You need to be strong and have a passion for what you do. 

These were the words of Pa’i Tavita of Vaitele-Fou who believes life these days is not easy. 

Pa’i, a hard working father of two, says without strength and passion, your family will struggle to cope with the expensive cost of living in Samoa.  

Pa’i works at Crops Division of the Agriculture Store at Nu’u.

“My children give me the strength to work hard in what I’m doing right now and I know my calling as a father is to take care of my children.”

He said life was getting tougher every day.

“That’s what I believe, and the only thing to do is to work hard in whatever we do in life because we all know that life is hard these days,” Pa’i said. 

“The cost of living is an ongoing problem for many of the families here in Samoa, but we have to be strong in ourselves.”

He said the only time that we see money in our hands was when we get paid.

“And the next day, it’s all gone and then we are left with nothing and that’s very dangerous to my understanding.”

“We just don’t know what will happen in the next few days, but at least we have our talents to utilise so that we are able to face what is before us every day.” 

His only hope is to provide the best for his children’s needs.

“That’s what we are looking at with my wife, our children are our number one priority,” Pa’i said.

“We also budget well whenever I get paid, because we also have to buy food every day and we find it hard to cover everything with my pay.”

Pa’i also challenges his children to attend school every day. 

“Education is their only way out of poverty and hardship that we already have,” he said.

“There’s no time to sit around and do nothing, we have to strive for the best for our families and children.”

He added leading our children in the right path would help them in making wise decisions in the future. 

“I think that’s me and I always pray to God to give my wife and I the strength to carry us through from day to day.”

“So much is happening and we need to work hard every day,” Pa’i said.