Struggling with transportation
Most of us take having a car for granted.
But spare a thought for people who don’t have one.
One of them is Mose Lave, from the village of Tanumapua.
Aged 51, Mose says that with hardly any shops in the area and very limited bus service, the only other option they have is to foot it to the nearest shop.
“Living in a village like this is tough,” Mose told the Village Voice.
“One of the problems is transportation. If you don’t have a car then you have to wait long intervals for buses to come through the area.”
“And with hardly any shops around the area, you will have to walk long distances to get to a store if you miss the small window of opportunity for buses.”
Making money as a farmer is also not easy without proper transport. If good sales are the aim, then all of Mose’s produce needs to be taken to a faraway supermarket.
“My family makes money from our plantation,” he said.
“I do farming work where I grow cucumbers, eggplants, pumpkins and so on. I have to transport all my produce to be sold in the supermarket near Tuanaimato and it’s tough without a car.”
“I would ask people with cars for favours. There are no other options available but we still try and make it work.”
“That’s a long way away but it’s necessary to get a decent amount of customers. I am walking there right now but my wife is already sitting at our small market stall selling.”
Asked how life was in general, Mose says that with all of his children finished with school; a lot of pressure has been lifted off of his shoulders.
“I have eight children with two overseas and the rest living here with us,” he said.
“All of my children are no longer schooling; they are all old and some have their own families. I only have one daughter who has yet to have a family and is helping us out around the house.”
“I work to provide for my wife and daughter and also to help out my other children if they need it.”
Working hard on a shared piece of land, Mose is able to make a decent amount of money which goes straight into covering basic needs for the family.
“The land I am currently farming on is 100 acres,” he said.
“All of my extended families share this land and we all work on our own small section to grow crops. Our earnings depend a lot on how good sales are that day.”
“We would make between $50-$100 a day. We make an average of $300 a week and that’s what we use for our daily needs.”
“I have been doing this for a while now because it’s a very good way of making money. We have been making a living from farming for about four years.”
“I think the money we make as farmers is more than those who work office jobs; it’s quick cash but it depends on how hard you are willing to work.”