Marica’s sacrifice From her greatest regret to her biggest achievement
MARICA Murphy believes that dreams can be realised through hard work and learning how to save money.
The 60-year-old says she is a living testimony of this philosophy. She said she began dabbling in business by selling fried peas and other snacks and sewing outfits from home.
The Wairiki, Bua, native owns a restaurant and operates a carrier business in the Old Capital - Levuka.
“I used to sell food parcels to schools, other businesses and PAFCO in Levuka some years back and from that money I managed to put my sons through school, supported my husband and later started a restaurant,” she said.
“I am not well educated like the young people today, but I am happy through my trust in God I’ve managed to survive the tough times.”
She said she started by saving small and taking a loan to establish her business.
“Then I joined the Fiji Council of Social Services in 2008 and I was fortunate to meet their officers who spoke to us about savings and financial literacy.
“I started with doing tailoring from home such as school uniforms, baking and selling bean and other sweets to start a my restaurant.”
She opened her own restaurant Fast Food - in 2018.
Mrs Murphy said not being able to complete her education was her biggest regret in life, but after opening the restaurant, she felt missing out on school did not make - Murphy’s a difference.
She said she started by saving small and taking a loan to establish her business. “We were 10 in the family and I was the
pseventh one and when I reached Year 10 my father got very sick so I couldn’t do my exams.
“From that time onwards, my sister was like our mother to us because my parents were going around for treatments and other things so a day came where she told me that I would have to drop out of school.
“I cried every day after that and even after I got married. There were some nights when I dreamt that I was going to school because it was my goal to complete my education.
“I wanted to be well educated, get a good job and support my family because I saw how my parents struggled to support us.”
She said after leaving school, she worked in her father’s farm until she got married at the age of 21.
“After marriage, I was so lucky that my husband always supported me, he always stood by my side in whatever decision I made. Now, I don’t have any regrets and I feel blessed to have my family by my side giving me the strength to overcome all my challenges.
“Now I don’t have any worries. My sons and daughter-in-laws are looking after the canteen and I just be with them.”
She encouraged youths to save money. “You save for your future. The time will come, when it will build up because that will allow you to pursue your goals.
“Starting small is the foundation of achieving something big. Every day when I finished shopping, I took five cents aside and in a month I was able to collect around $10 — so that was my savings.”