COVID-19 Emergency Response
Disclaimer: ADRA Tunisia has the full permission of Mohamed to publish his story and photos.
Mohamed was working in a hotel but his source of revenue was interrupted abruptly when the COVID-19 pandemic reached Tunisia, because the hotel needed to be closed. An enormous percentage of the Tunisian economy relies on tourism. Tourism provides more than 400,000 jobs for Tunisians. However, with the pandemic happening and with international borders closed, Mohamad lost his job and was unable to earn any income for his family. His wife, Hanen, is also unemployed. They have two young children. Mohamed had no choice but to start seeking small loans even to the point where he needed to borrow money from his friends to take public transportation when really needed to. Once Mohamad received the unconditional cash, he expressed his joy and thankfulness. He said “If there’s anything I could do for you all someday, please let me know”. ADRA Tunisia’s country director Peter Fenoy told him that the best way he could help was by helping those around him once he gets back up on his feet again.
