Mili Togiasu, from the village of Vaitele-Uta, says the times have changed a lot; things are no longer easy.

Aged 41, Mili runs a roadside stall by her house which earns her family a bit of money.

“We have been running the roadside market for a while now,” she told the Village Voice.

“We don’t sell things from our plantation; everything there is delivered to us from different families then we just sell it.

“The money is decent from the stall.”

But business is no longer the same from when Mili started.

“The days aren’t the same anymore,” she said.

“When we first started our roadside stall we would earn a lot of money and taking care of the family was great.

“Now there are a lot of businesses coming up and now every family has their own market stall. We have a lot of competition and it makes everything hard.

“I admit, life is no longer easy these days. Things are expensive and making ends meet is getting tougher.

With life getting more and more expensive over time, Mili’s family has a solution to counter the problem.

“We try and buy in bulk,” she said.

“We try not to buy things in pieces. When we buy sugar then we buy a sack of sugar, the same goes with rice. This helps lower the expense a little.

“If we buy them in small portions then it piles up to costing more. We try and make things last as long as possible when we buy in bulk.

“That’s how we have to deal with things these days. I’m not sure about other families but that’s how we deal with how expensive life is.”

Mili tries her best every day to not only take care of family’s needs, but she also takes good care of her vegetable suppliers and customers.

“Farmers would come and sell us their produce because it’s easier for them to get money,” she said.

“We would then sell it at a small profit so we too can earn some money. I try not to increase the price too much because then it will chase away some buyers.

“It’s also unfair for some families who have no other choice but to buy from us. So we make things as reasonable as possible.

“I say it again, times have changed. Life on this earth has gotten harder and harder.”

Mili finished off by saying that with all the trouble in the world, the Lord is the key to fixing it all.

“We have our days,” she said.

“Sometimes making ends meet is a little easy but most of the time, things are tough. But the best thing is for us to just rely on the Lord.

“Our house is pretty simple and it helps make life easier. We rely a lot on the Lord and he is the one who brings peace to people’s lives.

“We are the children of the Lord so we cannot have poverty.”