Copyright dailypost
For nearly three years, Eslyn Rou Jacob, a mother from Lovraes Village in Big Bay Bush, North Santo, has relied on selling tobacco leaves to pay her children’s school fees and save for the future. Mrs. Jacob began planting and selling tobacco in 2023. While her first harvest was small, this year she has already made three trips to the Luganville Municipal Market, each time carrying around 200 rolls for sale. “The main idea to plant and sell tobacco here at the main market is to pay my children’s school fees,” she explained. “I also save half of my earnings in the bank and take the rest back home to use.” But her journey is far from easy. With no vehicle in the village and feeder roads in poor condition, transportation remains one of the family’s biggest challenges. “Sometimes when we harvest our crops, we can spend weeks waiting for transport. “The harvest can spoil before we even get a chance to sell it,” Jacob said. When no vehicle is available, she and other women often walk the entire day to reach the main road, carrying heavy bundles on their shoulders. The struggle is even worse during rainy weather. “When it rains, walking is terrible — sometimes your whole leg sinks into the mud. After pulling your leg out, you could even plant taro in the hole, and it would grow,” she recalled. Despite these hardships, Mrs. Jacob presses on. Her tobacco sales not only keep her children in school but also allow her to set aside small savings — a testament to the determination of rural women who work tirelessly to build a better future for their families.
