TWO PLATES OF MOTHER’S LOVE CHANGED POASA’S LIFE
For six years straight, Poasa Matavesi’s relationship with his mother Adi Rejieli Veibi was not an easy one. After his mother suffered from dementia, it was difficult for his mother to recognise Mr Matavesi as one of her own.
His mom felt sick after giving birth to Mr Matavesi, the second eldest of three siblings. Despite the challenges the family had to go through with the suffering of their mother, Mr Matavesi’s love and care for his mother never wilted.
Instead, it grew with love which branched out to his siblings and the extended family. “My grandparents raised me until my grandfather passed away last year. I called him dad because he brought me up when I was born and when mom was sick,” Mr Matavesi
said.
“They both looked after me, my brothers along with my mom’s eldest sister’s children.
“When I look back at that time with my mom being sick, I still feel heartbroken to see my mother today but not know that I am her child because of the sickness, it’s such a painful feeling.”
As years went on, his mother Mrs Veibi got better and married a man from Macuata where they lived in a small house with a roof made of three roofing iron and a wall made from coconut leaves.
“I stayed with them, went to school every day on foot for 3.5 miles by crossing the river on a boat or bamboo raft but at times there was no raft I had to swim across and back from school.”
The most heartbreaking moment for Mr Matavesi was during his 21st birthday.
He recalled the excitement he felt when he turned 21 as he thought of a big feast back home.
“I forgot that it was my birthday but she remembered so she had to walk for two miles in order to get a network and let me know it was my birthday.
“She called to inform me that she had prepared food for my 21st birthday, I couldn’t hold my smile and that happy moment because it was the first time for me to celebrate my birthday. I left our family house to visit my mom, I remembered walking through the dark forest and I saw the glimpse of a light coming far away, it was my mom.
“She kissed me on the cheek and walked with me home. She told me to go straight home while she walked to the beach to wash her feet because it was raining that night and her feet was muddy.
“While she was at the beach, I looked at the food that she was prepared and I couldn’t hold back my tears. You know that feeling of celebrating your birthday, I was thinking about cake, chicken, pork but it was a different story. What I had infront of me was a plate of pawpaw and plate of pancakes as that was all she could afford from her pocket.”
From those two plates of food, Mr Matavesi has turned his life around to become a corrections officer, a musician and a singer. He said a mother’s love is unique that it changed his life to become a better person in life.
“No one can beat that only God. When someone says no, mother’s will say yes and she is always there to protect us just like God protects his children. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers.”