Atonio Atonio, 40-years old from Falefa, lives a simple life.

He is a father with a priority. That is to protect his family.

 “We been living on the other side of our village where our family plantation is but we decided to move back to our own family land (fanua moni) to develop,” he told the Village Voice

“Since my mum died we’ve decided to settle things down and to develop our family like the way it was from the very start.

“As you can see, I just got back from the plantation getting some tree branches to build my family a new house.

“As a father I have to be strong for my family doing all the chores in our family. I want to be a good example to my kids.”

Atonio’s kids motivate him to work hard every day.

 “Four of my six children are in school,” he said.

“I work hard for them. The money I earn from my work is for my children’s school fees.

“Some people think that money is everything but that’s wrong. We have plantation to work where we can get some food from too.”

He understands that life is very tough and rough.

 “Everything in life is very  expensive,” he said

“Back in the days we bought eleni (fish-can) for only $2tala but now it’s very expensive and some families can’t even afford it

“But we cannot move away from it because it is the way it is.

“We have to accept that just for the sake of our family and children

“Because no matter how expensive it is people still buy things for their children.

“As a father I have to make sure that my family has everything especially my kids and their school fees.”