The sad reality that COVID-19 brought and continues to bring, is often not seen or is deliberately hidden so as not to show the weaknesses of the government system in combating the pandemic in Mozambique, and in many countries around the world. This concealment of problems on the part of the competent authorities is striking when an in-depth research is done and it appears that people are really suffering, if it was already complicated to live without the disease in a country where the minimum wage does not exceed $ 63 and many people live on less than 80 MZN (~ $ 1) a day, imagine facing a global epidemic, where many companies closed, businesses run on gas, broken borders, hotels without guests, tourism without visitors and more recently a curfew that it also worsened the chaotic situation of the Mozambican people.

For 3 months I did a personal survey to find out in fact what is the TRUE state of the pandemic in the country, a pandemic that only came to harden and make the list of day-to-day challenges more difficult for most of those who already live in precariousness and who it always starts in the same way: "when dawn comes, each one tries to work out their own way to try not to sleep hungry".

In the following I will present some true stories, but hiding the real names of people to avoid future constraints.

Mozambique lacks money for bread and much less soap

Lucinha Lins, 72 years old, has a mask, but in compensation she lacks money to buy soap or even disinfectant and to be able to comply with the measures established by the Ministry of Health to combat and prevent COVID-19, she lives in a problematic neighborhood in the middle of the suburb of the city of Maputo.

In her testimony she mentions:

"I don't work, how can I buy bread with what? It can be a Metical for me, it is already very expensive", she says, this while trying to sell some sweets in a makeshift white door outside her house, more for the prevention of the pandemic .

Later on, Salina Rafael, 25, says that she lost her last job also because of the epidemic that closed her last job in the hotel sector.

"I had to stop with a lot of things and the most difficult thing was having to cut the number of meals, things are ugly and I have to leave food for the children. We as adults can still take it," she says, all downcast.

Then he goes out to the street with his youngest son, but this tour does not last long to "protect the baby" from the disease, go to a small corner and have a light chat with his friend who sells the famous "badjias" (a mixture of ground beans fried in the pan, very popular in Mozambique), but even selling them all - they are not enough to combat the concerns caused by the pandemic.

"Even if you sell the entire 100MZN bowl, approximately $1.50, what can you do? Buy what with that?"

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in Mozambique, day after day announces more positive cases of COVID-19 and also records of deaths caused by the disease.

People cannot afford to buy alcohol or soap

The difficulties remain not only in ordinary people, but also in the intricacies of national sport.

Josimar palito, a football player in a second-tier national team, 21 years old, was forced to find other devices to be able to combat this state of emergency, where teams are also stopped, he is a father and has to provide food for his family.

"Before food was not a problem and I ate without control, now I have to tighten my belly" says Josimar.

The situation goes further when it comes to people who were in the tourism industry, where by destination these services were severely affected, and forced young and old to stay at home.

Dulce Munguenha, ex-employee of a tourist house, is desolate and tells.

"Before at the hotel where I worked, we were entitled to certain perks such as soap, meals and other things, but now it is difficult", she says, all sad and continues:

"I think the great stark situation of the people is the lack of alcohol and soap to disinfect their hands, and people end up using ash, if they can make a fire to get the same ash. And that's not all, people also need to buy bread, which it costs only ten MZN, now imagine using another 20 MZN to buy soap ", she says, all disgusted.

Without the government to help with the aid of basic food baskets and values ​​of support in a state of emergency, the people are sinking more and more in their own sad destiny, the cases keep rising, leading MANY OF THESE FAMILIES DOESN'T BELIEVE THAT PANDEMIA EXISTS. Many end up saying "COVID-19 is a disease of the rich and does not affect the poor" - causing total misinformation and putting several other people at risk.

Many sites lack basic sanitation

One of the biggest problems in Mozambique, in certain areas and neighborhoods as well as provinces like Sofala, basic sanitation is terrible.

Sanitation ditches, which is a very old system from colonial times, are often clogged and the workers assigned to this department suffer doubly, firstly due to the lack of hygiene in these places and also due to the lack of material to combat the pandemic. If people are not pulling the garbage into the drainage ditch, the rain does that job.

This increases the level of contagion, especially in the rainy season, in a mixture of residential sanitary waste and urban water streams that create dirt that in the end pays the peaceful citizen who has the obligation to do the cleaning.

Carlos Alfredo, 28 years, has his yard flooded with infiltration from his neighbor's bathroom.

"I am very afraid of COVID-19 and I also don't go out to my own backyard without the mask, it gets worse with the lack of hygiene coming from both the neighborhood and the neighbors who are an attack on public health."

Social distancing

COVID-19 also came to challenge the way of life of many Mozambicans who live in very small houses, just imagine residences in very small rooms where everyone has to go out to get the "bread" and go back to sleep. They live as 6 people in a one bedroom and living room home, all of them low class, without any school preparation.

It is not possible to make social distance in a crowded house ...

Many people believe that Covid-19 has come to ruin everything, Shelter You can no longer receive children in need until the quarantine period is over, many of these houses are non-profit institutions and have no power to have concentration camps and many of them remain scattered through the streets and experiencing incredibly heavy basic needs.

Bitcoin Cash to the rescue

One of the things that led me to create Casa Bitcoin Cash-Mozambique was to open up the Mozambicans' vision for their own financial emancipation, I feel privileged to be part of the community and bring my people with me, with Bitcoin Cash many doors opened and I was able to perceive the world in a different way. I practically live without a bank account and everything I have is invested in Bitcoin Cash, BCH works and in a country with a minimum wage like mine, BCH is an currency to have savings saved in it (spend and replace 🤑), I was able to live and continue to live making money on platforms that pay in Bitcoin Cash.

I realized that my mission is to bring as many Mozambicans as possible into the community and thereby give them the power to decide on their future, and in times of PANDEMY they can ensure that no family suffers and puts at risk their future. Bitcoin Cash works to solve problems in the real world, I pay my bills, buy energy, pay for the kids' school, buy mobile phone and television recharges all with Bitcoin Cash.

I can certainly say, that Bitcoin Cash saved my family from various problems caused by COVID-19 and also opened up my vision of the future, BCH is the decentralized money of the future, the digital money of the internet with low transaction fees and not can be controlled by the government, Bitcoin Cash was made for the people by the people and in situations of extreme calamity the value can be kept safe.

One thing is certain Bitcoin Cash will prevail and will have more and more preponderance in third world countries, and in Mozambique it will be no different.

Conclusion

While the majority of my people still get struggling with COVID-19 and it's repercussions, i use that time to reach out more people in neighborhood and make them understand more about Bitcoin Cash and if they stay steady and learn maybe in the next "pandemic season" they will be prepared to fight against it, at least have funds to support their own lifestyle and be able to buy basic alimentary needs. One thing is clear COVID-19 is here and we don't know when it gonna disappear but with Bitcoin Cash we can use to gain muscle and value into our market and be protected against this phenomenon from the world, because Bitcoin Cash can be used to bring value to the world and the people living on it, without need to ask for permission from anyone because our finances depends solely on us. Bitcoin Cash is the decentralized money for the world.