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Priorities of the People: Hardship in Samoa

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What Causes Hardship?

Hardship is a complex problem with many different direct and indirect causes. Overall, people cited lack of jobs, low levels of education, health problems, and numerous church and village obligations as causing hardship. Specific causes were cited for three groups especially affected: children, the youth, and women.

	People are concerned about the quality of education in rural areas

Children

Lack of health and education support for children was the overwhelming concern among communities consulted. In rural areas, diminishing markets and falling prices of traditional produce (coconut and copra) have largely reduced the cash available to pay for children's education. Also, meeting numerous church and village obligations (faalavelave) has further reduced the cash available for education, health, and other children's needs, which often become secondary to faalavelave. Thus, schools may be available, but parents' inability to pay for school fees, lunch money, and bus fares hindered access to education. In other instances, the quality of education was an issue. Communities in remote parts of the country without local teachers experience frequent absenteeism of teachers who need to travel long distances to get to their village schools.

Improper nutrition, lack of health facilities, and poor hygiene cause children to suffer from treatable diseases like scabies and skin fungus. Lack of clothing and good food was also mentioned, especially for school-aged children. In some disadvantaged communities, children must walk long distances to school due to the absence of transport and poor roads. Modernization, particularly the increased exposure of children to TV, radio, and newspapers, was also seen as causing increased disobedience to village authorities and parents.

Youth

Lack of jobs and appropriate schooling in rural and urban communities were cited as two major causes of hardship among the youth. There is an emerging trend of rising school drop-out rates in both rural and urban areas resulting in an increasing number of jobless youth with little prospect of securing good paying jobs. This is particularly true for rural youths who go to school in urban areas. If they fail or drop out of school, most do not wish to return to their rural homes because they are ashamed or prefer the urban lifestyle. Peer pressure, seen as directly related to alcohol and drug abuse, was cited as leading youths to commit crimes to support these vices.

In rural areas, migration of young people to the urban areas has left vast tracts of plantation lands idle.

Women

Lack of education, jobs, and cash were identified as the main causes of hardship for women. They need cash for faalavelave and do not have enough left to take care of their families' basic needs. Also, low levels of education and skills prevent many women from finding jobs or starting businesses. However, the women consulted believe their overall situation has improved, mainly due to increased access to education and consequently, improved job opportunities.

Most communities consulted said that family decision-making is equal between husband and wife, including how to spend money and the number of children to have. Women's representation in church organizations is perceived to be equal, but less than equal in the village council and Parliament. However, the women consulted indicated that current arrangements are generally acceptable.

Poor Service Delivery

Throughout the consultations, people said the poor quality of services has significantly contributed to hardship in the communities. These services include water supply, education, health, power, transportation, sealed roads, access to markets, and communication facilities. They believed the government's low level of commitment is the primary reason for the non-delivery and/or deterioration of services and facilities.

All eight services mentioned above were perceived to be available in most sample communities except Uafato, Manunu, and Matafaa villages. However, most people considered the services to be poor quality, except the provision of power in most areas. There are some differences between rural and urban provisions and quality of service. On Upolu, people were most dissatisfied with the poor state of health facilities and services as well as the state of most school facilities. On Savaii, the lack of markets for agricultural produce and lack of communication facilities were the primary sources of dissatisfaction. But overall, the poor state of health services and facilities were the most common concern for both islands.

Water. Lack of accessible and clean water was a major concern during consultations in both urban and rural communities. Rural residents said they still depend on springs, rainwater, and rivers for drinking water. Sixty percent said they boil their drinking water.

Transport. Access to transport was rated as poor and/or deteriorating by almost half of the villages consulted. Seventy-six percent of the people consulted said they have no access to transportation from their homes, so they must walk about 30 minutes to an hour to get to markets and access other services. This impacts access to basic education, health services, and markets, and the ability to earn cash and buy basic food provisions.

Health. Health facilities were rated as poor in 12 out of the 16 sample villages. Most village facilities have a medical kit and are administered by the local women's committee (komite tumama), but unavailability of medicines is common. Therefore, 86% said they walk to another location or go to town for treatment. They also cited the far distance of the nearest hospital from the village as a suggested area for improvement in the government's health service delivery system.

Markets. Because they cannot access a market, 81% of the rural respondents said they must give away the excess produce from their plantations. Five out of six communities on Savaii rated market access as poor while most communities on Upolu rated market access as good.

Schools. Poor school facilities were mentioned as a problem during most village consultations.

Communications. Communication facilities were rated as poor. People without telephones go to neighbors' homes and pay an average of ST2.00 per call. Extension of telephone facilities to villages was a common request of those consulted.

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