Through your works you will eat

By Sarafina Sanerivi 20 January 2017, 12:00AM

Iosia Iakopo, from the village of Le’auva’a-Uta truly believes in the saying - you live by the sweat of your brow.

Aged 36, Iosia is a father of four children and they all live together at their house at Le’auva’a-Uta.

He owns and operates a plantation with a variety of crops in it. He does this with the help of his wife. 

Iosia told the Village Voice that in life, you won’t get anywhere if you just sit around and do nothing.

“To tell you the truth, I know life isn’t easy. No one said it was going to be easy.

“But if you don’t work then how do you expect to live,” he told the Village Voice. 

“We all need to make an effort when we want something. 

“My family is doing great because we go by the saying – you live by the sweat of your brow – if you sit around then you won’t have any money.” 

Iosia spends much of his day in his plantation.

With the help of his wife, Iosia said it’s easy when people work together.

They’ve been working together on their plantation for more than five years now.

Iosia admits that this has been a blessing to him and his family.

“To be honest with you, we’ve been blessed in so many ways because of our plantation.

“Like I mentioned before, it is not easy. Nothing in this life is easy. But anything is possible if you put your whole heart into it.

“And especially when you have people around to help you out.

“I truly believe in the saying that if you want something, you have to sweat and work hard.”

Said Iosia, with all the crops his main focus is on his peanuts. This is because he earns a lot from planting and cultivating peanuts.

“To prove what I said, I bought four cars and a house with money from my peanut plantation.

“It’s good money, and that’s the truth.

“The first time I did it, it was hard, but I got used to it and now I couldn’t stop doing it. 

“I love it so much because it’s rewarding.”

Moreover, Iosia said his main focus now is to keep working hard for his family.

“I sell and deliver my peanuts to Pago and that’s why I earn a lot.

“I have been travelling to New Zealand a lot as well from the money I get from selling peanuts.”

He also have employees to help out with his plantation.

“If there’s a lot of work to be done, I hire some people to work for me too. And I pay them money. This is because I know we all need help sometimes and I am happy to help them out as well.”

However, Iosia said the main issue with his peanut plantation is that it gets affected by rats most of the times.

“But some of my other fellow farmers told me that it’s best to have cats here to make sure that no rats can destroy my plantation.”

Lastly, Iosia wanted to advise others to keep working.

“You see, when you want to do things in life, you have to work hard. I know we all understand and know this. But then some of us choose to just sit and wait for others to give them what they need.

“My only advice for them is to get up and work. You will see the rewards. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for your children and your family.”

By Sarafina Sanerivi 20 January 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>