Simple food, a simple life

JEREMAIA Camaira, 83, can still walk without the support of a walking stick and can still read without reading glasses.

And he has the only answer to this — eat simple food and live a simple life.

A quick chat with the soft-spoken gentleman took me through his life-journey growing up in his adopted village at Silana, Dawasamu in Tailevu.

He is originally from Narewa, Ra but was born and bred in Tailevu and spent all his life in Dawasamu.

Even at 83, long distance travel is not even an issue as he enjoys rides at least twice a month to visit his relatives in Lautoka.

And he loves to talk about history, something he believes should always be taught to younger generations because history strongly depicts who they are and maintains their connection with other people.

Most of his working days were spent at the Vatukoula Gold Mine.

This was how he was able to provide for his family and sent his children to school.

Straight after a slight introduction, Mr Camaira will take you straight to his secrets of healthy living and maintaining a healthy life all throughout his life.

He hardly buys stuff from the shop except sugar and salt which he uses daily. Other than that, most of his food stuff are from his farm and breakfast, lunch and dinner will always have to be a healthy meal.

His daily meals include rourou, bele, cassava, freshwater mussels when it’s in season and fish.

“This diet has kept me healthy all these years,” Mr Camaira said with a smile.

“I never believe in eating food stuff bought from the shops because they are not healthy.

“Every day I go to the garden and get something to eat for the whole day and this has always been my routine for many years.”

Apart from this, he also makes use of the abundance of local fruits on his farm.

And when he travels to visit his children and grandchildren, he always ensures to stick to his proper meal plan because a change in his meal will give him sickness as he stated.

He also urges Fijian people to eat fresh and healthy food, always consume food from their farms and try to avoid too much food from shops.

Mr Camaira has three children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.