The informal economy makes workers invisible. Micro-credit sometimes offers the necessary boost to live life in the open. This is the path that Mariam (1) has taken for three years near Aubervilliers, with the help of Adie (Association for the Right to Economic Initiative).
In Ivory Coast, commerce was already more than a vocation. Her passion has become her lifeline since she fled the war in 2011 and arrived in France at the age of 34. Welcomed by her sister who offers her a job as a hairdresser at home, she only manages to live thanks to the informal economy, due to lack of a valid residence permit. At the same time, she developed an activity selling fabrics, bags and clothing to meet the needs of her family. She buys these products on the markets and then resells them to people who come to have their hair done.
Unwavering Determination
This situation lasted for two years, until she became pregnant with her second child. His two-room apartment becomes too cramped, not to mention the unsanitary conditions. “As I had no papers, neither did my husband, it was complicated to pay the rent. I couldn’t save money, everything we earned we spent.”, she explains today. Mariam quickly becomes aware of the limits of hidden work: without a permanent contract, without pay slips, without papers, finding legal work and housing is a journey strewn with pitfalls. But optimism and strength of character make him take up the challenge.
This unwavering determination allowed him to obtain his residence permit in 2018. Shortly after, she landed a permanent job as a chambermaid in a hotel. Obtaining social housing, in Aulnay-sous-bois, occurred the following year. Her difficult, physically demanding job is a 1.5 hour drive from her home. For health reasons, she was forced to resign. At that time, Mariam could only count on her side business of selling fabrics. For which, she benefited from a first microcredit, via Adie, an association whose aim is to allow people who do not have access to the traditional banking system to create their own business.
These financial boosts and the support provided by the organization, of which 61% of the informal workers supported are women, are a game-changer. In 2021, this mother of three children formalized her activity of reselling sheets and clothing by adopting the status of self-entrepreneur. “I go to the market and to Aubervilliers to wholesalers. My husband’s cousin in Dubai also sends me by parcel sheets and dresses that I choose from photos. I then sell them at home”. Her clientele are her former hairdressing clients, as well as women from the neighborhood. To stabilize her situation, Mariam simultaneously obtained a position as a maintenance agent at Charles de Gaulle airport. Since last year, this additional income has allowed her to finance the studies in communications at the university of her eldest daughter who remained in Ivory Coast.
Since then, Mariam has nourished the hope of making a living from her entrepreneurial activities: the resale of textiles, but also of prepared meals. “It’s working pretty well, people need to eat. There are days when I earn 20-25 euros. Per month, I can earn 250 to 300 euros and my husband earns 1,500 euros. For two people, that’s 1,800 euros,” notes the entrepreneur who admits to being less successful. “Sometimes it’s difficult, I want to stop. But when customers come to see me, it motivates me again. I like business, I like what I do, and maybe one day I would make a living from it, that’s what I would like.”
(1) The first name has been changed.
2024-02-24 05:22:46
#shadow #informal #work #light #microcredit #LHumanité
