‘Fiji is where our hearts will always be’
No matter what happened during the indentured labour system, we still regard Fiji the best country in the world to live, elderly couple from Boubale, Labasa said.
Ram Prit Sharma, 95, and Chandra Wati, 86, said they had been to America, New Zealand and Canada to visit their children but preferred to return home.
Both their grandparents came from India to work in the sugarcane fields in Labasa.
The second eldest of six siblings said her father, George Latchman originally from Navua came to settle down in Labasa Town to operate his photography business.
“My father was the first photographer in Labasa and I was fortunate enough to get educated until Year Eight at St Mary’s Primary
School,” Ms Wati said.
“After that, my father married me off to Ram since he worked as a tailor right beside our house.” Mr Sharma, originally from Dreketilailai, Labasa, said he walked daily for at least two hours from his house to his workplace from Monday to Friday. “My parents were sugarcane labourers and as the second eldest of the family I had the responsibility to help them financially,” Mr Sharma said.
“After we got married we moved to Boubale living in a thatched house.”
He thanked school teacher, Govind, who gave them a piece of land to do vegetable farming, right beside their house so that they could save money to build a proper house.
“While I worked as a tailor, my wife did vegetable farming and then on Fridays and Saturdays I would sell it at the market,” he said.
“Later I was able to afford my children’s education, sought a driver’s licence and worked as a taxi driver for 30 years.”
Although he could only study up to Year Seven at All Saints Primary School, he praised his parents for teaching him to work diligently.
Girmit Day message
Mr Sharma hopes that as people celebrate Girmit Day in various locations they will learn to forgive each other and work hard to have peace and healthy life.
“We know what it means to be living under the poverty line and struggling for years to improve the standard of living conditions,” he said.
“Now I hear many are worried about things becoming expensive, VAT and Tax increasing.”
His advice to the young generation is to continue with their work and at the same time use land to do commercial farming.
“This way there will be two sources of income and people will not need to worry about having less money or food,” he said.