BUA Central College cook Vatelina Vuinadi did not know what she was letting herself into when she volunteered to cook for the school’s canecutter’s team.
The team, comprising of 80 students, teachers, parents and former students, left the school to harvest cane at Tadravula, Seaqaqa in the first week of the school holidays, a report in The Fiji Times on August 30, 1995 reported.
“It was the only way I could help as it was the best way I could think of spending my two-week break,” the mother of three said.
Ms Vuinadi was up at 3am boiling tea for the team before they headed for the cane fields. Then she starts making breakfast. For breakfast, the men and schoolboys ate three dozen long loaves or 10 pancakes each — which approximately came to 800 pancakes in one sitting! For lunch or dinner, the lot ate four kilograms of dhal, seven kilograms of mutton, not to mention the vegetables and root crops that went with it.
Ms Vuinadi did not complain. In fact, she even gave her explanation as to why such a small group ate so much.
“We are talking about grown and growing men here. They have been out in the cane fields for the better part of the day working hard. It’s no wonder they eat so much.”
Variety, quality, and quantity are what the team wants, and Ms Vuinadi had to perform a little magic at each meal to make them enjoy what they eat and, most of all, to have second servings.
So how did she become the school cook anyway?
“It happened a few years back. My husband had passed away and I was looking for a way to support my family. The school needed a cook so I applied.”
At Seaqaqa, Ms Vuinadi was billeted in the canecutters’ sheds, but with a bit more privacy and special treatment, being one of the only two women in the group (the other was the school clerk).
When asked of any regrets?
“No, I know that me being here is a contribution to better services for our schoolchildren, and I am happy to have been able to help in my own way.”
