No fairytale life in Samoa

By Fetalai Tuilulu’u 04 March 2017, 12:00AM

Life is certainly not a fairytale. 

Maybe in the movies but not in Samoa.

Just ask Pueata Nauna, 31, from Lauli’i and Solosolo and she will tell you all about it. 

“To to be honest, these days, there is so much struggles in Samoa,” she told the Village Voice. 

“My family is lucky that we have faith in the Lord because whatever struggle we have, God always takes care of us.

“But every day is a struggle.

“Life is not like the cartoons on TV that you get to have a magic stick to make a wish and actually come true. This is no such thing.”

Pueata has two children at Lauli’i Primary school and they are her priority.

“One of the reasons we struggle is the cost of living being so high,” she said. 

 “Everything counts for my family. Whatever money we have we make sure we try to stretch it for our daily needs. 

“No matter what, everyone needs money to live.” 

The lack of money generating avenues worries Pueata.

 “My family goes through a lot on a daily basis,” she said. 

“We sometimes can’t afford to send our children to school. We eat taro and banana around our house and when it’s the rainy season and our home is not safe. 

“We also share our house with a few family members.”

Money is everything these days, she said.

“You can grow your own food or do whatever to make a living, but without money, life will becomes tough.

 “The land we are living on is all we have. If you look around, you will notice taro and banana are our only hope at the moment.” 

 Pueata said her family moved to Lauli’i from Solosolo hoping for brighter prospects.

“We used to live at Solosolo but then we decided to move here so that we can develop our own,” she said. “The only reason we moved here is so that we can be closer to the schools for our children.

“My husband is currently working at his plantation, we don’t sell them at the market because we can’t leave our house.

Most people came over to buy from us. The money we usually earn is $20 a week, and this money is budgeted for my two’s kids lunch.”

The daily diet is very basic.

“We just have taro for dinner but it doesn’t matter to us at all.”  

By Fetalai Tuilulu’u 04 March 2017, 12:00AM

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