Man makes sacrifices to look after his parents

By Lizzy Hunt 05 September 2017, 12:00AM

Meet the 32-year-old Ekenasio Toelau from the village of Sale’imoa.

Yesterday, the Village Voice team caught up with him as he was resting under the shade after long hours working with his brother at the plantation.

Ekenasio comes from a family of four. His wife and his two children live in Savai’i and they would always visit him each month as he is permanently staying at Saleimoa to take care of his parents.

“Me and my wife used to live in Savai’i but due to other family reasons, I decided to move to Upolu and live with my family here at Saleimoa,” he said.

“My wife and I agreed to let me live with my parents and they can always visit whenever they need to especially during school holidays.”

Ekenasio used to work at Frankie’s in Savaii.

When he moved to Upolu, he worked at the USP Alafua campus.

But he no longer works.

 “Things have changed for me when I stayed from work,” he said. 

“This allowed me to spend my time to take care of my parents and my family, so now, farming is my life.”

As a hardworking farmer, he goes to the plantation every day just so he could get some taro and bananas to sell. The money he earns is for his family.

“In Savai’i I had to sell some taro from my plantation there and here in Upolu I sell taro, bananas and coconuts and whatever I earn by the end of the day from my market goes to my family.”

Ekenasio also talked about the difference between life in Savaii and Upolu.

“I prefer Upolu because the life here is easier than in Savai’i. I mean over there, living with my wife’s family was never easy.”

For him, working and farming are the same.

The only difference is that a regular job provides financial security for loans when he needs it for family fa’alavelave.

By Lizzy Hunt 05 September 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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