more creatively about where to play.
Prudence Phiri, GPJ Zambia
Health worker Chola Chilufya takes the temperature of travelers Faith Zulu, 3, and Vivian Tembo at the Chongwe Toll Gate in Lusaka, Zambia. To mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, workers check travelers’ temperatures, and those with a fever undergo further tests. Both travelers were cleared to pass the toll.
Myagmarsuren Battur, GPJ Mongolia
People attend the launch of campaigns for the regular parliamentary election of the Mongolian State Great Khural (Parliament) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The election will be held on June 24, 2020, so the government of Mongolia adopted regulations for campaign activities. They include moving many activities online, cleaning and disinfecting areas where gatherings will be held, keeping a distance of at least 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) between attendees, avoiding physical touch, and wearing face masks.
Aline Suárez del Real, GPJ Mexico
Irene Colín, back left, and Saúl Rojas help their children, Héctor Rojas, left, 6, and Sophie Rojas, 8, with their school assignments and music education at their home in San Pedro Atzompa, a town in the State of Mexico. Schools in Mexico have been closed since March 20 due to the spread of the coronavirus. While confinement is not mandatory throughout the country, many families have respected and embraced confinement, keeping themselves safe at home.
Patricia Zavala Gutiérrez, GPJ Mexico
Daniel Pérez packs bags of food provisions in Puebla, Mexico. The Fresh Food Basket includes 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of Manila mangoes, cucumbers, seedless limes, onion and a pineapple for 100 Mexican pesos ($4.47). The collective Enfermos Renales y Trasplantados Puebla organized their network of volunteers to sell fruits and vegetables from producers in Veracruz at markdowns, so low-budget households can access them.
Maya Piedra, GPJ Mexico
Demonstrators march against police abuse in downtown Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, Mexico. The protest concluded in front of the government palace. The Jalisco government mobilized the police force to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but many came to protest the police’s excessive force, especially following the death of Giovanni López, who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing a face mask.
Vijayatharsini Vijayakumar, GPJ Sri Lanka
Passengers wait in a queue to wash their hands at the Jaffna Central Bus Station in northern Sri Lanka. Officials relaxed the curfew imposed in Jaffna allowing people to move more freely throughout the city, and installed temporary facilities to encourage regular hand-washing.
Uranchimeg Tsoghuu, GPJ Mongolia
Doctors and other medical professionals examine potential soldiers at the annual military recruitment in Dalanzadgad, the capital of southern Mongolia’s Umnugovi province. In past years, these examinations would take place on one day, but this year, organizers spread them out over three days to prevent overcrowding in the exam hall, hoping to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Prudence Phiri, GPJ Zambia
John Phiri, a health worker, tests Salim Banda for COVID-19 at a mosque in Lusaka’s Kamwala township. The Ministry of Health started mass testing in selected communities in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital. Officials in Zambia have mandated social distancing and restricted public gatherings since early March. Face masks are also required in public.
Uranchimeg Tsoghuu, GPJ Mongolia
Tsengel Tseveen, an employee at Mandalt Construction, replaces gym flooring at the Polytechnical College of Umnugovi province in southern Mongolia. Many institutions are making repairs while they’re closed due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Aline Suárez del Real, GPJ Mexico
Alicia Covarrubias, 73, has owned her market in Tecámac, a municipality in Mexico, for 40 years. She has never experienced anything like the coronavirus situation. She decided not to close her store because it is how she earns her living and opted instead to prevent infection by keeping people at a safe distance. She is worried because a neighbor recently died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. “It’s a difficult situation, but we have to take care of ourselves and keep going,” Covarrubias says.
Mar García, GPJ Mexico
Plague control specialist Alberto García sprays a mix of antibacterial sanitizer, surgical soap and water on his co-workers, Édgar Arturo Gómez, left, and Héctor Esquivel Flores. He previously used the same mix on the buildings and common areas of the Santiago Neighborhood Housing Unit in central Mexico City. The solution is one of the sanitary measures the Ministry of Health suggests.
