Blessings start from the top.

The old saying speaks about leadership.

Whether it’s the highest chiefs in a Village Council, leaders of the church or the government, the same principle applies.

That’s the opinion of Soliola Lokeni Iosia, aged 69, from Lepa, Aleipata.

“Positive changes come from leaders,” he said.

“We see lots of changes today in villages, there are lots of things happening but it is up to us, the leaders, to control and monitor these changes.

“When it comes to peace and harmony, we have to work with the people in our villages to keep the peace.”

Healthy communities start from within individual families.

 “This is the source. We learn everything from our families before we go out. It means if the family is not good, then everything else we do will be influenced by that.”

Some people say the cost of living is too high but for Soliola he blames the people for not working hard enough.

“We have land to develop but instead of working we depend too much on money. We have food in our hands but the problem is our people are too weak to go work.

“The only thing we need money for is for family fa’alavelave but in Samoa we can plant our food.”

Like most families where he lives, Soliola said the only challenge they face is water.

He said his family could definitely do with some help for a water tank.

His family was affected by the tsunami in 2009 but fast forward to now, he says life is normal and they are doing well.