Never too old to help

By Jonathon Shoecraft 29 March 2017, 12:00AM

Age can bring people down. Some people see it as a burden.

But that’s not the case for Apoiliu Misa.

The 73-year-old from Fusi Saoluafata says age is a blessing.

“Even at the age of 73, I’m never too old to help clean up my environment,” Apoiliu told Village Voice yesterday.

“This is my home, and if I want it to look good, then I’m going to do it! Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t help clean things up.”

Apoiliu told the Village Voice about her family and her role in developing it.

“Chores are still very much what I do for my family. I have seven people in my family, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just sit around and let everyone else do the work,” she said.

“I clean up the yard, help with laundry and everything that a normal housewife does to stay functioning and running.”

Her husband needs to be taken to the hospital on a regular basis and even at Apoiliu’s age, she has no problem doing just that.

“I take my husband for a checkup three times a week! I do it myself; I take him to the hospital every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.”

“I know it might seem like a lot, but he really needs it. He is sick and really needs the care from professionals.”

However, even though everything is going well for Apoiliu, there are still things that she and her family struggle with. One of them being money.

“With all the checkups for my husband and transport into town, it becomes expensive. We struggle with paying for all of the expenses that our family require.”

“The cost of living that we have to deal with in Samoa is becoming a really big problem for not just ourselves, but for our whole village.”

“I know my children are providing money financially, but it’s not enough, because we Samoans have too much to contribute.”

She went on to tell the Village Voice: “We love our village and I love to take care of it, but if the cost of living stays as high as it is, we could be in some serious trouble.”

By Jonathon Shoecraft 29 March 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.

>