SINGLE MOTHERS IN FIJIAN SOCIETY:
SURVIVING AGAINST THE ODDS
by Apryle Pickering

Chapter 4
The HART Home As a Beneficial Resource to Single Mothers

Chapter 4

Demographics of the Home

Rules and Restrictions for the Hart Home

Individual Cases

Cultural Attitudes Toward the Home

The Housing Assistance Relief Trust (or HART) is located two miles outside Vaileka town. This home was built as a means of support for single mothers in the Ra province as part of an already established chain of homes throughout Viti Levu. Although the majority of the tenants are widows with nowhere else to turn, the home caters to the needs of many types of women. The women present in the home are of both Indian and Fijian decent, and although in the past there has been hostility between the two groups, they are now living together peacefully. The women rely on each other for emotional assistance and other forms of help when necessary. They have developed a system of support for each other comparable to few others. They rely on each other for the necessities of life and to fill the void that their husbands have left behind.

Demographics of the Home

The home itself consists of four apartment buildings side by side with five apartments in each building. The buildings are located at the top of an incline next to the road, and the buildings are in close proximity to each other. The addition of another building is scheduled to take place in the next year or so. There are two vacant apartments in the buildings as well which are used for space to make handicrafts (such as mats and rugs) as well as a place for the children to study and do their homework. Each apartment consists of two adjoining rooms with a kitchen area in the front room, the bedroom in the back. A bathroom is connected to the kitchen, and consists of a toilet and sink. There is no electricity in the apartments, so the women have to do all of their cooking outside over a fire; this also makes the lighting situation somewhat bothersome, and the use of kerosene lamps is essential. Each apartment holds from two to seven family members depending on the number of children. Visitors are allowed but cannot stay long term, and there is not supposed to be more than one family in each apartment.

To be eligible for an apartment in the Hart housing complex there are a few requirements. First, you must be receiving social welfare assistance and have children who are schooling. Any children out of school are not allowed to live in the home. All women must fill out an extensive application, giving such information as distance of their home from schools and income of the family. First priority for the apartments goes to those women who live furthest away from a school and have no money for their transportation back and forth each day. This is the underlying concept of the home, to help women be able to move closer to the schools so that their children can finish their education in hopes of obtaining a job or means of support for the family. The allotted rent for each apartment in F$4.00 per month; however, they must pay for their water as well which averages about F$5.00 a month (one Fijian dollar is roughly equivalent to 50 cents in US currency).

Rules and Restrictions for the Hart Home

Although the rules and restrictions may seem a bit extravagant and overly detailed, they are promoting the best interests of the women and their children. The organization of the home is structured around responsibility and independence, as well as creating various outlets for support with a community of neighbors. The rules also promote safety and health issues, which are beneficial to the women as well. This form of organization amongst the women challenges the necessity for a male dominated society and encourages their independence. Here is a list of the rules and restrictions:

• If you want to leave the home permanently you have to notify someone at least one month before you leave.

• You have to pay your water bill when it is due and cannot be late

• Nobody other than the women and children are allowed to live in the apartments and if somebody is visiting they must notify the head of the home was well as the social welfare office and they can only stay for a maximum of five days.

• Anybody that comes to visit during the day has to leave at 6:00pm and fathers that come to see their children must only see them outside the apartment.

• Do not disturb the neighbors or people living next to you and there is no drinking.

• You must keep the apartment clean and work together to clean the grounds.

• If you want to run a store out of the apartment you must fist get it cleared with the authorities of the home.

• You cannot put any posters or paintings on the walls of the apartment.

• You cannot have pets.

• You have to have your own rubbish bin outside your apartment.

• If there is any damage or repairs to be made you must report it to the social welfare office immediately.

• You must pay for all damages that you make to the apartment, however, damage from natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes will be covered by social welfare.

• The Hart Home committee is allowed to come and inspect the home at any time.

• If you do not pay your rent you will be immediately evicted from the home.

• If you get married or become pregnant at any time while living at the home you will be evicted.

• All children living in the home must be schooling.

• You are not allowed to fight with the other women living in the home. The head of the home will give advice on any conflicts that arise.

 

Individual Cases

I was able to do extensive interviews with four of the women that lived in the HART home and they were happy to give me some background into their lives as well as answering any specific questions that I had. The first interview was with a 43-year-old widow. She emphasized her need for individuality and happiness in the home as opposed to village life as well as her difficulties financially. She was married at the age of 18 and remained married until her fourth child was born and her husband passed away. She admitted to having a good marriage; she believed her husband was a good father as well as a good husband. When her husband died she moved in with her parents. She heard of the Hart Home from people at the market in town and immediately applied. She would rather live in the home than with her parents because she can live alone with her children.

She feels that her life is much harder now that her husband died, explaining, "I cannot pay for all the school supplies and the school tuition. There are very high expenses these days." As with all the members of the Hart Home she is on social welfare, but she believes that it is not enough. She obtains F$30.00 a month from welfare; however, she is in the process of applying for more money because her child is moving up to form three in school and she is unable to work. She does not believe that she will ever get married again because she is satisfied with her life as it is in the home. Although this interview did not cover as much detail as I would have liked due to the fact that a translator was needed, I did obtain solid information on her life as it is in the home and some background information.

