Water is life. Or so for some people

By Vatapuia Maiava 23 October 2016, 12:00AM

Water is a basic necessity. Most people take it for granted.

For Caroline Nonu, from the village of Nu’u, her family is forced to ask others for water.

Without a water tank, what other option does she have?

“We have a lot of water problems here in our village,” she told the Village Voice.

“There are always water cuts and when it happens then we have to go and search for water. If you look to the back, we have no water tank here at home.

“We live off of the water tanks of our other family members who live quite far from us. During water cuts we would always have to walk to my father’s house and ask him if we can use his water tanks to fill up a few buckets.

“Some families who live nearby offer us help sometimes so that we don’t have to walk very far to get water from dad’s house.”

Aged 45, Caroline says that she is in great need of a water tank for her family’s survival.

“That’s one of the things we really need here, we are trying to get ourselves a water tank so that we can make use of the rain water,” she said.

“But the problem there is that it doesn’t rain all the time. If you think life is easy without water then you are very mistaken. Ever since we have moved here, we have always had problems with water.”

“We just can’t afford a water tank at this point. Our money goes towards other family needs.”

Aside from water problems, Caroline’s family and others nearby have to deal with drunkards on the road which has become a real annoyance.

“Another big problem we face here is the drunkards on the road,” she said.

“Every weekend we have to deal with a lot of noise on the road from people drunk off their face. That’s one of the differences from rural and urban villages.”

“In the rural village we have a village council that keeps order but over here, everyone is their own boss. If they want to scream at the top of their voice then they will.” 

“My only request is for the government to send a few more police patrols our way to keep peace for families here in our village.” Aside from the problems mentioned, life in general is alright with Caroline.

“Other than that, we have been doing very well since we moved here,” she said.

“We are doing well taking care of the family and we don’t go hungry because of our small plantation. That’s one of the things that makes me very happy, I am standing on my own two feet in regards to taking care of my own family.” 

“Even if we don’t have much money, we still try our very best to get through life. We also sell some taro to make a bit of money.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 23 October 2016, 12:00AM
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