WHEN siblings Maria and William Naduva set out on the Catholic Church's annual crosswalk, they had no idea how close their first-time experience would bring them.
The crosswalk, held
to mark Easter, has a habit of bringing out the best in people.
After walking 14
hours a day for six days, Maria's feet had blistered to the point where she
thought she would not reach Lomawai Secondary School ù the last stop for
walkers before they reach the ashram in the Lomawai hills.
"We were
supposed to walk from Sigatoka to Semo Village but there was flood damage at
Semo so we had to continue on to Lomawai Secondary School," Ms Naduva
said. She said she had wanted to get into a van provided for walkers who were
injured but her brother encouraged her to go on, saying they were almost at
Lomawai Secondary School.
While she tried to
walk off the pain of her blisters, her brother held her hand and stood by her
side but eventually it became too much for the 20-year-old Corpus Christi
student, and she fell just after the walkers entered Lomawai road.
As medical teams
with the walkers tried to get his sister into the van, Mr Naduva stepped in and
said if his sister could not complete the walk under her own power, then he
would carry her until they reached the school.
"When I picked
her up on the road, in my mind I was thinking, she is my younger sister, and on
this walk, my family is my cross and I will bear their burdens as my own,"
Mr Naduva said.
A 23-year-old
University of the South Pacific student Mr Naduva said he had joined the walk
to strengthen his faith.
Gesturing to his
younger sister, he said he hoped the experience would show his sister that he
was always there for her.
"When my brother
picked me up, it showed me how much he cared for me and I will never forget
that, he also showed me that I should never give up and always have
faith," Ms Naduva said.
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