Mums do it tough
WHILE dads do their bit to raise a family, mums do it tough, don’t they?
For rural mums especially, their daily challenges are twofold.
Apart from the work they are required to do on the farm, they also have to ensure the home is shipshape and meals are always readily available.
And no one knows this better than mother-of-seven, Sereani Bulamaibure.
The Nuku, Wainimala, Naitasiri, woman goes out of her way to ensure the wellbeing of her family is priority.
Mrs Bulamaibure sells yaqona, dalo and vegetables at the Suva Municpal Market to provide for her children’s education.
She began with selling yaqona and diversified into selling dalo and other vegetables last year to earn extra money.
“Selling in the market has helped to pay my children’s school needs because I have some in primary, secondary school and in tertiary studies,” she said.
“I have four boys and three girls who all love helping out on the farm.
“My oldest son was working and last year he asked if he could go back to farming.
“I have a vegetable farm in Nuku and we normally plant dalo and yaqona.”
Mrs Bulamaibure said yaqona was the main source of income for villagers in Wainimala.
“Most of the time I travel down to sell yaqona and produce and go back to the village.
Mrs Bulamaibure said one of the main issues Nuku villagers faced was transporting their vegetables, root crops and produce to the main road.
“We don’t have a bridge so we have to cross a river and wait for the carrier on the other side.
“I leave Nuku at 2.30am and normally reach Suva at 5am.”
Mrs Bulamaibure’s travels to the market every week.
“I sell my goods there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and return to Nuku soon after selling all my yaqona and vegetables.
“On Tuesdays, I start preparing my bags of vegetables, produce and yaqona to sell.
“My husband and I are both farmers. We plant dalo and yaqona and the vegetables I buy from farmers in Suva.
“I normally earn between $400 to $500 for the three days I sell at the Suva market but yaqona is where we earn more money.
“Before the FijiFirst government introduced free education for students, it was our yaqona farm that helped us a lot to pay for our children’s school fees.
“I used to send $100 every week to my son who was a student at the Fiji National University in Samabula,” she said.
Mrs Bulaimaibure said she would sleep at the accommodation facility provided at the market for $2 a night.
“For us staying in Nuku Village, it is a must that women help their husbands.
“In Naitasiri, there is a saying that females should be just as strong as the males.
“Women should not depend on their husbands, they should also help by financially assisting them.
“We the women are the housemakers of our family, if there are issues in the family we are the first ones who would be asked to find a solution.”