Water and money biggest challenges in village life

By Sarafina Sanerivi 11 December 2016, 12:00AM

You can only make so much from selling the fruits of the land.

According to Timo Vai, from the village of Nono’a, Saleimoa, when every villager is selling the same fruit, making a few talas become very difficult.

And that’s when the peaceful living is challenged.

 One of the issues faced by Timo’s family is water. 

Unable to generate enough money to afford the water bill, Timo is forced to fetch water every day.

“We have water here but our water has been cut,” he told the Village Voice.

“I have to come here every day to fetch the water because our water was cut a while ago. Some families still have water but this is what I have to do every day.”

“I come here in the morning and take the water back home to be used for everything. We don’t have enough to pay our bill and that’s why it was cut.

“But we are working on making money to pay it again.”

Another problem is the road which acts as a repellent for all forms of public transport.

“One of the main issues out here is our road,” Timo said.

“We have waited a long time for a reply from the government on our request for a road fix. We made the request a while ago and they said they will come and tar seal our road.” 

“Now we are just waiting for it to happen. No bus’s wants to come to the back here because our road is really bad.”

But aside from those issues, Timo says that village life remains the same always.

“While everywhere changes; life in the village remains the same,” he said.

“Out here we have nothing much happening and families just focus on keeping their living space clean and taking care of their own loved ones.”

“On the other hand, Apia goes through a lot of changes. Life is always changing for the people mucking around in Apia.”

And all the peace and order is owed to the village council for their stern guiding hands.

“The great thing about life in villages out here is that we have a village council,” Timo said.

“The heads of all the villages do their best to keep order and peace and that’s why there are hardly any issues out here. Through their guide, the village people stay in line.”

“They (village heads) are the strength of the villages and it’s great to have them.”

Timo explains how the village heads work really hard to keep everything orderly through rules. Although they enforce those rules, they don’t do so in a forceful way.

“When I said that there aren’t many issues in the village, that is because the village heads enforce the rules,” he said.

“They don’t enforce the rules to the point where they try and control everything; they don’t force people to do what they don’t want.”

“When it comes to the youth, they behave on their own accord and they aren’t forced to do anything. A lot of the teaching is left to their parents and that keeps order in its on way.

“But when the youth really cause problems then the village council will meet and decide what to do.”

By Sarafina Sanerivi 11 December 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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