I have a loan because I need some money. My repayment is fortnightly. The reason why I loan is because I have lots of things to do like the church, village, family and more. I don't really think about the interest rate, I just get the loan when I really need help. If I had a lot of money, I wouldn't want to loan. 

I loaned to start a shop to help my family. I started with a $1000 tala and then it went up to $1500 tala. Later, I loaned again to $2000 tala. The problem is that I did not get to start my shop because we had to use the money on other things. My repayment was $35 tala a week. The bad side is that for me, I have to pay for other people who are in the same group as me, if they don’t make their payment. I think that's not fair.

I took out a loan to start my sewing business. My payment is $54 a week. The benefit of having a loan is to establish something to help out the family. I have been loaning for three years. I loaned $2,250 tala but I ended up paying more than the Ioan, about $2,790 tala I don't understand interest rates very well. 

Life is hard if we don't loan. I loan to help my family with what we need like our house, and also for my children's school fees. The benefit to me is that I get a help in terms of money when I need it. I can make a payment of $30 tala a week. Sometimes I loan $1500 tala but I get only $1200. I don't understand interest rates that well but I only loan for the betterment of my family. 

I have loan at the N.P.F. I think their interest rates are reasonable. As Samoans, it's hard not to loan because we always have faalavelave and things to take care of. I think as long as we are able to pay back our loans, that's the most important thing. 

If I had a lot of money, I wouldn't loan. But for me personally, I do loan to help out the family, church and village. Like I said, it's not something I would do if I have a choice because I know the loan company always ends up benefitting more. But we are always in need of money and that is why we have to loan. It's just the way life is.