While some people will be fortunate enough to enjoy Christmas, not everyone will be in the same boat.

For Suesue Posesesenelefao, despite the festive season, she is filled with anxiety and worry. 

The mother of eight opened up to the Village Voice team yesterday about the many battles she fights every day. 

 Suesue said they were banished from her husband’s village at Lalomauga and they have had to restart their new home at Faleasi’u. 

She says her children’s education was affected and they also lost their source of income.

“We were banned from Lalomauga because my husband was an alcoholic,” she said. 

“That day changed our lives forever. We did not just lose our home, it was our source of support as well, since we relied mainly on the land for survival, but now we have to start all over again from the nothing.”

“At Lalomauga when the weather was bad and our crops were affected, we had the sea to get food unlike here at Faleasiu; we live too far away from the sea.” 

“We used to have a worker that helps with the plantation at our old home but now it is just my husband that is doing all the hard work again.”

Like any mother who worries about her children, she also is uncertain of her children’s education in the future, in terms of finances.” 

“I fear for my children and their future. I know that education is the key to success but what will they be able to accomplish in life when they cannot get into school. “

“They missed an entire term at school. The teachers told us that we need to wait until next year for them return to school, but that is just too long.”

Suesue says her children will have to do a lot of catching up when they return to school. 

Living at Faleasiu for the 43-year-old is an absolute struggle for her family, not only that the water supply does not reach their house, but electricity as well.

It’s not a very merry Christmas for Suesue because she does not have money to buy her children gifts and even worse, they do not have money for food.

“My husband is going around to siblings if they have any spare money that we could use to buy food this Christmas. We both do not work so we struggle all the time to look for money to feed our kids. It does not feel like Christmas for my family,” she added. 

Suesue feels there is no hope for her because of the many problems her family’s facing.