Life is tough but the good thing is we don’t have to face it alone. 

This is the opinion of Alofaatu Nono from the village of Vailele.

Aged 42, the Village Voice caught up with Alofaatu while making his way home from work yesterday morning

“I work because I’ve got a family to take care of,” he said.

“I have two children who both work in town to provide for my family financially.”

Alofa said working hard is the best thing anyone can do.

“To be honest, it is such a good feeling when you work because no matter how life is when you see your children working together with you, it just pushes you to continue working hard.”

Like everyone else, Alofa’s family struggles to make ends meet.

“You see, no matter how much money we get from work, no matter how smart we budget, we still struggle. A hundred tala is like one tala these days.”

Alofaatu works as a security officer at Mataututai.

“We get about a hundred tala a week.

“It’s not bad at all but as I said before, no matter how much money we earn,  the cost of living is still expensive. You know money talks and if no money, there’s no life.”

Alofa said he always has to put on a brave face for his children.

“We have to work hard to provide for our family and stop depending on others.

“That’s the reason why I work hard every day because I don’t want my family to starve and especially I don’t want my children to become street vendors.

“Whatever amount of money we earn at least we have something to support our family.”

He went on to say that his job is hard work and sometimes unsafe. However, he is happy and grateful.

“I will continue on working because I love my family very much and I thank my children for helping me.”