Name: Mama Tembely Coulibaly
Age: 35
Location: Sabali Bougou, Bamako.
Does your spouse/partner live with you? Yes.
What is your primary job? Restaurant-owner
What is your monthly salary? No fixed salary. Usually $80-150, often more.
What is your household’s total income - including your partner’s salary, and any additional same sources? Sometimes an additional $50 from husband but it is sporadic.
How many people are living in your household - what is their relationship to you? Five - husband, two children and mother.
How many are dependent on you/your partner's income - what is their relationship to you? All five.
How much do you spend each month on food? $135 from $130
What is your main staple - how much does it cost each month? Rice $35 for a 25k bag. from $30 for a 25kg bag
How much do you spend on rent? $80, plus $48 for water and electricity. from $42 for water and electricity
How much on transport? Other? Not much as we live just next to the restaurant.
How much do you spend on educating your children each month? $46 - one goes to school, the other a crèche.
After you have paid all your bills each month, how much is left? It depends.
Have you or any member of the household been forced to skip meals or reduce portion sizes in the last three months? No.
Have you been forced to borrow money (or food) in the last three months to cover basic household needs? No.
“My situation changed a lot since we last met. As you can see, I’ve given birth to a little girl, my third child, and that’s taken over all of my plans. The baby really tired me out - it was always sick. I had to entrust my sister and husband with the running of the restaurant.
“The restaurant is still working, with some menu changes. Some days it works well, some days it’s terrible. We get in between $80 and $150 [per month]. But my spending has gone up a lot with the baby; I have to buy nappies, milk, soap and medicine almost every day.
“The price of electricity has gone up. We now spend $40 per month. A 25kg bag of rice has also gone up from $30 to $35, and the price of condiments - pepper, sauce - has risen a lot. I asked my husband to increase the price at the restaurant, but he doesn’t want to. My husband also sells second-hand cars. I can say that that’s going okay at the moment.
“As soon as my baby is bigger, I’ll try to find a bank loan to open a second restaurant.”
sd/aj/rz
< December 2012
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions