When COVID-19 hit and the construction industry took a downturn in March last year, Sumit Kumar said his family’s financial situation also took a turn for the worse.
The 39-year-old unemployed carpenter said he began taking odd jobs just to put food on the table and to provide a decent living for his wife and two children.
Two weeks away from the start of the 2021 school year, Mr Kumar said he was at a loss to how he was going to prepare his children for school.
“If there is work, then there is money, if there is no work, then there is no money, so I am clueless as to how I will buy all the school materials for my children,” the Yako Seaside, Nadi, resident said.
Mr Kumar said his ability to earn was dependent on the few low-paying jobs he managed to get for two-three days a week.
He said when there was no work, his family was completely dependent on his mother’s monthly social welfare payment.
“My children faced a lot of struggles from early last year because the pandemic hit us in the early months and I have been out of regular work ever since.”
Mr Kumar said if he could find work for at least three days, he would be able to buy bags and shoes for his children.
“I am not prepared at all and I am thinking every day, how I will send them back to school.”
His 64-year-old mother, Prakash Lata, said her social welfare money, which had been delayed for the past two months, had added to their woes.
“If I had received my money, I would have been able to buy books and school uniforms for my grandchildren,” she said.
Ms Lata said people living on or below the poverty line would be facing huge problems in trying to keep their children in school this year.
