Most people hate the year 2020.  I would not discuss on their reasons. I would not judge them, but this is a fact. Of course, many people lost their businesses, many people died, many people lost their jobs.

I am grateful that it was not the case for me.  2020 was even my favourite year so far.

People would say: “because you got married this year”. Sure, that is one of the reasons, but the most important reason is that this was the year when I could be really proactive face to the situation.

2020 was a new beginning for me. The three previous years were tough. In 2017, I had to close my company AIR Connector because I lost more than 60 million Ariary. I was sexually harassed; I was betrayed by my collaborators and I committed suicide (long story!). In 2018 and 2019, I still learnt to re-live, and it was hard to get out of my comfort zone. During the last quarter of 2019, I spent a lot of money going on holidays on my own and with my family. This was what I chose to do to be happy.

When I came back to Tana, I started a work plan. I started to work hard. Buying a car was part of the plan and I did it. The car was for rent. It was a collaboration with my dear brother, and we could make money together.

I kept on praying that Covid-19 would not reach Madagascar, and I believed it could not.

I will always remember the 20th of March 2020 when President Andry Rajoelina announced the first cases in Madagascar. I was overwhelmed with worry and fear.

Here are the lessons I learnt:

• Sometimes you do not need to find motivation, but it will find you.

I used to drive a small Atos. The car I bought was a Kangoo. I never wanted to drive it on my own but with my brother or with my boyfriend (who later became my husband). But once I heard we would be locked down, and when nobody was available, I took the car, drove to Anosibe and bought everything I needed for at least one month.

• We can be part of the solution.

On the 21st of March, Harinjaka Ratozamanana, the great leader, contacted me to be part of his initiative “Hackoragnavirus”, a Hackathon that gathered many people from all over the world aiming at bringing solutions to fight against the virus. That was a great fulfilling experience!

• We do not have to physically meet to be able to do great things together.

COVID-19 taught us the importance of online jobs. It is possible to do simultaneous interpretation while wearing pajamas. Just make sure the camera is not on.

• When your current offer does not satisfy the demand, create another offer, or create the demand.

AIR Communication, our company, a woman-owned company provides translation and interpretation services. Unfortunately, we had limited demands due to the crisis. Yet we needed to pay our bills. While using my Facebook account and pages, I suggested other services like online English teaching, article writing and virtual assistance. I was always busy. And those have become part of our services now.

I met my boyfriend in February 2020. He is a student completing a Masters’ degree in Nuclear Safety and a musician. During lockdown, none of us could make enough money. We decided to re-sell Ravintsara Essential Oil. As we wanted to look professional, we create the page “Ma Santé” (meaning “My Health”). We made lots of sales per day; and we understood we had great online selling skills. Ma Santé is still operational now with other pages, but all under our new company AIR Connector.

Oh, I forgot, and we got married in October 2020. To end, I love 2020. Each problem is a business opportunity!