MANADILO Cauniqio lives life like any other villager on Yanuca Island in Cakaudrove.
At the tender age of three months, Ms Cauniqio contracted conjunctivitis and her mum applied herbal medicine into her eyes in the hope of healing the disease. But instead it took her eyesight.
Ms Cauniqio, who is about 60 years old, said the eye disease affected her for some time which frustrated her mother, who resorted to herbal medicine.
Despite her condition, she lives life like any normal person in the village.
She cooks her own food, washes her own clothes, cleans the house, does farm work, cleans the compound, weaves mats and goes fishing.
In her state, she looked after her parents who were bed-ridden before they died.
Ms Cauniqio said she changed their diapers in bed, wiped them clean and also bathed them in the room.
"Au a qaravi rau noqu itubutubu. Ni oti noqu cakacaka i vale, au qai dau taubale i na dua na uciwai me lai sava kina nodrau i sulu (I looked after my parents and walk to a nearby creek to wash their clothes)," she said.
She had no problems walking to the creek and back home to hang the clothes on the line.
She has also composed a song for Yanuca Island with lyrics that talks about the beauty of the island, the villagers and the surrounding reefs and small islands near Yanuca.
"Au a bulia na sere qo me baleta na yanuyanu totoka oqo ko Yanuca (I composed this song for the beautiful island of Yanuca).
"E dua na gauna sara i liu, o au vata kei dua na taciqu, keirau a gole tiko i Taveuni ena waqa mai Yanuca, qai vakasoburi keirau dua na tavalei keirau baleta ni a sega ni vinakata me keirau lako i Taveuni (One time back, a relative of mine told me and another cousin to get off the boat that was heading to Taveuni because he didn't want us to go)."
She said she never allowed her condition to control her life.
"E so na gauna e dredre ia au dau vakabauta tuga na kalou ni dau vukei au vakalevu ena noqu bula ena veisiga (Sometimes it's difficult but I have always believed in God who has taken care of me everyday)."