Photos: Selling flowers out of her VW Beetle helps Rio woman survive COVID-19

Entrepreneur took to the road after she lost her business amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Published: October 10, 2020 10:40 Reuters and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

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Rio De Janeiro: You can't miss the green 1969 Volkswagen Beetle parked at the corner, orchids and ferns crowding its open bonnet, sunflowers sticking out of windows, potted plants on the roof. Image Credit: Reuters

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Turning her car into a flower shop was Valcineia Machado's survival plan after her business collapsed in the COVID-19 pandemic, and she is has become a hit in Rio's Copacabana beach district. Image Credit: Reuters

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At 51, she has reinvented herself, moving from real estate to selling roses and other flower on a busy corner. Image Credit: Reuters

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"I had no money at all to pay the rent, so I began to think what I could do to survive," she said, placing a sunflower pot on the sidewalk. Image Credit: Reuters

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And it's going well. In the first three days she made enough to cover one-third of the cost of buying the Beetle, and she says she has become the talk of the neighborhood. Image Credit: Reuters

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Valcineia Machado, also known as Roberta, organizes her flowers. Image Credit: Reuters

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Valcineia sells flowers to a customer. Image Credit: Reuters

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Valcineia poses by her car. Image Credit: Reuters

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Image Credit: Reuters

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Image Credit: Reuters

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Photos: Selling flowers out of her VW Beetle helps Rio woman survive COVID-19

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Photos: Selling flowers out of her VW Beetle helps Rio woman survive COVID-19

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