Odonchimeg Batsukh, GPJ Mongolia
Gankhuyag Jambaninj is a teacher at Kindergarten No. 5 in Erdenebulgan, an area in northern Mongolia’s Arkhangai province. Even though the kindergarten has been closed since late January due to the coronavirus, teachers are preparing for students to return in September. “Children miss their kindergarten very much,” Gankhuyag says, “so everything should be colorful and clean when they return.”
Dolgormaa Sandagdorj, GPJ Mongolia
Badnaagarav Nyamkhuu, left, and Anu Delgerdalai, 14, combine aloe vera, pure alcohol and essential oil to make hand sanitizer at Anu’s home in Khuvsgul, Mongolia. Badnaagarav, a teacher at Erdmiin Dalai Complex School, has been working with her students to produce and bottle this sanitizer for people who cannot afford their own.
Nakisanze Segawa, GPJ Uganda
Nantongo Sharifah and her husband, Kalibala John, receive a tin of powdered milk and sugar from a member of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), the country’s armed forces. As part of a food relief initiative, the Ugandan government gave each family member in Kasubi, a high-density housing area in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, 6 kilograms (13 pounds) of posho, a maize porridge, and 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of beans. The UPDF offered the powdered milk and sugar as an additional donation to help families during the coronavirus crisis. Ugandan prison officers and UPDF officers delivered the goods to families.
Tegshdelger Batbayar, GPJ Mongolia
Ishgombo Demberelsuren sells food imported from Russia at a stall in Darkhan Market in northern Mongolia’s Darkhan-Uul province. Ishgombo used to run his own bakery, but it closed in 2016. Since then, he has been importing and selling food from Buryatia, a region of Russia that borders Mongolia. Despite the pandemic, Ishgombo says his earnings have not decreased. He hopes to put those earnings toward rebuilding his bakery.
Ena Alicia Aguilar Peláez, GPJ Mexico
Yoliztlaman Carcoba Ruiz teaches a two-hour sign language class to students through the BS Biblioteca Infantil, a children’s library in Oaxaca de Juárez, the capital of Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico. He teaches parents of children with hearing impairments, medical students, psychologists, teachers and people who are losing their hearing. Like many teachers around the world, Carcoba is giving his classes from home due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Aline Suárez del Real Islas, GPJ Mexico
Hermelinda Chávez sweeps in front of her home on Sonora Street in Tecámac, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Mexico City. To mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, residents organized a day to clean the streets in the neighborhood.
Pascaline Kavuo Mwasi Saambili, GPJ DRC
Franklin Ghisha, 3, entertains himself while troops from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission, or MONUSCO, wash their hands at a barrier in Komanda, a village in DRC’s Ituri province. Local officials set up the hand-washing station to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Anyone who wants to pass through the barrier is required to wash their hands and have their temperature taken.
Patricia Zavala Gutiérrez, GPJ Mexico
The municipal government of Puebla has come up with various ways to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in this city in central Mexico. Since April 20, members of the Department of Municipal Citizen Security have stopped vehicular circulation in the first block of the city. They mark the streets, inform the citizenry of the procedures, and restrict authorized access to local transit, water trucks, trash trucks and emergency vehicles.
Nansalmaa Oyunchimeg, GPJ Mongolia
Shinebayar Narankhuu livestreams a piano lesson from Play Music, a music store in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. About 100 people are watching the livestream. The store doesn’t usually offer lessons, but it’s helping customers pass time during the coronavirus lockdown with free online instruction.
Carolina López, GPJ Mexico
Marcelo Rodríguez works at MEGA, a supermarket in San Jerónimo, a neighborhood in Mexico City. The supermarket has stayed open during the spread of the coronavirus in Mexico, but while the shelves are full of products, the aisles are empty of customers.
