Cash has become so scarce in Goma, the eastern Congolese city seized by anti-government fighters in January, that some parents now pay school fees in looks of palm oil.
After the city had fallen into the M23 group supported by Rwanda, the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo did not put more money to banks in M23-controlled areas.
Banks have since been closed, cash points are virtually empty and residents of Goma, the capital of the province of Noord -Kivu, are forced to take care of their daily purchases.
“The priority at the moment is to have something to eat,” said Richard Mbueki, a teacher at the Majengo school, stopping a can of oil left by a parent.
“We just come around, this situation is untenable,” he said.
Parents “appear at school with food and the school asks them to present a monster,” said Augustin Vangisivavi, an officer at the Majengo School.
The school “then seeks which teachers are interested in the goods.
“A price is set that corresponds to the market price, after which the equivalent currency is introduced on the schools of the school before a reception is issued,” said Vangisivavi.
It is an interim solution, but one that can go through.
Conversations between the DRC and Rwanda, who have committed themselves to work on a draft peace agreement, have no influence on the daily life of the Congolesis who live in M23-controlled areas.
For now, Majengo School, as well as the new authorities of the city, urge residents to use solutions for mobile payments.
But that payment method is not yet used on a large scale in Goma, unlike countries in East Africa.
'Our survival'
Money changers set rates that are out of reach for many people in one of the world's poorest countries, so that the M23 announces a fixed rate to limit excesses.
Those who are still lucky to get a salary have no access to their bank accounts.
Mbueki, the teacher, just like many other employees, exceeds the border to Rwanda to withdraw cash, but that entails extra costs.
Civil servants and people who work for international organizations, who are paid by bank transfer, are also affected.
The slow economy, the departure of some international staff and the money shortage have also cost many locals their work.
“Since the war there are almost no chances anymore, so for now I am a housewife,” said Godel Kahammby, who was an employee of the public service.
“We have already cut our expenses considerably: no new clothing, no expensive meals, no entertainment,” she said.
“For now it is important that we survive.”
Basic needs are still being delivered to the city, but the economy is clear.
“We find the goods, but we don't have buyers,” said Innocent, who sells building materials.
The streets around the Birere market are unusually quiet.
Boats that go to Lake Kivu for the neighboring province of South Kivu leave half empty.
“Before the war I was able to sell 20 bags of cornmeal a week, but currently even 10 bags a month is a blessing,” Nelson Kombi, a trader in the Goma district in the Majengo district of Goma.
Food prices have risen due to delivery problems and new taxes imposed by the warring parties on both sides of the front line.
The M23 has set up a financial authority pending the banks to open again and has called on people to put their savings in it.
Until now it has not been successful and experts are of the opinion that the authority must be limited to centralizing taxes paid to the armed group.
And in the midst of the shortage of dollars and Congolese Frank, the two most important currencies of the country, crime has risen at night in the streets of Goma and Bukavu.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by Our staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
