Youssef: Earning the Fruits of One's Labour

Youssef came to Cyprus in October 2018 with a visitor’s card upon invitation of his sister who lives and works in Cyprus. He decided however that he could not find a sustainable job in Cyprus and close to his profession and thus decided to return to Morocco. 

Youssef returned to Rabat as there are more opportunities for work. His brother also lives in the city and he could help Youssef find a place to stay. His brother works but hardly makes enough money to sustain his family, while their mother is ill and lives in a village far from Rabat on her own since their father has died.

Youssef received reintegration assistance to set up a mobile fruit shop. He had six months of similar experience working in Morocco for a friend’s business regarding a mobile fruit shop. His idea was to buy a motorcycle with some space at the back that could serve as a stand so that he could sell the fruits anywhere. This turned out to be a profitable business since he could go to the cheapest wholesale supermarkets and buy the fruits for a lower price and then travel with his motorcycle to areas without easy access to fruit markets and sell them there.