It’s a tough life for hard working man

By Fetalai Tuiluluu 23 April 2017, 12:00AM

Tupuola Fa’alea’s life is no walk in the park. 

No thanks to the cost of living, he says we live at a time where every penny counts.   

The 62-year-old from Faleula and Siumu says that every day requires hard work and if nothing is done… the family will suffer. 

“With my family, we live on what we get from the work of our hands,” he told the Village Voice yesterday. 

“As you can see, I plant some taros and bananas for not only food but also for money.” 

“This is how my family earns a living, and we do it out of hard work and love.” 

“We try to beat the cost of living but the way I see it, no matter how hard we try life is moving forward and price of everything are gone up to the sky.” 

A peek into Tupuola’s life shows that his routine is a grind every day.

“Take it from me, this is one of the hardest things to do to earn money but I do it every day,” he said. 

“We may have help from my other two children overseas but not all the time, and this is why I plant some crops to help us daily.”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m too old to work, but thank God at the end of the day I don’t get sick.” 

Tupuola say this is all for his family. 

“I have to work hard for my family because there are so many things going on in my family throughout the year.” 

“There are many cultural activities (fa’alavelave) and that takes a lot of money.” 

“And no matter how much we make, a lot of money goes to family things. What’s left over is used for the children; their schooling, their food and so on.” 

“There are times we have enough money and times we do not. If we don’t have enough money then we just eat taro and drink tea. But when sales are good then we have chicken for dinner.”

By Fetalai Tuiluluu 23 April 2017, 12:00AM

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