When ‘Old is gold’ saying becomes real

 

An agent who collects worn-out currency notes displays some that he already has in Dar es Salaam recently. This is a new way some young men in Dar es Salaam use to earn a living. PHOTOS | Saumu Mwalimu 

By Saumu Mwalimu. The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

• The old and young men and women mob his small speaker-mounted bicycle whenever he makes an appearance. It is a scene that the 24 year-old has learnt to live with for nearly two years now since he started buying worn-out bank notes from the public.

Dar es Salaam. A lone cyclist draws familiar glances as he navigates several Dar es Salaam streets.In the densely populated and unplanned suburbs, he cuts a popular figure, so it would appear.

The old and young men and women mob his small speaker-mounted bicycle whenever he makes an appearance. It is a scene that the 24 year-old has learnt to live with for nearly two years now since he started buying worn-out bank notes from the public.

Meet Faraja Charles, the street-smart operator trying to eke a living out of what many city dwellers would consider an awkward trade.

“Buying worn-out currency notes is my business. I look for the notes from every corner of the city,” says this young man who seems to take his trade quite seriously.

“It is an undertaking that has taken me to virtually all the corners of this city and beyond,” Charles says in an interview with The Citizen on Saturday.

The seemingly hardworking young man buys the worn-out and torn notes for half their value and later hands them to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) in exchange for new notes. In a way, he makes about a 100 per cent return on his investment.

It is a profitable endeavour but one that requires endurance. Charles says he sometimes cycles for up to 100 kilometres a day as he hunts down for worn-out currency notes. He collects them from owners who sometimes find themselves stuck with them after they were rejected at several places as they attempt to buy or pay for certain services.

“At one time, I rode my bicycle to as far as Chalinze (about 108 kilometres from Dar es Salaam). It needs determination and is not for the faint-hearted as you can see,” Charles who has recently married explains. He declines to be photographed, saying he is also an employee with a security firm.

“This is not the only way I make my living. I collect the old notes when I am off duty. I was employed as a watchman when I first arrived in Dar es Salaam from Mtwara in search for a better life,” he says, explaining why he was not ready to be photographed.

Charles says he got into the business by accident. “My salary as a watchman was not enough to sustain me and my wife -- who is not employed. I resolved to give it a try when I met someone doing the same thing.”

According to him, he started with Sh10,000 in early 2012 and by the end of 2013 the investment had risen to Sh1 million. “God has been good to me because I have seen some success buying the old notes,” he says.

“My life is changing bit by bit. I am still hassling in the city but I can say that this business enabled me to buy a Sh1.2 million plot in Mbande. I am now saving little by little to buy building materials for my house in this year,” says Charles.