Raluna’s motherly love
ELEVEN years ago, Ranadiniceva Raluna was given a three-month-old baby at the Labasa bus stand while she waited for the bus to head back to the village.
Ms Raluna, who hails from Vunivutu Village in Macuata didn’t expect this to happen but she accepted the baby girl knowing that her parents had just separated.
“It was not expected at all because I went to town to do my shopping and was on my way back home when the baby’s mother, a relative of mine, approached me and asked me to take her baby home,” she said.
“I knew her situation so I accepted the baby girl with the $10 her mum gave me and I used it to buy just a packet of diapers and one packet of life milk.
“We boarded the bus and headed for the village. She is in primary school now and continues to live with me.”
And as we celebrate and remember International Women’s Day, Ms Raluna believes women’s contribution to communities and the nation has been enormous and outstanding.
“My experience years ago proved that God made women different from men because we have this love that overcomes challenges and trials of life,” she said.
“I took home the baby girl because of the love I have as a mother and that’s natural which only a mother or a woman has.
“I have six children of my own then I raised another four children so I have 10 in total and my husband died in 2011 so life wasn’t easy as I had to support them.”
Apart from being the sole breadwinner, Ms Raluna was a village headwoman for three years from 2021–2023 and part of her achievement was completing the village evacuation centre that was incomplete for 15 years.
Under her leadership as the village headwoman, she asked the FijiFirst government to complete the evacuation centre which was funded by the Prime Minister’s Office and completed by military engineers.
“For 15 years we couldn’t finish the evacuation centre which is also the village hall. When former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama came to Vunivutu Village after TC Yasa in 2020, I asked him for assistance and they completed the EC,” she said.
“Being a village headwoman wasn’t easy because I had to deal with male leaders and those older than me so it was quite tough when I first started.
“But I had to toughen up and just spoke my mind during village meetings and over the years they started working with me.”
Ms Raluna is also the representative of the Macuata Women at the Macuata Provincial Council and recently appointed as the Justice of the Peace.
“I applied for JP duties because I have seen the struggles of our rural communities in having to travel to Labasa Town to get their documents stamped,” she said.
“Since I got appointed, I can receive up to 30 clients a day and I’m just glad I got the JP post because I know what’s its like to travel to town and use a lot of money trying to look for a JP.”
I applied for JP duties because I have seen the struggles of our rural communities in having to travel to Labasa Town to get their documents stamped
– Ranadiniceva Raluna