By Gina Forsyth
More than 5,000 miles from her native island country of Fiji, Ronita Prasad has built a fulfilling life on another island. As an employee of the Port Hardy Processing Plant on northern Vancouver Island for a decade, Ronita enjoys a variety of duties, including working the processing line and maintaining the plant’s strict cleanliness standards.
“I love my job,” said Ronita. Her coworkers are a large part of why Ronita enjoys her work so much. She recalls the February 2003 fire at the processing plant and how everybody worked together to get the plant up and running again. “The teamwork was awesome”. She also appreciates the training opportunities at the plant, including the recent Brain Safe safety initiative and learning more about grading fish.
Since 2010, Ronita has volunteered with the Canadian Cancer Society’s local Relay for Life, to help raise money to find a cure for cancer. “I went door to door and before I knew it, it was 10 o’clock at night!” Ronita’s determination certainly paid off. When the results were in, she had raised $1,741 and landed in the Top 3 fundraisers for Port Hardy.
Ronita and her family – made up of four brothers and one sister – moved to Vancouver when she was a baby. During her teens, Ronita lived in northern California, near San Francisco, completing high school in San Mateo. She made the move to Vancouver Island in 1987 after marrying Ron, who manages the Esso station in Port Hardy. They have two sons, aged 16 and 22.
