Today we continue our journey through the villages of Samoa. They’re stories of poverty
and extreme need in a nation still reeling after last years devastating tsunami.
Samoa is known as a warm and friendly nation yet this tiny country faces many challenges
in trying to support its disabled people - overcoming centuries of judgment and ignorance.
I thought of myself that I’m hopeless because I have no feet but in my heart my mind is
very strong.
Too many people living on the streets here are those living with mental illness, people
lacking both money and support. Since last years tsunami many more people are in need
like the whanau we visit who tragically lost 13 family members.
It was so scary. I was shaking like….I was so scared thinking of the 29th of September.
I don’t think I’d be able to face it again.
Culturally many Samoans see disability as a curse.
There needs to be a lot of behaviour change, there needs to be a lot more advocacy work
to get people to understand. There needs to be a lot more work on it from the different
organizations also starting with the government.
You don’t need to travel far from the town centre of Apia to find people completely isolated.
Aokuso Lilo lives with his wife Tia and their four children in the village of Viaga. Once
a fit buffed professional boxer Aokuso now can’t move from his bed. His limbs have
been deformed by Gout. It’s an extremely painful inflammation of the joints, like Arthritis.
Common causes are poor diet and excessive weight gain.
I was a professional in boxing but I can’t move because my legs and my fingers and my
knees – it’s very sore.
When Aokuso was first disabled his wife worked full time. His loss of mobility was compounded
by the fact Aokuso could not support his family. He fell into a deep depression. An island
agency Women in Business gave him the support and motivation to start an organic garden.
Mum, Dad and the kids now produce eggs, vegetables and meat on the family plot and sell their
produce at the markets in Apia. It’s just enough to get by.
It’s very hard for me to stand up and do some work outside.
Aokuso shouts out the orders from his bed while the kids do the hard yards.
I give hard jobs to my kids and try to learn the way they do that job for me.
A wheelchair would make a massive difference to Aokuso’s life but he’s just one of
600 people in rural Samoa in need of one.
He misses a lot of things like playing with the kids because he can’t walk, cooking
food for the kids, he just sits on the bed and watches them cook the food. He is trying
to teach them how to run their life, to cook food for the family and how to support the
family. It’s very hard for me because my husband has disabilities and can’t walk
so I need someone to help me.
It took Aokuso a long time to realize he still had something to contribute. These days he
keeps his mind active with art. He uses his time to teach his kids Samoan history and
legends.
I know how to draw some art and do some pictures and all of this is Samoan cultures but Matai
too. I memorize all of the old stories in Samoan.
It’s very hard for me to hold a pen but I raise my hand up and I’m a winner man.
Samoa is a tough island to get around. Planning this trip I had no idea how inaccessible some
places would be. To get to our next location I had to call on the strength of Tara our
translator and Tai our driver to get into the house.
I need some help here I think – Tai?
Katalina had told me she rarely leaves her home. Now I understand why.
Nice to meet you.
I’m not happy. I’m happy that I have life but going out is not too easy to go, I need
someone to take me to where I want to go, even the church. It’s too bad.
Katalina has lost both of her legs to leprosy. It’s a disease caused by bacteria. It mainly
affects the peripheral nerves resulting in legions of the skin. It’s a treatable disease
all but eradicated through most of the developed world. But in Samoa superstition and the lack
of accurate information means people don’t access the free drugs and the disease is able
to spread. Katalina caught the disease when she was a young girl.
I didn’t know how I got it but one day I was doing the cooking and helping my mother
and I was near the fire, you know the Samoan oven so I was sitting there and I thought
it wasn’t very hot. I went for a swim and feel cold and I didn’t, my foot I didn’t
feel it, it lost all sensation.
It was only six years ago that her legs were amputated.