Picture: Paulione infront of his carrier.
Being brought up in a rural
community, hours away from the nearest town, and physically challenged, was all
the motivation Paulione Taukei, 55, needed to change his circumstances and
become a successful farmer.
The widowed farmer from Namoli
Village, Noikoro, Navosa did not allow his physical disability to stop him from
achieving his goal, which was to buy a carrier to help his fellow villages in
transporting their produce to Sigatoka Market.
Speaking in the Navosa dialect,
Paulione explained he was born with
a dislocated joint.
He said his unique situation
challenged him to carry out tasks that other able-bodied people did, such as
fetching firewood, ploughing the land, and even falling in love.
There were also trying times,
when he would be teased mercilessly and that would sometimes bring him to
tears, other times, he would retaliate. But as he grew up, he finally learnt to
accept himself as made by his Creator, in the image of God.
Namoli Village is located in
rough terrain of the Navosa highlands and a five-hour drive up from Sigatoka Town.
He grew up in a family that
struggled to survive and the only option for livelihood was farming.
Receiving an education, he knew
very early on, was not for him.
Paulione reminisces the days of
his youth, the excitement of growing up in the village away from the fast-paced
changes in technology and western modernization.
He said in the village, the network
connectivity was weak therefore it was difficult to reach anyone by mobile
phone. To fill in the time, he recalled, they spontaneously would come up with
fun activities like, hunting wild boars or visiting other villages. He and his
mates would find something to eat out in the bush, which added to their
experience, and that in turn slowly molded them into capable young men.
Paulione did not see himself as
working in an office or for a company. He realized that the challenges he faced
could be overcome if he focused on farming and setting goals to achieve.
He said it was extremely
important that one set targets to accomplish during harvests, which was what he
did.
His yaqona farm has helped him
achieve the goals for his family and community such as purchasing a carrier
valued at $87,000.
The carrier was to assist in
providing transport for his fellow villagers, as there was no bus service that
far up in the highlands and given they were all farmers, it was vital they
reach Sigatoka Market to sell their produce.
Traveling to Sigatoka Market,
meant leaving very early in the mornings and returning late in the evenings,
due to the vast distance to be covered.
Paulione said it always pained him to observe the elderly
men and women struggle to find a way to take their produce to the market. They
would wait for other vehicles coming from villages after them that would also
be traveling to the same destination.
It was from watching this constantly that gave him the idea
to purchase a carrier, thanks to his yaqona farm.
With the vision to help his
people combat the hardships they face in the interior of Navosa, he continues
to set achievable and realistic goals.
His next goal is to obtain a
public service vehicle license for taxi or mini-bus to carry out regular runs
for patients at the newly-opened Navosa Hospital.
He said given the need for
regular transport in the area, that was his next target.
Assistance is slow in reaching
them in the highlands, so Paulione takes the initiative and works to achieve
the solution.
He said his farm allowed him to
achieve what some may have thought impossible, and that again drove him to work
even harder on his farm.
He said he may have a dislocated
hip but he could still achieve his dream and if he could, there was no excuse
for able-bodied persons not to.
Paulione’s dream as a child was
to pay for everything he wanted, and while receiving a education did not happen
for him, farming yaqona certainly made that possible.
He named his carrier ‘Mount
Koroiwaya’, a tribute to his maternal links, and a site to behold for visitors
to the land.
-Ends-