Many of us take having a nice house for granted.

For Naseri Kitiona Tanielu, that is only a dream. 

He lives in a small shack and life for him has been a constant struggle.

The unemployed father of two lives with his family and his wife’s brother at Fagali’i. 

Their living condition worries him more because of his daughter’s safety. His daughter now attends college. 

They live in a Samoan open house. There are no fences around their home. They sleep next to their kitchen and the space isn’t enough for the lot of them.

“There are no problems with the water supply, it is just our house,” he said. 

“But we have another house that we have been staying in. We don’t have a toilet or a shower.”

“We have been living here for five years and the house is small. We built this house just so that we could stay here and hold onto our land because if it is not used and the grass starts growing, the village will take it.

“Any wood that we were able to find was used to fix the house,” said the 42-year-old.

They source their electricity from his sister’s place.

“The only thing that we need is a house. We are preparing for a massive event at the end of the year.

“We have relatives from overseas coming over and they will be staying with us, four families’ altogether.

“The only problem that we are facing is with fixing the house and lights.”

He adds his wife is the only one who works.

“If I hadn’t resigned from my job, then we would have been doing just fine. I used to work at P.F.L. but I stopped because there was no one to look after my kids.”

Mr. Tanielu mentioned he works the land to help his wife with their daily finances. Everything that they do is for the welfare of their children.

“I am still working the land. There is food, but the only thing that I am worried about is our house.”