Knowing too well the struggles of life and the challenging childhood days of growing up in Savusavu, Kiti Ramatau Chapple has turned that experience into rewarding opportunities in the business arena.
Having lived in the days where barefoot was a popular footwear to school, this Naceakoro woman has ensured that children in her extended family get to wear proper footwear and are provided with the best.
This act of love has not only remained within the boundaries of her family but has also been extended to those living in Australia, where she resides.
Mrs Chapple is a businesswoman who is married to an Australian engineer, Lindsay Chapple, and owns the Lewa’s Loft which sits on a hill opposite Savusavu Airport, overlooking the bay. On that hill, she has also built a gym because she believes in helping people live a healthy lifestyle through daily exercise and training. She would soon open a laundry service for the public.
Lewa’s Loft was built in 2015 and is more of a B&B (bed-and-breakfast) providing accommodation to visitors in Savusavu. So far, it has housed the Survivor crew who were in Savusavu last year to shoot a series on Survivor.
It has also accommodated well-known people in society such as our national 7s team and coach, Gareth Baber. But these achievements on the hilltop, she said, had been possible with the support of her husband and the experiences she has faced through life.
“I remember those days when I attended Buca Government Primary and we walked to school with no shoes, a bottle of water and a container of cassava in our lunch boxes and we were happy with that,” Mrs Chapple said.
“We lived a tough life with my siblings and then my parents looked after more children so life was not easy but we survived. I believe that it’s the experience from my childhood days that have contributed greatly to my achievements in life.
“That is why I have always taken all my siblings and my parents to Australia or the Philippines and to watch the Hong Kong Sevens rugby as a way of sharing my blessings with them. “It’s not easy being a businesswoman because there are challenges, but I believe such mountains sharpens our character and teaches us to handle situations.”
Challenges in the business world
It wasn’t easy establishing Lewa’s Loft as she had to deal with delayed processes and other glitches. “But I didn’t give up because I wanted to set this up for the community and especially to give back to the place where I grew up,” Mrs Chapple said.
“This piece of land was given to me by my dad and when I was small, he used to call me lewa which is why I have named this place Lewa’s Loft. “I visited over the years and lived in our family house and it always bothered me that I never did anything about this piece of land.
So with the support of my husband and family, we managed to establish this loft.” Living in Australia and travelling three or four times to Fiji to check on her business has not been an easy task, creating another challenging situation. Apart from Fiji, Mrs Chapple has had to travel to other countries to meet up with her husband who works around the world.
“We meet up every two months in other countries so basically I have travelled and seen the world but since COVID-19, we have not been able to do this because of travel restrictions,” she said.
“However, that has not prevented us from contacting each other every day through other platforms like social media and we did that too in building a second accommodation house. “My husband called the builders and told them what to do and with ‘Lewa Lailai’ the second accommodation.
That was a success and it was done because he wasn’t satisfied with the work of local builders and I’m blessed to have a professional engineer.” The high costs of obtaining imported equipment, furniture, beddings and other materials from Australia through Customs has been an issue that Mrs Chapple has accepted. “I see it as a contribution to my motherland that will benefit us as Fijians.”
Non-communicable diseases
A gym has been constructed on the same hilltop because she believes in helping people live and enjoy a healthy life. So three times a week, she has included a training program for women to use the gym under the supervision of her trainee.
“They pay less than the normal fee, but they use the most modern training machines and gears that’s all imported from Australia,” she said.
“Our program has been in existence for a year and I’m glad that a lot of people have come to use the gym, especially women because our families need us especially our children.
“The Survivor crew were here when the gym was built so hopefully then they return, they could make use of it.” Apart from the gym, she has also built a boutique and a spa which has been made use of by visitors.
Ferrari and children with cancer
A few years ago while preparing for her husband’s arrival in their Melbourne home, she decided to surprise him with a Ferrari car.
“He works so hard and my husband has a collection of books and magazines on Ferrari cars so I decided to buy him one which cost a lot of money,” she said.
“We still have that car and I use it to treat children with cancer in the Melbourne area because it’s a dream for most of these kids, to get into a Ferrari.
“When you own one, you turn heads when you drive through the Melbourne streets and it’s a big thing to own one so I use it for charity act to treat those living with cancer.”
Future plans
Not disheartened by challenges faced in the business world, Mrs Chapple has drawn up plans for her business. “I still have plans to expand this loft and offer more for our community because they will benefit,” she said.
“I have continued to employ people and have not reduced working hours or pay cut despite COVID-19 impacts because I believe it benefits their families.
“We still have more land in this area to use and that’s part of my future plan which will remain low at this stage.”
