Age doesn’t define your ability to work

By Aruna Lolani 11 July 2017, 12:00AM

It does not matter how slowly you work as long as you do not stop. 

That is something Taimatuia Tautalaaso of Falefa believes.

He is 63 years old and he’s a father of eight children.

Speaking to the Village Voice, Taimatuia said that all his children are now successful because they all have jobs and are blessed with their own families.

But Taimatuia is not a lazy person who relies on his children to do everything for him, which is why he works in the plantation.

“At this age, people would be expecting me to just lay back and rest at home, right?

“But that’s not who I am. I’ve spent a lifetime, working here and there on the lands because that’s what people in the rural areas do.

“And as of today, you have caught me trying to cut and clean the leaves off my bananas and my wife came to accompany me as well because she wanted to do some weaving here. You know it’s a quiet area. 

“That’s sort of like my focus right now; taking good care of my bananas. 

“Working like this on my own is never something that I get tired of because it’s something that I enjoy doing.

“And also it’s my own exercise and that’s why most of the time I sleep here in my plantation in my little house”

According to Taimatuia, his family, including his wife and children, stay in the inner village but sometimes, he likes to get away and be by himself in the plantation.

“I think everyone would feel sometimes that they need to be on their own, to get away from all the noise and everything. 

“But in the inner village, my whole family stays there even my 88 year-old mother.

“She’s also our other responsibility to take care of.”

Taimatuia said he is proud of his children and how far they have come in life and even though they are helping out with family obligations, Taimatuia is not one to make excuses not to work. 

“My eldest is 37 years old and he works at the University of the South Pacific at Alafua.

“You know all of my children are working now and some of them have families of their own which is why I don’t want to depend on them because I can work for myself considering that I am still strong.

“My children can help whenever they want to, but their own families should be a priority to them.

“I’m not ready to live like an older person while I still have energy.

“This is bearable work, it’s just cutting the grass and cleaning the lands so there’s no need to be scared.”

By Aruna Lolani 11 July 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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