Dili, January 13, 2025 (Média Democracia) – Clemente Belo from Viqueque, now living in Comoros, his daily activities are as a shoemaker and selling SDSB on the roadside to earn money to pay for his studies in university.
According to Clemente, he has been doing small activities such as sewing shoes on the side of the road since 2018 until now, with the aim of getting some money to pay for his studies so that he does not depend on his parents or other people.
“I am from Viqueque, here I live with my family in Bebonuk, in 2018 I started college at IOB (Institute of Business) in the Faculty of Economics in the Department of Development Studies. At that time when I started college and precisely in the second semester I started running out of money to pay for public transportation, so I thought of making my own shoe needles and buying cotton in a Chinese shop for 1 USD, so that in my spare time I can sew other people’s shoes.” He said
He continued, in his spare time when there is no class he started bringing needles, cotton and used shoes to put on the side of the road. That’s when people started to see and bring shoes to be sewn by him. One shoe with a price of 2 USD per day he always gets more than 4 USD.
“At that time I started to earn a little money to pay for public transportation to attend classes at school and some I used for daily needs, but I felt this would not be enough to pay until I graduated because one semester is 180 USD, so in 2020 I decided to live with my older sister in Aimutin because it is close to the highway so it is easy for people to bring shoes to me to sew and I also continued to sell SDSB to earn a little money.” He added
He added that while he lived in Aimutin and sewed shoes every day, he could earn around 10 USD to 12 USD a day because many people were moving in that direction, making it easier for people to bring their shoes to be sewn.
“I felt that the public transportation of 06 is very good, people started to know me so they kept bringing their shoes to my sewing place including selling SDSB such as Singapore, Amizade and Kiss. So, in 2022 I paid off all the costs to finish college, which made me very happy because I could graduate with very minimal costs but it was all because of my own efforts and enthusiasm so that I could get a degree in the Study Development Department.” He said
He emphasized that in the learning process he always encountered obstacles, but with effort and of each person’s, and through the Grace of God, everyone can achieve success.
To explained that Clemente as a student had the initiative to use his time to attend lectures. In addition, in his spare time he also used a little of his time to earn money by sewing shoes and selling SDSB so that he could finance his own studies until he graduated from IOB, although he always faced various obstacles but with all God’s blessings he can now achieve success.
Reported by : Nelfiano
Picture by : Nelfiano