stop over to buy vakalolo on the way to Labasa

Serve or two for you

Siteri Sauvakacolo
Friday, July 08, 2016

Vasemaca Diloaloakubou (left) with Kinisimere Tagicakivanua selling Vakalolo at the Savusavu highway. Picture: SITERI SAUVAKACOLO

IF you happen to travel along the Labasa-Savusavu highway, you will definitely come across Vasemaca Diloaloakubou and Kinisimere Tagicakivanua.

These two women sell their serves of vakalolo for $2 daily to commuters who travel along this stretch of road to help earn themselves a living.

The women are both from Saivou Village in Cakaudrove and this has been a part of their routine for the past four to five years.

By 4am, the women are already in their kitchen preparing their vakalolo to be by the roadside as early as 8am.

Daily commuters and even new travellers are frequently lured into trying out their food.

They sell daily at the Namatayau settlement which is between Macuata and Cakaudrove. The two women sell around 25-30 serves in a day.

Whatever little money earned from this is used for their families daily living and whatever commitments they maybe tasked with from the church and the vanua.

Namatayau settlement is known for its water fountain and people stop there to fill up their water bottles before they continue their long ride either to Savusavu or Labasa.

Vasemaca and Kinisimere have used this opportunity to sell and nearly everyone who stops for a drink at the fountain will buy a serve of vakalolo or two from these women.

Kinisimere said that although they did this on a daily basis, it did not take away their love to be in their plantation or being out at sea fishing when they finished early from selling vakalolo.

Sometimes, by 11am, they are back in the village with their vakalolo all sold out and they are ready to do other household chores and work with other women to do village duties the vanua has asked them to.

It may not be easy for these two women to wake up early in the morning and cook but they are not thinking about leaving it anytime soon because they are earning good money from it.