Mimi Ngalula smiles for a photo as she holds up her recycling card with unique QR code that monitors her points in Lorentzville, South Africa. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
JOHANNESBURG: Mimi Ngalula never imagined cardboard boxes, cans and bottles would save her five children from hunger during lockdown, but over the past four months, digging through Johannesburg’s trash cans has become her lifeline.
Ngalula, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is one of hundreds of people in the neighbourhood of Lorentzville who joined a project to exchange recyclables for a digital currency that they use to buy much-needed groceries.
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Mimi Ngalula smiles for a photo as she holds up her recycling card with unique QR code that monitors her points in Lorentzville, South Africa. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
A group of volunteers pose for a photo behind a table of donated food products in the Johannesburg suburb of Lorentzville, South Africa. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
Magwaza smiles for a photo in the Johannesburg suburb of Lorentzville, South Africa. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
Ngalula sorts through the cardboard materials she brought to the depot in the Johannesburg suburb of Lorentzville, South Africa. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
A group of women lining up to buy groceries at the Swap Shop in the Johannesburg suburb of Lorentzville, South Africa. — Thomson Reuters Foundation
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