The next interview was with a woman whose husband left her and her children to be with another woman. In her interview she placed emphasis on her lack of family support and financial difficulties. She also raised the issue of remarriage and how in a patriarchal society men are often reluctant to care for another man's children. She is now 42 years old and living with six of her children in the home. She was married at the age of 20 and remained married for 19 years before he left her when she was six months pregnant and went to Suva to work. There he met another woman whom he later married. She believes that her marriage was a good one and describes it as a "sudden break-up marriage." After her husband left she remained at her husband's home for six months with the children, then moved in with her parents. This was not possible financially, however, and she applied to the Hart Home where she is living today. She has been living in the home for three years now and likes it there because of the access to the schools. She states, "Life is hard in the village when your children are schooling because not all the people in the village can help care for them."

She receives F$75.00 a month for social welfare assistance due to the large number of children, and she works as a maid every Monday, but she still finds it very hard to make ends meet. She admits that life is much harder now that she is on her own because she often has no money to buy things for her children. She has so many children that she cannot buy new things for all of them at the same time; however, she feels guilty buying new cloths for some and not others so she does not buy them much at all. She does not believe that she will remarry though because she does not know if the man she chooses to marry would be good to the children. She stated, "He will just like me and I am thinking about my children; it is better for me to look after my children."

The last two interviews are not as detailed; however, they touch on some important points as well. The next was with a 45 year old widow who was living at the home with her two children. She discussed primarily the difficulty of remarriage as well as her attitude toward the home and its benefits to single mothers. She was married when she was 22 years old and remained married for thirteen years when her husband passed away. After he died they remained at the same home in his family's village before moving into the Hart Home. She does not know if she will remarry. She stated, "Only God knows." She does not think that she wants to at this point, however, because it is very hard to find a man that will treat her children as his own and she would never marry someone that would not take her children as well.

She first heard of the home by asking the advice of the Ministry of Education, who directed her to Social Welfare. She has only been living in the home for the past ten months. She receives F$58.00 a month in Social Welfare assistance and also works as a baby-sitter a couple days a week to get some extra money, but she believes that it is still hard to find enough money to raise her children. She likes living in the Hart Home because it gives access to a modern living style for relatively little money, and in the village this could not be possible. She strongly agrees that the Hart Home is beneficial because it provides good housing and reaches out to those in need and perhaps someday it will prepare them to venture out on their own.

The last interview was with a 54-year-old widow. She described the lack of family support present in her situation and the attitudes from village members. They are quick to make judgments toward the children and she strongly attempted to avoid this. She has eight children living with her, three of her own children and five grandchildren. When her husband died and her child finished form three she moved out of their home and began to rent an apartment for F$45.00 a month. This became too expensive and she applied to the Hart Home where she was accepted. She has now been living in the home for three years. She receives F$42.00 a month for Welfare assistance; however, she too finds it very hard to raise her children alone. She does not want to remarry and says that she only wants to "serve God".

She is taking care of her grandchildren because she wanted to keep them together. She explained, "They are not living with their parents because their parents are separated and they would prefer to live with me anyway." She is happy at the Hart Home and believes that it is the best thing for her and the children. She states, "It is better than living in the village because it is closer to school and I do not have to worry about the other villagers talking about my family and making judgments."

Cultural Attitudes Toward the Home

The cultural attitudes toward the home are an issue that has evolved with all the women. These women feel judged by the community and feel they are the focus of much harassment in the community. Not all of the women feel this way, but a majority expressed their resentment with the village and the community around the home. One women spoke of why her elder son will not come to visit her, "I am positive that people treat me differently because I live here. My eldest son will not visit me because people recognize the home as a place for poor people ,and he does not want to be associated with that." People on social welfare and tenants in homes such as the Hart Home are associated with the concept of poverty. These women are assumed to be young irresponsible single mothers, when in fact many of them have husbands who died and had nowhere else to turn. This perception is present in the school system as well. One child told of his unfortunate experiences with this, "The school teachers stereotype the children in the Hart Home as being poor, and they blame all the problems in class because of our background." This is very unfortunate and demonstrates how powerful the attitudes of the community can be in shaping the lives of these women.

Overall, the Hart Home is seen as being very useful to the community. Often it may get donations from the prominent people in town as well as from various church affiliations. They receive money and sometimes even food and supplies to distribute throughout the home. These women are using one of the few resources that are available to them and are attempting to make a life for themselves in a society that is working against them. Although the home has enforced strict regulations and requirements for entry it has created an opportunity for women to live on their own and obtain a sense of independence. In a patriarchal society, where many aspects are dependent upon male dominance the HART Home provides a setting in which the women are able to prosper. The lives of single mothers in Fijian society are extremely difficult financially, and with lack of family support homes such as these are the only method of survival.

On to Chapter 5...