At 65, Vilimaina Waqa remains a financially independent woman.
She lives in Nayawasara Village in Tailevu and sells vegetables and yaqona at the Korovou Market.
With her husband’s encouragement, she became a market vendor in 2000.
She said it resulted from perseverance and a strong desire to succeed.
“I was born on Taveuni,” Ms Waqa said.
“My mum is from Qamea and my father hails from Kadavu.
“After their marriage they lived on Qamea.
“We were altogether six sisters and three brothers and I was their fifth child.”
After marriage, she moved to Korovou where her husband was originally from.
“Since then I’ve been staying here.
“I don’t have kids, but I raised children. I adopted three children from my sister’s side, one boy and two girls.
“The boy is married and is staying in Australia with his family. My elder daughter is in America with her family and the younger one is with me.”
Ms Waqa loved planting flowers and cooking.
“I like to plant flowers and cook and whenever I am at home I spend time in my flower garden, cleaning and planting.
“But most of the time, I am here in the market to look after my stalls.
“I sell vegetables and yaqona which I buy from the farmers.
“I started this business in 2000 by selling vegetables only and later started to sell yaqona.
“To start off this business I took out all my savings from the bank to buy produce. Only $30 was left in my bank.
“I bought baigan (eggplant), carrots and cabbage to start. That time I had only one stall here in the Korovou market.
“From that one stall my business grew and today I have six stalls in this market. Apart from vegetables I have yaqona business as well.”
She said through this business, she was able to educate her three children.
“Farmers from Ra, Nakorotubu and Tailevu sell their produce to me.
“From this business I have educated my children and also managed to build a house.
“Today I am my own boss. I can come to my stall anytime I like and also close it anytime I like. No one is here to boss me around.
“Only thing you have to do is to manage your time well.
“Remember, if you are lazy and don’t open up your stall when the customers are there, you’ll lose them.
“So your time management is very important.”
Ms Waqa said building relationships with customers was also important.
“The other thing that matters is your relationship with your customers. You need to be friendly and helpful. These qualities will attract your customers to your stall.”
She firmly believed that the key to success was hard work.
“I have been teaching my children since their childhood that only through hard work can they succeed in life and fulfill their needs and wants.
“They saw me working hard to grow my business. After school, and on weekends and holidays, they used to come and help me on the stall.”
Ms Waqa said every person had a hidden skill which if developed would make them successful.
She encouraged people, especially unemployed women, to look for ways to succeed in life.
“My message to everyone out there, especially to women, is to never lose hope. Find ways in which you can succeed.
“Everyone has some skill. I encourage you all to develop that skill so that it can become a source of income for you and your family.
“If you think you need guidance do not hesitate to seek it.”
