Mental state makes duo wander streets
MATACATI Kolinisau sleeps in fear at night as she worries about her two sons who suffer from a “mysterious mental illness” and are fond of leaving the house to wander the streets late at night.
The 55-year-old shared her struggles to this newspaper during a visit to her home at Nabuli settlement, Delainavesi this month with the Lami District Council of Social Services.
She receives $90 monthly from social welfare and an additional $163 from her late husband’s pension.
“It is a challenge to look after children in this condition, but as a mother, this is my responsibility,” she said.
She said her boys suffered from speech and hearing disorders with which they got violent at times when they could not express themselves.
“I had to pull my 14-year-old son out from Suva Special School because he was violent,” Ms Kolinisau said.
“My 25-year-old son never attended school because he could not speak or hear, sometimes can be violent too.
“We have been to the doctors and none of them have determined the illnesses my sons are suffering from. The illness is similar to autism.”
Ms Kolinisau was forced to use padlocks on her house to prevent her sons from wandering on the streets late at night.
“I would stay up at night waiting for them to fall off to sleep.
“Sometimes they leave the house at night, with the doors open and they are missing.
“But, my greatest fear is, if I am no longer here because I am not getting any younger, who would look after them because my (other) children will have their families to look after.
“Altogether, I have six children, two of my children are still in secondary school, while one of my daughters is currently pursuing tertiary studies.
“Right now we are surviving with income from social welfare and my husband’s pension. By the time the electricity and water bills are paid, there is hardly any money for food.” Ms Kolinisau said another big challenge was trying to take her sons to hospital.
She preferred to nurse them at home with herbal medicines whenever they fell sick.
We have been to the doctors and none of them have determined the illnesses my sons are suffering from, the illness is similar to autism
– Matacati Kolinisau