Real people, real issues ‘in paradise’

“I think people want cheaper fish but they don’t know that fishing is very difficult. So when people stop and yell out that our fish is too expensive, we find that hard to take because it’s not easy catching fish”

Look beyond the picture perfect post card images of Samoa as a tourism destination with idyllic beaches and illustrious greenery; there are real people living with real challenges.

And problems are aplenty. They range from the lack of incomes, high unemployment to children who are forced on the streets to sell whatever they can so they can provide for their families.

Among them is a young woman, Lusia, from Toamua. She has not been able to find a job to support her family. So to make money, she sells green coconuts on the side of the road.

“This helps our family a lot especially with my siblings’ school fees and other commitments,” she said.

Asked if she felt ashamed about not being able to find a job, she said while she is disappointed, she does not regret her life.

“It is not a problem because we [family] have been doing this for a very long time and we still make a living from it.”

On a good week, Lusia says they make about $100. The money disappears quickly as there are bills to pay with family, church and village obligations to fulfil.

“For us, this is our bread and butter,” she said. “It is the only hope we have to make some money.”

Lusia said she would be lying if she did not want a job.

“But the other issue is that I want a job that pays well,” she said. “A lot of the jobs don’t pay that well so that you might as well stay home.”

A few hundred metres down the road from where Lusia is, two young men are selling strings of fish for $30 per bundle.

They have come all the way from Manono and by the time the Samoa Observer reached them, it was near time to go home.

“We have to sell these, especially because the last bus should be on its way soon,” said Tala. “It’s either we sell them or we don’t have any money.”

The men have spent the night and the best part of the morning fishing. They look exhausted but they are not going home until they find some cash for their families.

“I think people want cheaper fish but they don’t know that fishing is very difficult,” said the other fisherman.

“You could easily drown if you don’t know what you’re doing."

“So when people stop and yell out that our fish is too expensive, we find that hard to take because it’s not easy catching fish.”

Like Lusia, Tala and his friend have tried to find jobs.

“We’ve looked everywhere,” Tala said. “Nobody would give us a job.

“And so to assist our families financially, this is our contribution. There is a desire inside of us to continue to do this to make sure our families are fed."

“It’s hard to get up and get into the water some days but we have no choice, we have to do it.”

Both men agree that the key to a good life is making the most with what they have.

“We are here today, smiling and waving to the people and waiting for someone to come and buy our fish,” Tala said. “We’ll do the same thing tomorrow and next week. We have no choice.”

On the dusty and hot streets of Apia, a young boy who gave his name as ‘John’ was selling boxes of matches. The 11-year-old said he comes from the west of Upolu and he was in town with his parents.

“I know I’m supposed to go to school but I’m here to help my parents make some money,” he said.

“We are a poor family and if I don’t sell these matches, we have no food for tonight.”

John is not alone. There are many like him on the streets of Apia, despite a law prohibiting students from being on the streets at school hours.

John knows this.

“I try and keep away from the police because they might take me in. So far I’ve been lucky I haven’t been caught.”

Asked what he would like to do in the future, John said he wants to become a teacher.

“How can you become a teacher if you don’t go to school,” this reporter asked.

“I know I will go back to school but I just have to sell a few more things yet.”

Last month, the government confirmed that youth unemployment in Samoa is getting worse.

At the time, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour, Auelua Samuelu Enari, blamed the lack of access to financial resources as the cause.

“It is simply getting worse in our view due to among other things external factors highlighted above,” he said.

“(The reason for this is) insufficient financial resources available to the youth to enable establishment of their own businesses through skill sets learnt.”

Auelua was responding to an Asian Development Bank (A.D.B.) report that at 16.1 per cent, Samoa has the highest youth unemployment in the South-East Asia-Pacific region.

“While this information is a cause for concern, one wouldn’t only wait to read about it from International report, but simply look around and the evidence is overwhelmingly visible,” he said. “The issue then would be; what are the causal factors of such high youth unemployment in Samoa?”

Asked for a comment, Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, was dismissive. He insisted that there are “enormous employment opportunities” in Samoa.

These opportunities are available in sectors such as agriculture.

However, he said “there are many who do not want to take it up.”

In making the point, Tuilaepa dismissed fears about Samoa’s high youth unemployment rate.

According to the Prime Minister, it is not the unemployment figures that should be of concern, but rather people should look at the underemployment figures of our youth.

“When you talk economics, there is no such thing as unemployment,” Tuilaepa said.

“We have a term called underemployment. What does that mean? It means that we have enormous employment opportunities in agriculture and there are many who do not want to take it up. So it is talking in relative terms.”

But what do Tala and Lusia think about this?

“If there was a job for me, I would rather be working than eating dust on the side of the road,” said Tala. “In the absence of a job, I know I have no choice but to continue. So I will believe that political talk when I find a job.”