{"id":3076,"date":"2022-03-18T21:35:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T21:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/?p=3076"},"modified":"2022-03-20T22:57:04","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T22:57:04","slug":"case-study-%e2%94%82-saimone-rewa-province-in-fiji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/case-study-%e2%94%82-saimone-rewa-province-in-fiji\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study \u2502 Saimone, Tailevu Province in Fiji"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saimone and his wife Marica live in a small village outside of Suva, Fiji\u2019s capital. The couple provide for their daughter Maraia (4) and son Saula (11 months) by fishing in the estuary a few steps from their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saimone explains that opportunities to generate income are limited in the village and his family lives a very basic life. \u201cHere we can\u2019t even plant anymore because the soil is mixed with the sea. Just a little bit we can plant cassava, just for us to eat,\u201d he says. \u201cThe main source here is from the sea, which is fishing. But when it\u2019s bad weather then we have to stay [home].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Covid-19 hit and the village went into lockdown, Saimone was no longer able to travel to sell the extra fish he catches in local markets. While he was happy for the chance to spend more time with his young family, Saimone struggled to make ends meet as the pandemic worsened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saimone, who received cash transfers under phase one and two of the FINCAP project, holds his daughter Maraia (4) in front of their house in their seaside village. Photo: Kelly Vacala\/Save the Children Fij<\/em>i<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Families like Saimone\u2019s have been receiving help from Save the Children\u2019s cash transfer project. The project team use mobile money to distribute three monthly payments of $200FJD ($130 AUD) to people who have been financially impacted by Covid-19, with a particular focus on supporting households with children under five years of age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saimone says that for his young family, the support came just in time. Marica was pregnant with baby Saula. She had just gone into labour and been admitted to hospital when Saimone\u2019s neighbour told him about Save the Children\u2019s cash transfer project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy wife was pregnant at that time. I came back from spearfishing one night and she told me she has to go to the hospital,\u201d he explains. \u201cI didn\u2019t have any money in my pocket. Someone just came here and told me about your group, so I went to fill in the form.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole of Saturday and Sunday I was thinking about where I can get the money. I can\u2019t just go and borrow,\u201d he explains. \u201cI can\u2019t do that – I don\u2019t have that kind of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saimone remembers what happened next vividly, \u201cI had a call that my wife gave birth. I don\u2019t even have one dollar in my pocket.\u201d It was only when he got to the hospital that the young father was able to breathe a sigh of relief. \u201cI picked up my phone, then I saw the message that I got the $200,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat cash, I spent on the baby,\u201d Saimone says, explaining that he purchased nappies and paid for a taxi to bring Marica and baby Saula home. \u201cDuring those three or four days, they were in the hospital I could go and look after them and bring food for them during lunch hour and at dinner time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saimone says the cash transfer helped him to give Saula a better start in life and strengthened the family\u2019s resilience during a difficult period. \u201cI was proud that I can get that money on time and I can see my baby boy – just to bring him what he needed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saimone and his wife Marica received their first cash transfer the day Saula (11 months) was born and used it to pay for nappies, food and transport home from the hospital. Photo: Kelly Vacala\/Save the Children Fiji<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Save the Children has already provided cash transfers to over 39,000 families like Saimone\u2019s. Our research shows that 85% of households assisted so far have spent their money on food and other basic needs and 49% of households put the money towards their children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cash is the most efficient and effective way to empower emergency-affected communities \u2013 and COVID-19 continues to be the most pressing emergency Fiji faces today. We know cash works, and that the project is already making a huge difference for the lives of vulnerable families across Fiji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maraia (4) stands in the doorway of her home in Waicoka village in Fiji. Photo: Katharina Glynne\/Save the Children Australia.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Disclaimer: The project is now closed and we are no longer accepting any applications for this program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saimone and his wife Marica live in a small village outside of Suva, Fiji\u2019s capital. The couple provide for their daughter Maraia (4) and son Saula (11 months) by fishing in the estuary a few steps from their home. Saimone explains that opportunities to generate income are limited in the village and his family lives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3076"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3088,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions\/3088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}