A mother of three is seeking assistance to rebuild an unstable house into a safe and secure family home.

Sulu Autagavaia was going about her daily chores of cleaning her home and preparing an afternoon meal for her family when the Samoa Observer came across her.

The 48-year-old from Fasitoo has lived with her husband and children in a small, Samoan style house made of wood with coconut leaves as a roof surrounded by tarpaulins, located not far from the main road.

“My family originally lived together as an extended family but we did not want to be a burden on our family and then decided to move out and try and develop our own small family," she said. 

“One of the challenges faced by our house is that during rainy days the roof leaks and to make it worse the tarpaulins have holes and water still manages to get inside the house.

“A home is supposed to be safe and secured but that is not the case for ours, the structure of our house is very unstable and it scares me when Samoa experiences natural hazards like cyclones and earthquakes."

Another struggle that Mrs. Autagavaia's family faces is access to fresh, clean water.

“We also do not have access to water, we depend on our neighbours, [who] are our relatives, for water; if not we have to carry buckets to fill our water from other families that have water supply quite far.

“Water is a necessity that we all need and without it, we cannot survive. Our family uses water for preparing food, drinking, bathing and washing our clothes and yes, we do not have our own toilet.

“There are so many needs but due to financial difficulties we cannot afford to have a better life,” she added.

She also said that her husband is the only one employed in their family.

“Despite my husband being employed and earning $114 if we are fortunate, it is used for so many things," she said. 

That money, Mrs. Autagavaia, said is allocated to food supplies, church and village commitments.

“In 2015, I parted with my baby and in 2016 I also had to let go of my 13-year-old who were both adopted by my sister-in-law overseas, it broke my heart but I thought about their well-being when I chose that path," Mrs. Autagavaia said. 

"It was hard for me to let them go but I truly believed that they deserved a better life especially greater opportunities and I could not give them that life.

“We struggle at times financially so I wanted them to have access to the best education and job opportunities overseas and to grow up and have a successful future and not live in poverty.”

If you are willing to help Mrs. Autagavaia's family please contact: 7752513.