Naviyago village headman’s wife calls for suicide awareness after son’s death and other attempted cases

The wife of the village headman of Naviyago in Lautoka, Laite Kuruilase has called on people to speak out and share their problems with someone they trust instead of resorting to attempting or committing suicide after the concerning cases in the village.

Shocking statistics have been revealed from Naviyago Village where three people have committed suicide in the past 14 years with the latest one being the son of the village headman.

To add to that, there have been three incidents alone this year where three young men had attempted to commit suicide however they were saved by villagers.

While speaking at a four-day awareness program on Suicide Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Persons held at the village by Empower Pacific, Kuruilase says on December 29th last year, she lost her 34-year-old biological son to suicide.

She says her uncle had adopted him when he was six months old and they lived in the settlement nearby.

Kuruilase says she does not really know what happened that made her son commit suicide, leaving behind his wife and a son in Year 7.

Empower Pacific partnered with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and facilitated the awareness program that was held in the day and evenings.

Kuruilase says the four-day training program enabled her to be better equipped with information on how to prevent suicide.

She says if this workshop wasn’t held, then the people of Naviyago would not have known about the reasons for suicides and how it can be prevented.

Kuruilase says her heart still cries for her son, and she would tell everyone she meets or talks to on what she learned about suicide prevention.

She says the iTaukei have the tendency to keep things to themselves, even those things that affect our mental health because of the ‘madua’ or shame.

Kuruilase says as a mother, she wants to encourage young couples going through relationship and financial hardships or other problems not to keep their problems to themselves.

Please contact Empower Pacific on 5626 if you need help or if you know someone who needs help.