NAZIHA BOUSSIDI

Tunisia- Many Tunisian women sell herbs and flowers on the streets of La Marsa, a suburb of Tunisia, to earn a living for their families due to the deteriorating living conditions. In an interview with NuJINGA, Fatima Al-Maalawi tells of her struggle to survive by selling daffodils and herbs on the streets.

Fatima Al-Maalawi chose a place where there were many passers-by and close to many shops. “Not many people buy daffodils. Passers-by think their price is high. Sometimes, I reduce their price or the customers pay the fee the next day. I must wake up at three in the morning to pick daffodils and collect herbs such as wild thyme, basil and other mountain herbs,” she told us.

 ‘We risk our lives’

 Before dawn, Fatima Al Maalawi goes to a mountain in the town of Sajanan, Bizerte Governorate, to pick daffodils and herbs. “There are wolves and wild pigs in the mountains. We risk our lives to pick daffodils and collect herbs. The recent wildfires cause the shortage of medicinal and aromatic herbs in the mountain. We have to make great efforts and spend more time finding and collecting them.”

She supports her children

Fatima Al Maalawi sometimes has to sit on the ground for hours to sell flowers and herbs on the streets despite cold and hot weather. “If I do not sell them, I have to sleep on the streets. People always bargain to reduce the price, but they do not know how difficult it is to collect herbs and flowers in the mountains. “I am a grandmother of two orphan children, one is three years old and the other is an infant. I have to work to take care of them. I also support my daughter, who gave birth to a girl a while ago and is unemployed. I have to work to buy food, medications and milk for them.”

Fatima Al Maalawi was married at a young age and then divorced. She also works as a domestic worker cleaning houses and hotels for her family. “I work to provide a better life for my children. I call on the authorities to provide support to women, who have no income or regular income. They should promote women’s economic empowerment so that women can develop their own projects.”