53,000 Fijians living in rural areas have benefited from Rotary Pacific Water For Life Foundation’s (RPW) support since 2007, and Roma villagers are some of these grateful recipients.
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| Water tank installed by RPW and Roma villagers |
Roma is a beautiful village nested on the slope of a massive mountain on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. It overlooks a wide calm river flowing 200 meters below and faces a mountain range leading to the summit of Mount Victoria. From the capital city Suva, it takes about four hours by car to reach the end of the track which marks the beginning of a half an hour walk to the village, crossing the river a couple of times.
The 100 people in Roma live mainly in self-sufficiency with no electricity and without easy access to the rest of the island, understandably not having much income generated locally. Thus, when problems arose with their water supply, the villagers could not afford to fix it themselves, so they had to ask for RPW’s help.
Indeed, the water source used until then was located too low to cater by gravity for the whole population, forcing villagers living up the hill to carry buckets and drums for their basic needs (such as washing, cleaning and drinking etc). After finding and securing a new source of water higher up the hill, RPW provided the village with a water tank and new piping so that everyone can now enjoy safe drinking water.
At the official opening, the village representatives express their gratitude to RPW and asked the Manager Gaël Léopold to spread the word in Suva that they would also appreciate being connected to the main road, so that they can have access to the major markets.
Read more about RPW on www.rotarypacificwater.org.
- By Gaël Léopold, RPW Manager gael@rotarypacificwater.org +679-9056808
