Talofa, I’m Rita Lilli Tau. I grew up in Mangere, Auckland.
I’m a New Zealand Samoan.
Between my husband and I, we’ve got five kids. So yeah, pretty busy life.
Yeah. So I lost my job during the first lockdown.
I got a call from the operations manager first...
and yeah, I could tell by the tone of his voice
it wasn't good news.
The hardest thing?
I guess knowing I was the only one who lost my job
and as well as just concerns with making ends meet.
I found it really hard to ask for help...
Because it's not something that comes naturally to me.
My parents, they normally live in Samoa, but...
We convinced them to come here...
and in doing so, they got stuck here.
So we've got to spend all this time together with them.
That's probably been really helpful knowing Mum is here
and I can actually just call her,
or I can just jump in the car and go to her...
Have a cry...
Talk about it, not talk about it.
The advice I'd give to others that have experienced job loss during this time,
would be just to...
try and enjoy this time of not being committed to something like work...
Just for now.
I know it can be hard, because the natural instinct is money.
What about finances? What about bills?
It's just really important to try and do the things that...
That you will enjoy…
That is gonna make you laugh.