Vijayatharsiny Vijayakumar, GPJ Sri Lanka
Maheswaran Kalaiyarashan, 13, center, buys a handmade face mask in Kopay, a suburb of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Kutoobdeen Abdul Hussain and Eidres Abdul Hussain used to sell household goods, but switched to masks to meet the demand sparked by the coronavirus.
Tegshdelger Batbayar, GPJ Mongolia
Ariunaa Ravjaa, left, and Otgonbaatar Lhagvasuren show journalists how to put on protective clothing. Ariunaa, who works for the Darkhan-Uul Emergency Management Agency and the Health Department, gave a presentation on how to stay safe while reporting in hospitals and other high-risk scenarios.
Aline Suárez del Real Islas, GPJ Mexico
Irma Soberanes, a government employee, delivers a basket of food and basic necessities to Francisca López in Tecámac, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Mexico City. The Tecámac government launched a program to provide food and other essentials to high-risk populations, including older people, single mothers, unemployed people and those with chronic illnesses. Residents can request assistance via phone or WhatsApp. The basket includes coffee, toothpaste, cooking oil, toilet paper, shampoo, rice, eggs and other essential items.
Uranchimeg Tsoghuu, GPJ Mongolia
Munkhbaatar Sukhee, a ticket agent at the Dalanzadgad-Bayandalai checkpoint in Mongolia’s Umnugovi province, registers vehicles and gives each driver information on coronavirus prevention.
Maya Piedra, GPJ Mexico
Guadalupe Pérez works at a market in Guadalajara, a city in southern Mexico’s Jalisco state. To minimize exposure to the coronavirus, Pérez wears a mask and personal protective equipment.
Fortune Moyo, GPJ Zimbabwe
Shoppers line up outside a supermarket in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in late March to do some last-minute shopping before lockdown. The Zimbabwean government has restricted nonessential movements nationwide until at least May 4, and the spread of the coronavirus has led to social distancing measures, like those seen in the line.
Nansalmaa Oyunchimeg, GPJ Mongolia
Batbilguun Baatarbileg studies during his shift at Briti Grey, a coffee shop in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. Mongolia swiftly shut its borders and public institutions, including schools and universities, in January as the coronavirus spread through neighboring China.
Mar García, GPJ Mexico
For 20 years, Erika Téllez, 30, has been making doughnuts, a skill she learned at a young age while helping with the family business. In all those years, Téllez says, this is the first time she has seen the tables and benches empty at Market on Wheels, a mobile marketplace in Mexico City. To comply with government-mandated measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Téllez put up a plastic barrier between her and her customers.
Evidence Chenjerai, GPJ Zimbabwe
Archford Mutemachani washes his hands outside his home in Mafararikwa, a village in western Zimbabwe, near Mutare. Most homes in the area have outside toilets, so local health care officials have been encouraging people to use a similar system to wash their hands.
Maya Piedra, GPJ Mexico
Stefania Hernández checks her phone and waits for customers at her family’s grocery store in Santa Teresita, a neighborhood in Guadalajara, Mexico. The family wears masks and offers hand sanitizer to customers, but even with the precautions, Hernandez says, their sales have gone down 50% since the coronavirus arrived in Mexico.
Prudence Phiri, GPJ Zambia
Thomas Banda, left, sells hand-washing basins to Rachel Zulu, right, and Emmanuel Zulu. The Ministry of Health made hand-washing mandatory in all public places as concerns increase about the spread of the coronavirus.
Avigaí Silva, GPJ Mexico
Employees from the Guerrero state government’s sanitation department spray sanitizer at a public square in Chilpancingo, a city in southern Mexico’s Guerrero state. To battle the spread of the coronavirus, the state government began a campaign in April to sanitize heavily trafficked spaces like hospitals, public buildings and plazas.
Carolina López, GPJ Mexico
Josefina, left, and Lorenza Miranda walk their dogs, Flor and Canelita, in San Jerónimo Lídice, a neighborhood in southern Mexico City. The mother and daughter duo normally walk their dogs daily, but the spread of the coronavirus has kept them inside for the past month as personal protective gear has been difficult to find. For this trip, they improvised, following an online tutorial on how to turn paper towels into face masks.
