Happy Mother’s Day!
Today, we celebrate a custom believed to have gained international significance as a result of American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s, and even in historical events before that.
Mother’s Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of all mothers in society.
In Fiji, it marks a profound time of reflection, gratitude, and celebration, underscoring the importance of motherhood within the family and in the community at large.
At its core, Mother’s Day is about the expression and sharing of love.
But as families gather today to celebrate Mother’s Day with bouquets, lovo lunch and warm embraces, there are homes across Fiji where silence would weigh heavier than words. In those homes, mothers, wives and children won’t be celebrating like they usually do. The would be waiting, perhaps in tears and in deep grief.
The disappearance of the nine fishermen at sea two weeks ago has cast a shadow far beyond their homes. It is a grim reminder of how ordinary lives can be turned upside down by tragedy, and how deeply families carry the burden when fathers, husbands and sons do not return home.
These men from Nanuku Settlement outside Vatuwaqa were more than just fishermen. They were providers and protectors of the family. Their absence is now felt and quantified not only in empty chairs and cold beds but in the lives of children who will now have to grow up fatherless.
For expectant mothers Veronika Tabuakacivi and Joana Vukatava, Mother’s Day arrives with uncertainty instead of joy. One waits for news while carrying the child her husband dreamed of meeting for the first time. Another wonders whether her child will grow up only hearing stories about the father who went to sea and never returned.
Distraught mother and wife Miliakere Divadra speaks for many when she says: “My husband and sons are the strength of our home. My sons make sure there is food for us and checks on me every day.”
That simple statement captures the heart of family life in Fiji. Families are still the centre of our communities. They are built not on wealth or comfort, but on sacrifice, duty and love expressed through everyday actions — providing food, checking on parents, caring for children and standing by one another through hardship.
Mother’s Day is often seen as a celebration of mothers alone. But this tragedy reminds us that strong families depend on everyone within the home. Fathers, mothers, children and grandparents each carry responsibilities that hold families together.
There is also a lesson here about compassion. While many of us celebrate today, there are families grieving, praying and holding onto hope. In moments like this, the country must remember the importance of standing beside those who suffer. Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer is not celebration, but support.
