A MUM separated from her husband and five children when the COVID-19 lockdown hit has been forced to raise funds to cover the exorbitant airfares to bring them to Australia.

Rejoice Moyo moved to Cairns in March from Zimbabwe to start a new life with her family.

She came alone to start her new job as a physio at Proactive Physiotherapy Edge Hill, with the expectation that the rest of the family would follow her six weeks later after the children had finished their school term.

However, thanks to the border closures, six weeks have turned into nine months, and time is running out.

Mrs Moyo's family are currently stuck in Rehoboth in Namibia on a working visa, which is due to expire at the end of December.

She said since the pandemic hit, the cost of tickets escalated to the point where the family could no longer afford them.

"It's horrible, I'm on an emotional roller coaster," she said.

"I'm here, I've got a job and I do it, but it's so frustrating being so far away from them."

Mrs Moyo has five children - Emmanuel, 15, Precious, 12, Sandiselwe, 10, Prince, 6 and Sean, 3 - who she misses more than anything.

"It's so hard for everyone. Sometimes I call home and they don't want to talk because they're so frustrated with everything," she said.

"My husband, Rainous, tells me every day when he gets home, the baby, Sean says, 'let's go and look for my mother'. He has no idea where I am and why he can't be with me."

Mrs Moyo's husband currently runs a driving school in Namibia to support the family.

Once the visa expires, they'll have to go back to Zimbabwe. Mrs Moyo said the flights from Namibia to Australia were constantly fluctuating, sometimes getting up to $6000 per person.

"It's at a point where we can't afford anything," she said.

"I don't know what to do, you try and be strong but it's just so hard."

A GoFundMe is currently running to raise money to reunite the family and has so far raised $1900 of a $25,000 target.

To donate, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/qn64m7-help-to-reunite-a-family

Originally published as 'He misses mum': Mother's desperate bid to reunite family