Credit: Save the Children Fiji<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThat same month, when Lusiana\u2019s husband was out looking for work, the local electricity company came to visit Lusiana. They told her they needed to disconnect the family\u2019s power, as their bills had not been paid on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That very day the first transfer from Save the Children arrived. Lusiana immediately paid off the power, stopping it from being disconnected. Remembering how the assistance came just in time, Lusiana says, \u201cwhen I received it, I went to pay our bill. It was $42 and I also bought some food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having their electricity disconnected would have greatly impacted the family as they would have lost their ability to refrigerate essential food supplies, and at night would have had to resort to using kerosene lamps for light. With power, Lusiana\u2019s oldest son was also able to continue studying online while schools remain closed, charging his laptop and connecting to the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lusiana explains she was also able to use the money to buy secondhand clothes for her children, essential hygiene supplies, as well as fresh fruit. \u201cThey were happy because they got some snacks and some fruits out of the money. I usually don\u2019t buy that with our normal income that my husband brings in every week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Fiji now facing its third wave of COVID-19, Lusiana says the expense of living in the city is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. To help make ends meet, the couple needed to send their eldest son to live with his grandparents for the time being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lusiana and her young family are thankful to Save the Children for stepping in to assist when they needed it the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Save the Children has already provided cash transfers to over 39,000 families in Fiji. Our research shows that 85% of households assisted so far have spent their money on food and basic necessities, 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 Fijian families like Lusiana\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Disclaimer: The project is now closed and we are no longer accepting any applications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lusiana lives in an informal settlement in one of Fiji\u2019s most heavily populated suburbs on the outskirts of Suva, the nation\u2019s capital. She lives in a modest home with her husband and her four children. Before COVID-19 hit, Lusiana\u2019s husband worked for a local event company and was the sole breadwinner of the family. \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3083"}],"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=3083"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3164,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3083\/revisions\/3164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.savethechildren.org.fj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}