by the PAPAKURA ROTARY CLUB, DISTRICT 9920, NEW ZEALAND
A celebration dinner and awards ceremony was recently held at Papakura RSA to celebrate 10 years of projects in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga.
Paul Harris Fellowships were awarded to John Ross and Peter McInnes by the Club for works in Tonga, Ross Chapman, Warren Oliver and Reef Shipping for their assistance. A further Paul Harris Award by Rotary District 9920 and a Citation from Rotary International were presented to John by Bill Boyd, the Chairman of Trustees of The Rotary Foundation, for Service to Rotary through work in Tonga.
Papakura Rotary Club projects began in Vava’u, the northern group of the islands of Tonga in 2002 when a house was built for a widow with 5 children, climbing frames for 3 schools erected, school supplies and medical equipment provided.
The following 3 years 4 houses were built and spouting and downpipes on about 60 houses in Utungake
In 2005 a substantial grant was received from NZWCS Ltd, being Rotary Centennial year. This was used to provide a piped water supply to the Village of Utungake. This was a 4 week project carried out by 2 groups of Rotarians assisted by approx 30 Villagers. 4.5km of 63mm pipe was laid, a deepwell electric pump and 2 tanks were installed.
The following year the pipeline and water supply was extended another 2 km to Talihau, a village of about 40 houses, this time with 9 Rotarians from Papakura and 20 locals over 12 days. School desks & books and toothpaste and toothbrushes were also supplied.
In 2007 water supply was completed in Talihau and another pipeline to the nearby village of Utulei laid to a new tank. 700m of spouting and downpipes was erected on 30 houses and existing pumps refurbished. A team of 11 worked on this for 12 days with local assistance.
2008 saw the reticulation of Utelei Village from the supplied already established. This was greeted with huge enthusiasm, and emotion, and ended with a great feast as usual, 5 little pigs were cooked on spits, taro, raw fish, more than we could eat but enjoyed by the locals.
In 2009 an electric pump was put in to replace a broken down diesel in a village on the northern side of Vava’u and a survey of leaks in their existing reticulation carried out. This is a cause of a lot of wastage and cost. A new roof was also placed on the roof of the Library in Neiafu.
In 2010 the first solar powered pumps were installed. These generally provide a base load water supply which can be supplemented by power or diesel pumps, in most cases rainwater harvesting in tanks is the first choice. With 6 solar panels enough power is generated on a sunny day to pump 3000litres/hr from 30m deep to a reservoir. With water tanks for roof water this will be enough for about 70 families. The big plus is that running costs are nil compared with electricity at $1/unit.
Following very dry weather and a late monsoon the pump installed at Utungake in 2005 was unable to supply the combined villages of Utungake and Talihau. In 2011 the Talihau village elders disconnected the pipeline and asked the Club to install a soakage system, which has been used in other low lying villages, to provide a piped supply using the reticulation previously installed.
This was carried out using a shallow well solar powered pump, however, the principal water supply is from rainwater harvesting from roof runoff. To this end a grant from TRF enabled us to install 11 x 10000litre plastic tanks which were sourced from Nuku’alofa. The locals financed and constructed concrete bases to which the tanks were strapped so that they did not blow away when empty. Computers and desks were also supplied to the school.
The past 10 years of projects in Tonga have provided Club members with great fellowship, a sense of a job well done, a glimpse into village life on a Pacific Island and an enjoyable although hectic time.
Our thanks to The Rotary Foundation, District 9920, Harold Thomas Trust, NZ High Commission, Lions Club and others for funding. Roofing materials were supplied by Franklin Long Run Roofing, Shipping of a container every year by Reef Shipping Ltd and accommodation by Ross Chapman. These were recognized by Awards at the recent celebration dinner.
Statistics for the projects: Rotarians 1012 man/days, local villagers 3500 man/days, funding $442,000, donation in kind $150,000. Total in excess of $611,000.
http://www.papakura.rotarysouthpacific.org/
http://www.papakura.rotarysouthpacific.org/
