Dili, July 10, 2026 (Media Democracia) – Felismina Magalhae from Ermera Municipality, Atsabe Administrative Post, Lauboru Viabote Village, Lauboru Viabote Hamlet, age 32, is the 3rd child of mother Claudina Pereira and father Claudino Gomes. She has 6 siblings — 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Of them, 2 girls and 1 boy are still alive, and 3 have already passed away.
She currently lives in Tasi Tolu, Comoro Village, 12 de Outubro Hamlet.
She decided to earn a living by selling goods on the roadside. Even though the income is small, she keeps trying to meet her family’s needs.
“I decided to sell on the roadside because my children have daily needs. Even though the income is small, I started selling here in 2023 up to now. And from this business I can support my 2 children’s daily needs. I have 1 daughter and 1 son. I started this business with $50 and the first things I sold were Malboro cigarettes, LA cigarettes, and water. Now I’ve added more items like Coffee, Popmie, boiled eggs, Supermi, and phone credit.
I used to sell from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, but now I can’t sell until the afternoon because I’m afraid the Market Management Team will come and take all my goods.” said Felismina in Tasitolu, (09/07/2026).
“She stated that sometimes she faces many difficulties, but that doesn’t kill her motivation. She keeps pushing herself to earn money and support her family’s needs and her children’s needs. All of us who sell here always face big difficulties, especially with the authorities, because every day the market management team comes and chases us and destroys all the things we use to sell here. This is a big difficulty for those of us who sell here. When the market management comes to chase us, we decide to only sell in the morning. When they don’t come, we decide to sell from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. And now it’s really hard for us to get big income from this business. Right now, on a good day we earn up to $5, and on a bad day only $2 or $1. Sometimesfor a whole day no one buys anything from us.” she said.
She affirmed that difficulties are not meant to kill our motivation, but we must keep trying and keep fighting. Be brave to make decisions and face whatever problems come in our life.
Report By: Trainee Joanita
Photo: Trainee Joanita