Gaualofa Afamasaga goes to bed every night with one thing on her mind – the safety of her four daughters.

Life at Fasitoo-Tai is tough for this mother, who lives in a house that does not have walls and has an iron roof supported by 15 wooden posts. A wooden couch without cushions, an old green painted wooden chair and broken pieces of vinyl floor mats, try to give the home a respectable look. But the absence of walls is noticeable from afar. 

She has lived within her means for four years and built her house using trees cut from the nearby forest. 

“We need help with tarpaulins and extra materials such as the wood to complete our house. What we are using to make our house is wood from the trees, but there is a disadvantage to that because they are really weak,” Afamasaga said. 

“Even though the iron roofing is new, the floor made of weak wood is unsafe. I say this because the materials that we use from the trees are not strong and would not be able to hold the house for a long time. Every time there are strong winds, the wood would be blown away easily, which makes living in this house so uncomfortable.”

The family do not have mattresses and sleep on the open floor, but it is the safety of her daughters that continues to worry Afamasaga.

“My girls are my main concern and it is hard to make sure that they are 100 per cent safe, especially when the house we live in is an open Samoan house and anyone would enter without us knowing. Any parent would do anything to protect their children. I struggle because money is needed when it comes to prioritising their safety,” she added.

Afamasaga’s husband works but his income is not enough to cater for all their needs. This includes the water bill, which they share with their neighbours. 

“There is only one meter that my family and our neighbours use, so usually when it is time to pay for the water bill, we struggle to look for cash,” she added. 

Should you wish to assist Afamasaga and her family, you can contact mobile 7246948.