Surviving in a leaky home, father dreams of a brick house

By Joyetter Luamanu 16 February 2018, 12:00AM

A father can only dream of waking up in a brick house. 

However that can not materialise for him because of financial constraints. 

Lapi Luka, of Samusu, a father of six, said while five of his children work, their salaries will never be enough to build a brick house.

“One son brings home $120 weekly; I mean there is no way they can afford a brick house,” he said. 

“You see that is our house behind us and the roof leaks and there are no rooms.” 

“There is no privacy, the only good thing about it is that the floor is concrete, otherwise the house is deteriorating.” 

According to Lapi, as a father he can only plead for assistance for a stable house for his children.

“There is so much that I can only wish to provide for my family, but the reality is I cannot afford it.” 

“I have been a farmer all my life and this house was all I could afford for my children.” 

“It’s not much, but I do what I can with the money we get from the plantation and right now I am a grandfather, I can only hope for a brick house for my grandchildren,” said Lapi. 

The 74-year-old father said he hopes to sleep in a brick house sooner rather than later. 

He told the Village Voice team that in terms of food, they can survive off the land. 

“We have food in the plantation and fish from the sea, so there is food.” 

Mr. Lapi also commented on Tropical Cyclone Gita saying farmers suffered the most. 

“Look at the bananas, all destroyed and I know we can wait for the bananas to grow, as well as our taro farm, but the cyclone destroyed our farm.” 

“I know the Government is not obligated to offer assistance, but I am hoping they do.” 

“I understand they gave shelter to the families who were evacuated from their homes, and they received assistance through clothes, food and other necessities.” 

“I think they should do the same for us as well. We did not lose our home, but we lost our farm produce,” he said. 

“It is only fair that the assistance is given to all of Samoa, especially us the farmers.” 

“I understand they lost their homes, but they have jobs to go back to, unlike me, I live off of my farm and this is my livelihood,” said Lapi.

“Again I can only hope for some assistance from the Government,” he said.

By Joyetter Luamanu 16 February 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>