My working hours kick off at 7 a.m. in the morning. I wake up at 6 a.m. and have a breakfast of hot milk and bread. I live with my brother in Nyamirambo, Kigali. He is an enormous support to me.

The day starts with lessons from him. He has much experience in this field and is the one who trained me to run this business.

I always treasure his hospitality and I am thankful that he allowed me to share this business at zero interest. Together we hope to lift up our family.

We leave home together, parting ways when I come to my business site and he continues strolling around, looking for customers.

Selling flowers and decorating weddings is a business that requires much attention and endurance. Sometimes the flowers you buy rot immediately for a whole number of reasons like too much sun or too little water.

Business also depends on different things. Things are good when lots of people are getting married. The most profitable months are between July and February.

This is when I receive many customers and can make anywhere between Frw20,000 and Frw25,000 a day for flowers. Providing the decoration at a wedding can make me up to Frw100,000 a day.

This is undoubtedly a huge profit to a trader like me but there are also long periods when very little money comes in.

It requires a lot of energy to buy flowers from deep in the villages since we can not simply get them here in Kigali. I normally buy them from Gitarama in the Southern province.

In the last few months, my business has suffered horribly because of the recent fuel scarcity which increased transport costs. Every day I break for lunch at 1 p.m. and then rest until 2 p.m.

Ends