Life is determined by our response

By Fetalai Tuilulu’u 15 March 2017, 12:00AM

Life is great when things work out.

But a person’s character is determined by how he responds during the tough times.

This is the view of Luki Vaiula, aged 40 from the village of Tiavī.

Luki works on his plantation.

“I know from the very beginning that if I don’t work hard enough my family would have been suffering by now,” he said.

“For us we depend on our plantation for our living. It’s not much but we still manage.”

Some people have lots of money and they are happy. But Luki said it is how you act when there is no money that determines your destiny. 

“For me, the plantation is my life,” he told the Village Voice. 

“This is not the only land I work on. I have also developed another plantation about 200 meters from my home and it’s growing just fine.”  

“When he harvest, we sometimes deliver our crops to the supermarkets in town. It’s a really good business and I enjoy it.” 

“The money we make is what we use to take care of everything in the family and it’s important that I keep it running this way.” 

Laki used to work in American Samoa. 

But he moved back to help his family.

He went on to say that his family is earning enough for their daily basis because they have no contribution to village matters like other villages. 

“The good thing is that we don’t need to worry about contribution to village matters because we don’t have village governance structure here at Tiavī.”

“We also have a good access to water and electricity which is very helpful.” 

But of course there are challenges.

Without a car, life as a farmer is hard.

 “The sad thing about businesses like this is that when we need to bring taro and coconut to the market, we have to find a ride or use the bus,” he said. 

“You know how far it is from here to town, and we pay a-lot of money to deliver our crops to the market.” 

“Also I work alone, because my wife is taking the kids to school and she leaves me working on our plantation.” 

But Luki has faith in God

“I also know he sees everything that we do.”

By Fetalai Tuilulu’u 15 March 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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