Being a victim of any crisis, gets to leave you enveloped in stress, fear of the unknown and very uncertain about the present, not to talk of the future. One, among the thousands of victims of the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon, explains how she found hope.
Mama Sega Florence Is a “buyam sellam” (Raw food stuff) in the Mabanda market of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon.
Escaping from the “Anglophone Crisis” she had to take refuge in Douala. This business has been the primary source of livelihood for her family, though it was at a very low scale.
According to mama: “As a victim of the present Anglophone crisis, my family and I were in a constant state of fear and insecurity, which badly affected us because we were not allowed to go out of our house for days and sometimes, weeks because of ghost towns. As a farmer, whose livelihood and survival depended on the farm, this meant, no farming, and by default, no eating. We would go for days without eating a proper meal. But when we saw an opportunity to leave for Douala, we grabbed it with both hands, leaving all we owned behind. Starting all over in a new town is never an easy task. I had to struggle to make ends meet, and in my struggle, that was when I encountered COSDEF Group and through their financial advice, I started a savings plan for my business which later qualified me to gain access to finance through COSDEF Group”
Mama Sega further explained in her own words:” Through COSDEF Group, I have benefited from business financing 3 times, the first being 50.000frs, the second, 80.00frs and the third, 300.000frs. I used the money to add capital to my business, which expanded it greatly. Thanks to the access to financing, I was also able to send my children to school as well, because of the rapid turnover in my business as a result of having more stock.”
Mama Sega keeps on thriving in hope and building her business one step at a time.