Father dreams of having electricity

By Ulimasao Fata 19 December 2017, 12:00AM

Tupuola Konelio doesn’t want anything fancy for Christmas.

He dreams however of getting electricity into his home.

The 62-year-old father from Leulumoega caught up with the Village Voice yesterday.

 “I have been living here for a while and it’s a real struggle not having electricity here in our house,” he said.

“One of the problems here with us is that my house is quite isolated. We live inland and it is really dark here during the nights. It’s expensive to get the electricity up here.

 “Right now in our house, we are still using kerosene lights and few candles at night.”

On top of not having electricity, coping with the expensive cost of living is another challenge.

“Our family is mainly dependent on my three children residing in New Zealand for money whenever we need money,” he said.

“I have four children and only one is here with us and he is the only who helps with our plantation here.

“Apart from overseas, another way we earn money here in Samoa is from our vegetable garden here and our plantation.

“Another source of money for our household is by growing and selling  tobacco.”

Apart from those challenges, Mr. Konelio is grateful.

 “Life is great here especially working on the farm and my plantation.

 “I also enjoy working because it contributes to my health as well”.

Mr. Konelio hopes he will get electricity real soon.

“We just got a  water tank not long ago but hopefully we will be able to get access to proper electricity here for our house soon.”

By Ulimasao Fata 19 December 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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