Behind every hard working man… is an equally hard working woman.

This saying fits perfectly for Siutu Mafutaga from the village of Nofoali’i as she works hard to do her part in family.

With her husband working very hard every day to earn a bit of money for the family, Siutu goes to the side of the road to sell refreshing green coconuts to passing cars.

“This is the work I do every day, I sit here and sell green coconuts to people who stop by,” she told the Village Voice yesterday.

“I do this because it’s the best way that I know of that will earn my family and I a bit of money. The money I make here goes a long way for my family.

“It’s good to have small businesses like this to counter the expensive life here in Samoa.”

According to Siutu, her main motivation is to take some load off of her husband’s shoulders.

“This is the work I do, this is the only thing I try and sell to people,” she said.

“My husband does his part in the family and I try help take the load off with so many things going on in our family.

“My husband is a carpenter but when he gets his pay, it’s not enough to cater for everything our family needs. My whole family depends on my husband’s job so the extra cash we make from selling these coconuts helps him a lot.”

With her husband’s pay coming in every fortnight, selling the baby coconuts is the families only constant money making method.

“Our daily routine is simple,” Siutu said.

“My husband goes to work every day but gets his pay every two weeks, so in between that I work on the road side to fill in the money-less gaps.

“I come to the roadside early in the morning and only return home at around 5pm because that when the village has its curfew (Sa).”

All in all, the family is doing well due to all the hard work.

“The great thing about this is that I work together with my sister,” Siutu said.

“She comes along with her two children to help me many times and they stay at my house. We have no other plans in life; this is the only job I am happy with.

“If I am to be honest, this is my family’s best form of income on a day-day basis.

“We make enough to feed the family every day and the only thing we spend a lot of money on is rice because the price is decent right now.”