Everyone needs help sometimes and Nive Afele, from the village of Faleula, knows this saying all too well.

While describing life in the village, Nive says that everyone in the village tries their best to help their neighbours when they are in need because one day, it could be you who needs help.

She says that that type of relationship is what makes living in the village great.

“The thing about living in the villages is that we neighbours can help out one another,” Nive told the Village Voice.

“I can help out my neighbour when she needs any assistance and when I need help then she can come and help me out. We have that relationship within these villages.

“It’s not hard to stretch out and help a neighbour in need because everyone needs help sometimes.”

She says that her neighbours influence is what got her into being a hardworking mother in the first place.

“Developing a plantation was never one of my interests,” Nive said.

“I would only try and focus on growing peanuts but when my neighbour came over one day to help me grow some crops, I finally took a liking to it.

“It’s true what they say; working together really does go a long way into getting to where you want to in life. It’s not too hard to grow vegetables and benefiting from it during harvest.

“You just throw the seeds on the ground and then let it grow.”

Aged 48, Nive and her family rely a lot on their plantation which they take to sell in front of supermarkets.

“My family relies solely on vegetables,” she said.

“One of my children was employed before but she took a lot of time off work because she needs to be home to help out with our guests from overseas.

“We don’t get money from her work anymore but the sales we get from vegetables is what provides us with money.

“It helps a lot with the cost of living being so high.”

Furthermore, Nive considers those who don’t have employed family member’s (like her own), poor and urges them to find other ways to provide for their family.

“When there is no one in the family working then I would consider that family poor,” she said.

“But when no one is working and the family doesn’t have a plantation to rely on then that’s a new level. You have to always try your best to work for your family, even if it’s a plantation.

“My main motivation is my children and that’s where I get most of my drive from to provide for them. Through my plantation, we are able to earn money every day despite not having anyone employed in the house.

“That’s my advice to other mothers, you can always earn money no matter what you do.”