A 54-year-old fish and tavioka/dalo parcel seller has continued to support her daughter’s tertiary education despite the low sales from her business during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Losalini Raua, who has been selling fish and tavioka/dalo parcels for the past seven years in Seaqaqa, said she made all efforts possible to pay her daughter’s $600 per semester tertiary fees.

Her daughter studies at the Fiji National University Labasa Campus. She did not wish to disclose her daughter’s name or programme details. Ms Raua said she had to sacrifice her income to save money for her only daughter’s fees.

“My husband is also supporting me to run the business, as we both try to balance our family’s expenses,” she said.

“At times I had to continue operating after normal closing hours to make enough profit to take home.”

Ms Raua used to sell more than 20 parcels a day prior to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, she was now struggling to even sell off 10 parcels.

Ms Raua is now eagerly awaiting the normalisation of inter-island ferry services to Vanua Levu because this would help her to improve her sales and financial capability.

“Meanwhile, I encourage unvaccinated Fijians to support the nation’s vaccination drive by simply getting jabbed because each time a person got vaccinated, the closer we came towards fully reopening our borders and return to full economic activity,” she said.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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