Falesina and his wife Kalameli no longer have to drink water contaminated with bacteria. Oxfam’s Cyclone Evan response has given them the gift of clean water to improve their health and livelihood.
Falesina and his wife Kalameli no longer have to drink water contaminated with bacteria. Oxfam’s Cyclone Evan response has given them the gift of clean water to improve their health and livelihood.
Falesina Taumasina, 48, lives in Siumu, a coastal village in Upolu, Samoa. He grows beans, taro, cabbage, tomatoes and paw paw in the fertile soil of his garden. He has no income aside from a small amount he earns from selling his vegetables on the roadside to local people and in Apia’s market.
In December 2012, Cyclone Evan destroyed the fale in which he lives with his wife Kalameli and they had to rebuild it from materials they found in the dense bush surrounding their home.
Before the cyclone struck, Falesina used to collect water from a nearby spring and store it in a large open plastic container. Oxfam carried out tests on the water and found it contained many harmful bacteria and traces of pesticides. The round trip to the spring took an hour and Falesina would make this trip two or three times a day. He and Kalameli would travel down to the spring together to wash and do their laundry.
A new 3,000 litre tank funded by an EU Cyclone Evan recovery programme and installed by Oxfam means he now has water on tap, right outside his home. “Sometimes we can go through periods where there’s no rain so conserving water is very important. I’m very happy with the tank, it means that I don’t have to spend my time walking to the spring. I am very grateful for Oxfam’s assistance because water is everything to us.
“Thank you, and God bless New Zealand and Oxfam”