Patricia Zavala Gutiérrez, GPJ Mexico
In April, masks appeared on the statues of children in Fuente de los Muñecos, a fountain in Puebla, Mexico. The statues are the source of a local legend, and some neighbors claim to have seen and heard the children come alive at night. Residents hope the community follows the statues’ example and wears a mask in public to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Khorloo Khukhnohoi, GPJ Mongolia
Dorjzovd Davaasuren, a specialist at the Emergency Management Agency in Mongolia’s Orkhon province, disinfects the Khuleg food market. Mongolia, which shares around 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) of border with China, has recorded only 38 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of May 1.
Khorloo Khukhnohoi, GPJ Mongolia
Ikhzaya Boldbaatar, left, a teacher at Byalzuukhai kindergarten in Erdenet, gives school and cleaning supplies to Enkhtsetseg Purevdulam, the mother of a student. The school has been closed since January due to the coronavirus. Schools in Mongolia are not scheduled to reopen until at least September, which left teachers with piles of supplies originally donated by parents. Because the cleaning supplies may lose their effectiveness before the start of the next term, school officials decided to distribute them back to parents.
Aline Suárez del Real, GPJ Mexico
Sergio Ibarra installs a water tank outside an inflatable hospital in Pachuca, a city in the state of Hidalgo in central Mexico. The Hidalgo state government began setting up the hospital in early March to attend exclusively to patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Prudence Phiri, GPJ Zambia
Hairdresser Joram Amis makes a clip-on hair weave using hair extensions in Zambia’s Mtendere township. Amis says fewer people visit his salon due to the coronavirus outbreak, but his reusable clip-on hair weaves are now in demand.
Tegshdelger Batbayar, GPJ Mongolia
Altangerel Narandulam paints the Central Hospital children’s ward in Darkhan-Uul, Mongolia, while the space is vacant. The ward was one of the locations used to monitor and isolate travelers who arrived from foreign countries. Mongolia was one of the first countries to take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus.
Avigaí Silva, GPJ Mexico
A sanitation drone helps prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the Hospital de la Madre y el Niño Guerrerense in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico. Abraham Jiménez Montiel, the municipal health minister, said these same sanitation procedures were performed in other hospitals as well.
Myagmarsuren Battur, GPJ Mongolia
Minjinsor Galbadrakh practices yoga at her home in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. To combat the spread of the coronavirus, Mongolia has restricted the operating hours of restaurants, bars and other public businesses, and fitness centers are closed.
Marie Michelle Felicien, GPJ Haiti
Jonel Saint Jean washes his hands at a public tap in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The mayor’s office has installed about 40 water towers and nearly 1,000 water buckets at key points in the capital to encourage hand-washing and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Carolina López, GPJ Mexico
Luis Rafael Cortés, from left, Alejandro Aparicio, Jovani Aparicio Rafael and Raúl Rafael roam the streets of Mexico City playing music. The musicians travel every month between San Miguel Ahuehuetitlán, a town 300 kilometers (186 miles) away in Oaxaca, and Mexico City, where they make their living playing for tips on the normally busy streets. The group has seen a drastic decline in traffic since arriving in Mexico City on April 2, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Marissa Revilla, GPJ Mexico
Paz Vergara, a seamstress with Maya Kotan Textiles, cuts fabric into strips, which she will use to make filtered masks to sell in San Cristóbal de las Casas, in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state. The social enterprise, staffed by more than 25 women, usually sells textiles but is now focused on making masks to generate income while their store is closed due to the coronavirus.
Odonchimeg Batsukh, GPJ Mongolia
Truck driver Rokhat Tsaitegal stops at a checkpoint, where inspectors take his temperature and ask him a series of questions to monitor against the coronavirus. Mongolia was one of the first countries to secure its borders, suspend public transportation and close schools. “All I want is to deliver the loads in one piece and go home,” Rokhat says. “Then I will stay at home.”
