Land is Samoa’s greatest gift from God.

As such people should work it.

Gago Fuiava believes that with all his heart. The kava planter has a farm located on the mountainside at Ta’elefaga. 

Gago told the Village Voice that they have been planting ava for more than 30 years, and has been one of their main sources of income over the years. 

“Fagaloa is known for planting and selling ava,” said Gago. “And my family is one of the many families who depend so much on this for a living. We were able to buy a car from the money we get from selling Ava.”

“It’s all about making good use of what God has blessed us with.”

And like anything in life, Gago admits that growing, whole process of making packets of Ava is not easy.” 

“It’s hard; it also takes a lot of time and you need a lot of patience. Ava is not like other crops and plants where you can harvest every two to three months.” 

“It takes two years for it to be ready or more than that. But we are used to doing it and we are also motivated to continue doing it because it has helped our family in a lot of ways.”

Moreover, Gago said sales have been increasing in terms of selling Ava nowadays compares to how it was back in the days. 

“A lot of people come looking for Ava here and there is also a great need of Ava in Samoa. And that’s good for us as well and that’s why we keep working on planting the Ava.”

Said Gago, they make $2,000tala when they deliver the Ava to different shops around Samoa. 

“And that’s good money. We forget about all the hard work when we receive the money and then it encourages us to work even harder because the fruits of success are really sweet.”

“That’s how life should be. If you want to achieve something, you work hard for it.”

He also believes that as Samoans, we should use our resources wisely to the best of our abilities. 

“We are so lucky that we have lands. Other people around the world do not have access to lands like us. And I believe that we should make sure that we make good use of our land so that we can provide for our families.” 

“That is something our government is encouraging us to do. Look around us, we have lands and a beautiful environment where we can rely on.” 

“That’s my only advice to our people. You will not get anything just by sitting around. This is Samoa you will starve because we have heaps of resources.” 

“Money is hidden under our soils and land. Dig them up and use it to support our families.”

“And that’s the good thing I love about life in Samoa. Everything is easy and life is peaceful. We have a beautiful country and environment.”