ERONI Raivani vows his grandchildren and great-grandchildren will never go to bed hungry as long as he is alive.
And at 86, when most octogenarians are putting their feet up, the Lokia, Rewa, villager is planting dalo and tavioka to provide for his family.
“Farming at my age is not easy but I have to do it for the sake of my children and grandkids,” he said.
“My daughters’ and sons’ families stay with me and because they are all unemployed, the responsibility is on me to ensure there is food on their table,” Mr Raivani said.
“As a father and a grandfather, I cannot eat while my grandchildren are staring at empty plates.
“I have five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and for the past one week and the three days of this lockdown, we have been surviving on dalo, cassava and things I grow on my farm.
“I plant and harvest, they cook and eat.”
Mr Raivani said he also used his pension to provide groceries for his children’s families.
“I get the pension but it is not enough and whatever I get, I use it to buy groceries for myself, my children and their families.”
