The struggles of a mother of six

By Nefertiti Matatia 31 January 2018, 12:00AM

Life is not always a ray of sunshine for Lanuola Mita’i.

Living in a home that does not have water and electricity connections troubles the mother of six.

And not only that, she also has to deal with a half built home that shelters her family. 

The 61-year-old shared with the Village Voice team that only one person in her family works and that is her daughter.

Mrs. Mita’i explained that even with one person earning for their family, they still continuously face struggles.

“We have so many things in our house that needs fixing. We do not have a bathroom; my sons have now just started digging a hole where we will be positioning the bathroom. So we are using my aunt’s place in terms of the bathroom. We even got the extension cord so we would be able to have electricity in our home,” she said. 

They rely on her only daughter to support them, she stated that her daughter does not live with them because she has a family of her own, but she still does the shopping for her mother and brothers every week.

She shared that they work on their vegetable garden to earn a living.

Mrs. Mita’i says her other three sons, who have finished school, are also out searching for a job so that they can complete constructing their house.

“Some of my children are still searching for jobs since we just started with our vegetable garden and plantation, so we have no source of income, but we really need to earn money to help my daughter out. I really need help.”

“We have not cemented the foundation of our house, we just spread our mats on the rocks so we would be able to sleep, but we only use one side of the house because we have not finished building.” 

“Half of the house has a roof while the other side doesn’t, the reason is because we do not have the money to complete the job,” she added.

Mrs. Mita’i says they use gallons to store water.

“I am waiting on my children to complete our home, but we cannot do anything since we do not have the money to supply the things we need for our home. The cheapest roofing that we were able to find then, we were able to buy. $40 for a roll, that is as far as we could go, but we are still searching for ways to complete it.”

She explained: “We wait on the rain and sometimes when it does not rain, then we go to my aunt’s place to get water.”

For anyone who is eager to help Mrs. Mita’i’s children find jobs, contact the number 7793017.

By Nefertiti Matatia 31 January 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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