FINDING a good job to support his family was all Aporosa Duwai could think of as a boy. Born and bred in the village of Daria, Bua in Vanua Levu Aporosa is the post master at the Vunidawa post office.
The 31-year-old was brought up by his single mother Kaliveni Dicina who struggled to support Aporosa and his older brother. Life was not easy for him especially when his mother was the only breadwinner in the family.
"It was hard for us and my mother worked hard to make ends meet and put us through school. She would go to sea and fish. She worked in the plantation to put us through school. "It was not an easy life. We even helped out with plantation work but my mother was really the one who struggled to provide for us."
Aporosa attended primary school at Ratu Luke Memorial before going to Bua College.
He then moved to Suva and settled in Lami. He completed secondary education at Saraswati College in Nausori.
"All I was thinking of was finding a job to support my mother. After high school, I completed two units in an agricultural course at the Fiji Institute of Further Education. "I did not complete the course and decided to look for a job. I applied to Post Fiji and was employed as a postman in Suva. My job was to deliver mail to the Suva areas. I worked as a postman in Suva for three years before I was transferred to Lakeba."
His transfer meant a new posting and he took on the role of post master in Lakeba for three years. Responsible for the overall operations and services of the post office, Aporosa grew to love the job he never thought he would end up doing.
He was then transferred to manage the Kadavu post office where he continued his role for four years. He met his wife Mere in Lakeba. Aporosa's job as a post master is not easy especially striving to ensure customer satisfaction and postal reliability.
"From Kadavu I was transferred to Vunidawa. This is my second year and it's a challenging job. My job is to manage telephone payments, Western Union and the general functions of the post shop.
"I am responsible for postal operations at Vunidawa including customer service." The challenging part of his work is preparing and balancing accounts at the end of the month. He said it took up a lot of time as the financial accounts had to be balanced and accounted for.
For someone who has a load on his shoulder, Aporosa loves to spend his time away from work with his family who live just a few metres from the post office. Aporosa is expecting the birth of his second child and believes it was through hard work that he reached this phase in his life. "I never thought I would be in this profession but I have never regretted it.
"I am happy and find it satisfying to be able to help people through our postal services. "My advice for those who may be facing a bleak future is work hard at achieving your goals and dream.
Adapted from Fijitimes Online.
