Youths Shoulder Responsibility
Cunningham youths have taken it upon themselves to seek an alternative means of employment by selling food parcels and kava from a roadside stall. The stall, which had been left abandoned for years, was recently beautified in partnership with UN Habitat. Cunningham resident Pita Chand said about 100 youths from the neighbourhood make and sell lovo packs at the stall.
Mr Chand left his job as a carpenter this year because “employers were paying $10 a day, which was way lower than the normal rate”.
“This stall has been here for a long time, but we only started using it about a month ago. We contribute whatever little we can to buy the ingredients and make food packs to sell. Sometimes we make lovo and other days we make rice and curry packs,” he said.
Another youth shared that he operated a stall with his wife at the Flea Market in Suva before it was destroyed in a fire in May this year.
He now depends on the little money that they get from the stall to buy groceries for his family.
The youths sell lovo packs for $10 each, a serve of rice and curry for $7 each and kava for $5 a bag.
They are also looking at selling root crops and vegetables. The youths hope their idea of trying to help their families who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can be replicated throughout the country.
“We invite anyone who has things to sell to come and sell from the stall. It’s open for everyone,” Mr Chand said.
“We are not waiting for assistance, we are just looking for ways to survive and earn money to feed our families.”
The stall is located along the Stage 1 Road in Cunningham.