Grandmother Emotional About Early Days At University
Unaisi Talolo Sitaba, 66, was emotional as she related her story of struggle and experiences during her early days at the University of the South Pacific three years after it opened its doors.
Speaking at the celebrations in Labasa to mark the USP’s 50th anniversary, the mother-of-six who is originally from Keteira Village in Moala, Lau, said her late father motivated her to study at USP when it opened its doors in 1968.
“I was coming from Keteira with my father, Mosese Sitaba, in January 1968 and was waiting for my Form Four results. I was sleeping when my father woke me up and said I had passed. My father told me something that I have never forgotten and it was that he wanted me to be one of the first iTaukei girls to attend USP,” Ms Sitaba said.
“I was closer to my father than my mother because I was an only child. My father taught me everything a guy should do and I was always getting a growling from my mother to learn how to weave mats, cook and wash clothes.
“My father died the same year and I never forgot what he told me. It was 1971 that I started at USP to fulfil my father’s dream. It wasn’t easy, especially when I failed the first year.
“I went and did Home Economics at USP and was growled at because I was left handed. I wanted to pick up on what my mother wanted to teach me because I was always going to the farm with my father. Whenever I sew I had to remove the thread again and my teacher used to tell me, ‘Unaisi your stitches are like a drunk man on a Saturday night’. My mother did everything for me since I was an only child so when I did Home Economics I had to do laundry, cooking and sewing,” she said.
“Whenever I went to the kitchen things would fall and my teacher used to tell me, ‘Unaisi you’re like a bull in a china shop’. I graduated in 1975 with a Diploma in Education. In 1988, I graduated BA in Language, Literature & Geography”
“In 2007, I graduated with a Postgrad Diploma in Management and Public Administration. In 2008, I graduate with a Masters in Commerce, Public Administration and Management.”
Ms Sitaba plans to pursue her PHD in Poetry.
The last time Ms Sitaba went to Keteira was in 1987.
She has 14 grandchildren and lives with her husband at Wailevu, outside Labasa town.
She encourages youths to do their best and to study hard to make their parents proud.
Edited by Epineri Vula
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