Family not feeling the Mother’s day spirit

13 May 2018, 12:00AM

Celebrating Mother’s Day today is about the only reason one father will be smiling.

But when it comes to home he shares with his family, Faasuamalie Faalaviti, is sad. 

An unemployed father from Aleisa is not feeling the spirit of Mother’s Day with so many challenges he faces.

For him as the father and provider of their family, he wants the best for his wife and children but this is not the case. They are in need of a proper shelter and a water tank.

There are seven people including him who live in their house.

 “We live here together with my son and his wife, also their three children. My main concern is the safety of my grandchildren. As you can see with the condition of the house the wood has decayed, which is not safe to live in.” 

“There are many other problems with the house, including the roof. This life that we live in is not getting any cheaper everything would cost us something. It is challenging when the only solution there is to have money,” said the 67-year-old.

It has been five years and they are also confronted with the lack of water supply.

“It was in 2013 that we moved here. We use to live close to the main road, but we have relocated up here because my wife’s brother said the land we were living in before was his. So we had to move away and this is the reason we are here.”

“We need a water tank because here in Aleisa we do not have a stable water supply.”

There is nobody in their family who works. They all rely on the land for survival, but it is never enough to provide for everything that they need.

“We always work the land and sell our crops and everything that we are growing in the plantation but the problem is when there’s a cyclone it ruins the plantation.”

“Everything is always about money. If we want food, we have to have the money to buy it and it goes for everything else that we need.” 

“Luckily there is only one child who attends school, so we do not have to worry until when the other two starts schooling and we have to deal with the budget.”

13 May 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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