We salute you
THIS week we have been reminded about the immeasurable contribution to development and survival in Fiji by a very large and critical part of our community — rural women. Yes, on Thursday, Fiji joined countries around the globe in celebrating International Day of Rural Women, an event targeted at recognising the crucial role they play in bring about sustainability to rural household and communities, improving rural livelihoods and enhancing overall wellbeing.
To fathom rural women’s input in society, we only need to consider the numerous challenges encountered daily by rural dwellers and the ways in which women struggle to weather them so their families survive to prosper and triumph.
The People section of The Fiji Times never runs short of inspiring stories of Fiji’s rural women who sacrifice their time and energy, not for themselves, but for the good of others.
Single mothers and widows, many of whom live in squalid and sub-standard living conditions, and never enjoy the support of husbands, toil daily in farms and remote places so that they may find enough food to feed themselves and their children.
They may walk miles on baked earth to get a single pail of brackish water from grog-infested wells, boreholes and rivers — to clean, cook and wash — so that their family members are fed, quenched and healthy.
Together with other women, they account for a sizeable share of the agricultural labour force, including informal work. They perform the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work within families and households in rural areas. The UN note that, among other areas, rural women make significant contributions to “agricultural production, food security and nutrition, land and natural resource management, and building climate resilience”.
As a feature writer, I believe many of my stories, though written with “the pursuit of truth” in mind, would have sounded dull and dispirited, without rural women as subjects.
It is their uniquely adverse circumstances and the manner in which their determination salvages them out of the brims of suffering, which makes their inspiring stories worth sharing with the world.
In 2018, while on assignment on the Garden Island of Fiji, I came across Emele Beti, a farmer, market vendor and wife living in the shadows of a childless marriage.
The Bua woman shared with me how she was often pelted with hurtful words and lived through moments of heartache.
She petitioned God through tears shed over years of desperate supplication.
Though the wait was long she never gave up hope.
“Not being able to have children is a painful experience to go through. It can be a big burden to bear,” she said during an interview inside her vegetable market stall in Naqara, Taveuni.
A few years later, she found miracle when she met a seven year old girl called Nafisha Dean who lived with her three siblings and mother in one of Suva’s squatter settlements. She rescued Dean out of the clutches of poverty and volunteered to raise her as her own child.
In January 2019, I met Donna Vosalevu on the first day of school. She was struggling to make ends meet but was keen to take her children on day one.
The mother of six from Jittu Estate told me that if the mind was willing to believe the impossible, our struggles could be stepping stones to having a bright future.
Donna grew up in a single-parent family, where her mum worked as a house girl to send her to school. She once earned a living by selling barbecue at her aunt’s stall outside Cetrepoint, Ratu Dovi Rd in Nasinu.
Her perseverance in education paid off when her eldest son, Christopher, was appointed the head boy of Vishnu Deo Memorial School, a feat none of them had achieved. He was also first in his class and scored the highest marks in mathematics and basic science.
In March this year Loraini Marama taught me that there is no age limit when it comes to hard work.
At 68, the grandmother from Nasauvuki on Moturiki still goes to sea to fetch for seafood to be eaten at home and to be sold at the market.
She travels by fibre glass boat from the island to Levuka early Saturday morning to catch seafood lovers on Ovalau.
“I have been selling seafood for the past thirty years and it is not an easy job,” she told me.
“First, you have to spend hours on the reef collecting your produce for the market, you will have to travel by boat to Levuka early in the morning then you will have to spend hours selling.”
Marama has been a seafood seller for more than 30 years. She continues to work in order to feed her family and send her grandchildren to school.
In November 2019, I interviewed Marica Koro during a trip to Yanuca Island with Vude Queen, Laisa Vulakoro.
The Levukaidaku villager on Matuku in Lau told me how she eked out a living by weaving mats, fishing to sustain her family and tilling the land with her husband.
She had to leave her family behind on the island so that she could come to Suva and work. She saved enough to put her children through secondary school and later reunited with her family.
“City life was new to me and its struggles were overwhelming. To survive I had to look for a job but that wasn’t easy considering that I only reached form three and my command of English was very poor,” Marica said.
Five years later, her two children are now attending university. One is studying human resource management and the other one is studying marine science.
“I struggled growing up because I was brought up by a stepmother. I was passed around to live with relatives so when I had my own family, I knew the only way to escape my struggles was to work hard. That sacrifice is slowly reaping results.”
In February last year, Litia Naitanui became part of my story. Hard work continues to impact her as a senior citizen, single woman and person living with disability.
The woman from Vutia in Rewa was born with a lower limb disorder that affected her mobility and her ability to lead a normal life. She has three sisters, all of whom were born disabled like her.
But living with a disability has never discouraged her from living life to the fullest and enjoying its many wonderful moments.
“It’s good to be happy and content because joy gives life meaning,” Naitanui said.
“Living with a disability is not the end of the world. It should never make you give up!”
To support her financially, the 60-year-old designs and sells crafts made from pandanus leaves or voivoi, something she has been doing this since childhood and has no signs of giving up any time soon.
International Day of Rural Women 2020 allows us to celebrate the lives of women like Natanui, Marica, Beti, Donna and Marama, women I’ve talked about above.
As climate change and COVID-19 continues to heap havoc in the world, these rural women continue to contribute to building resilience. Their perseverance is overwhelmingly admired and appreciated.
Women and girls are disadvantaged in this pandemic, a problem aggravated by the fact that a huge majority of them live in rural areas.
Now, since COVID-19 and their unique health needs in remote areas, they are less likely to have access to quality health services, essential medicines, and vaccines. Despite all of that, rural women have been at the front lines of responding to the pandemic.
Therefore on the occasion of International Day of Rural Women I support the UN and civil society in calling for action to support rural women and girls.
And in doing so, I salute all the inspiring rural women whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing in the past two years. Their stories have all been worth reading, worth telling and worth emulating.
Their stories, though full of struggles, are clouds with silver linings. They give promise of a better future.
That’s all from me this week. Until we meet on this same page same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!