This is a short documentary showing a project that we recently completed in a very remote community in Big Bay Bush, Santo.
Before coming to Vanuatu we are briefed about expectations and trying to limit these to make our experiences easier. Despite this I was holding a small hope of being able to install a new system from start to finish, and I’m very lucky to say that this goal was realised.
I’m very honoured to be presenting at this years Engineers Without Borders Humanitarian Engineering Conference in Auckland on 27th July. I attended last year just before heading off on my journey to Vanuatu and it was a great little primer for my first jaunt into development.
One year on and I have had a very full and fulfilling year working in rural water supply development on Santo Island in Vanuatu. On top of that I have been heavily involved with the emergency response for those evacuated from Ambae Island to Santo due to volcanic ash fall last year.
I was pretty pleased today to be getting into some real work, with the hands y’know. Not like typing with the hands, but like using a saw with the hands, drilling screws with the hands (using tools as well of course), and even connecting plastic pipes with the hands.
Checking in from South West Bay Malekula, a little village called Lawa where we’ve just completed four days of Drinking Water Safety Security Planning, the DWSSP, a bit of a tongue twister, but we got through the whole process. From describing the supply, looking at risks, then coming up with community and water committee actions for improvement.
I recently transitioned to using Google Photo’s for managing photos on my iPhone as I became increasingly frustrated with how difficult it was to simply download photos from my phone. This was a time consuming process but eventually managed to get all my photos for the last 10 years uploaded to the cloud.
It’s just gone Saturday afternoon in Luganville, and I’ve got hummus on the brain. I’ve collected the cans of chickepeas (didn’t soak this time soz) and as I get home after a busy morning at work #volunteering, I walk around to the back garden to check for fallen lemons. We have a pretty productive tree out back, maybe every second or third time I go out I find 1 or 2 on the ground, but there is always the chance there will be none.
This is Nava, first name Salatiel, and he is kindly pointing out where to mark a point for a new tap stand to deliver water. Nava has been working in water supply for more than 30 years in the area of Torba, so fair to say, he knows where to put a tap. The other fullas are residents of a small village in the middle of Santo, called Kororo. The village kindly invited us to stay with them one night as we did a small survey for a new water supply and consultation with the community.
