Villagers of Aleipata on Friday held a cricket match between residents as part of celebrations to mark the passing of the first quarter of 2022 and their dedication to their plantations.

The match and the celebrations offered the villagers the opportunity to mingle before the Government’s COVID-19 Alert Level 2 is elevated after midnight Friday to usher in a Level 3 nationwide lockdown.

Tuava Titi To'a was the master of ceremony at the cricket match between two teams, the Lions and the Eagles. The Government’s representative in the village laughed as he read the names of the two teams. 

He said the purpose of the celebration was to acknowledge their work in developing their plantations as well as lift the morale of the village’s untitled men.

An ava ceremony was held in the early hours of Friday with words of wisdom passed onto the men from the matai, whose support for the initiative was shown through their sponsoring of prizes for the winners and gifts for each of the members of the aumaga. 

The newly appointed pulenu'u (Government representative) for Mutiatele expressed delight at the day’s program, telling the Samoa Observer that despite restrictions that came with Alert Level 2, the untitled men of the village and the matai decided to go on with the celebrations.

According to Tuava on Thursday the matai of the village went up to the hills where the plantations were located to inspect the number of taros planted by each participating member of the aumaga (untitled men). 

He said he was proud to advise that the challenge was to plant 500 taro roots but the eventual winner had planted 5,000 in a month.

"The winner won $250 tala and some machetes for his plantation," he said. 

Other winners also won cash prizes donated by chiefs of the village, Laupola Saumaipouli, Vaigao Salotola and Fuimaono. Cans of corned beef, tuna and machetes were some of the gifts for the winners. 

According to the chief, there are over 50 untitled men in the village and also mentioned the ones who had gone overseas for seasonal work.

"There are over 50 members of the aumaga and over 30 have left for seasonal work [in Australia or New Zealand]," he said. 

Tuava said that the children are told to go to school but once they are teenagers, and they are no longer able to, then they have to join the untitled men's group to plant the plantations. 

"We are getting ourselves prepared for the lockdown tomorrow [Saturday] . Everyone is fine as you can see,” he said. “The celebrations help us keep close and safe.”