We thought you may be interested in some more about what the patients do when they are recovering from surgery and what they might eat. You may not be familiar with some of these foods but believe me they are delicious. The one food you certainly know is the wonderful coconut, the staple of all island food. Many vegetables are cooked in lolo (coconut milk) which adds heaps of flavour. Here are some photos.
Ube (Yam)
Patient Stories from Today:
Suliano Levunamasi is a true Taveunian man, having been born and educated on the Garden Island. He married Akaneta and they have two children. Their daughter also married a man from Taveuni, and they have not left the island – who can blame them! Their son works in Suva. He was born at the Taveuni hospital which is where we spoke today.
Suliano grows the usual crops – Dalo, Cassava, Yaqona and yams. He commented during our interview that the price of these plantings had dropped in recent months, in some cases by half. He blames the significant increase in planting of crops for cash during the Covid years for the oversupply of root vegetables.
Unusually for Fijians. Suliano is vegetarian (except for some white meat occasionally) Your reporter had noticed how well he looked, and he is proud of the fact that he is rarely unwell.
Domasi Seniauva lives in Qamea in the village of Naivivi. His wife Melinie and Domasi were both born on Qamea as were their parents. They have 3 sons. They went to primary school on Qamea and their secondary schooling at Bucalevu High School on Taveuni. All 3 sons are boat captains, which means they probably work for dive companies.
Domasi is, of course a farmer, and he has a cataract that will be fixed today – he has put up with it for 8 years.
Emori Gave is also from Qamea in the village of Nivivi. His parents were also born on Qamea. He has 5 children and 10 grandchildren. His cataract has totally blocked his vision in one eye – but not after today! He cannot imagine living anywhere else than on Qamea.
For your interest, the island of Qamea is to the east of Taveuni and it takes about 30-40 minutes in an open boat after leaving Matei, the settlement near Taveuni airport.
Emori farms and fishes to support his family.
Siteri Lalaviwa is, as you may have guessed, is also from Qamea in the village of Nivivi. Siteri came with a large group of prospective patients, on an open boat from Qamea this morning, and will spend the night at the hospital following her surgery. Her husband Jalekelepi is a farmer. They have 2 sons and they are both boat captains. They have 2 beautiful granddaughters and 1 grandson. Siteri and her parents are all original Qamean people and love living in the isolation of this lovely island.
Her cataract has caused her to be poor sighted for many years and she is looking forward to enjoying the results of today’s surgery.
Nunia Loga is -yes – from Qamea in the village of Vatusogosoco. (for Kavialagi‘s like me that is an exceedingly difficult word to say!) Her husband Taniela works at Laucala resort in the golf department. They have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. One boy works in IT in Suva and one is an engineer in New Zealand.
Their daughter Maraia manages a resort on Qamea. She has an 8-year-old daughter Milikatalei and Nunia stays at home and looks after her. She has 4 other grandchildren, 2 in Suva and 2 in New Zealand. Her cataracts are serious. Both eyes will be looked after by our experts today.
Vani Aranaiya is 80 years of age and proud of it! She also was born on Qamea in the same village as Nunia (above) Vatusogosoco. She has cataracts in both eyes and her support person brought her to the hospital this morning. She had 5 children and one of her sons lives with her and looks after her. Another son lives with his family in Hawaii.
Her life will change tomorrow when the dressings are removed, and sight is restored.
Statistics for the eye project to date:
