Family of eight make do with what they have

By Sarafina Sanerivi 18 January 2017, 12:00AM

Small is beautiful.

That can be said about Alofa Solofa’s house. The mother of seven from the village of Tanumapua lives in a humble fale with her family but to her, it’s a home. 

“We moved here not long ago,” said Alofa. 

“It’s not much but it’s home to us. To be very honest with you, life is very expensive nowadays.”

“I know a lot of people can agree with me on this one. The cost of living keep going up and the money we get is not enough to provide for our families.”

“Not all people were born rich. We don’t come from rich families as well. So for some of us, the struggle is real.”

“Yes, we do have breadfruit and bananas. But we can’t really do any savings if we only have that to provide for us.

“The money we get can finish in just a few days because of the cost of things these days.”

Alofa said her husband is the breadwinner of the family.

And she admits the money he gets doesn’t help cover everything they need for their family.

“This is a real issue for me and my family. I know my poor husband’s wage is not enough to cover for our needs and wants.”

“We can depend on the land for food, but not all the time. And we know that. If we plant taro or banana, it’s not like you can eat it tomorrow.”

“When it comes to money, we really struggle.”

However, she said her vegetable gardens is the other thing helping them out to get money.

“I sell some of my vegetables to get money.”

“I don’t want to keep depending on my husband because I know he’s got a lot of things to do as well.”

“I look after the kids and do all the chores at home, but I also try to help out by selling our vegetables to earn extra money.”

By Sarafina Sanerivi 18 January 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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